Train wreck going for real bucks -- what am I missing?

wileypickett · Sep 27, 2012

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-GUILD-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-PROJECT-MADE-USA-NO-RESERVE-/190729604563

A few people commented on this back when it was in the 100+ dollar range. It's now approaching $600.00 with more than a day to go. Wow!

OK, rare, but to me, this looks way beyond the point of no return. Yet it's getting bid after bid. Too much of the original wood is missing to repair the top, ditto the sides and back, there's no end block, and even the neck is in dicey shape (but it's "absolutely straight"!).

Anyone on here among the bidders? What am I missing?!

Dadaist · Sep 27, 2012

wileypickett said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-GUILD-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-PROJECT-MADE-USA-NO-RESERVE-/190729604563

A few people commented on this back when it was in the 100+ dollar range. It's now approaching $600.00 with more than a day to go. Wow!

OK, rare, but to me, this looks way beyond the point of no return. Yet it's getting bid after bid. Too much of the original wood is missing to repair the top, ditto the sides and back, there's no end block, and even the neck is in dicey shape (but it's "absolutely straight"!).

Anyone on here among the bidders? What am I missing?!

I just happen to see this thread and imagine my surprise to see a guitar that I sold for parts along with a JF-30, sans top, that is also for sale from the same Seller.

Two and a half years ago, I was in contact with luthiers around the country who told me that the guitar was probably repairable.....but the caveat, from the ones who would actually attempt it, was that they couldn't guarantee that with that much damaged and repair, i.e. new top, crushed back and sides laminate and a list of other issues, how it would play and more importantly how it would sound. I gave up when the quotes were high enough that not only could I purchase a mint, '77 F-50, but a nice vintage F-30 SB to keep it company.

I'm mystified that anyone (unless this is being shilled) would even consider this kind of money for a parts guitar in this condition. These guitars are seldom seen, but rare?....They made thousands since 1954, and they're still in production.
Here's a shot of it when it lived with me.
David

chazmo · Sep 27, 2012

caveat emptor!

Dadaist · Sep 27, 2012

Chazmo said:
caveat emptor!

Yeah.....what He said..in spades!
My one theory, and this is only a theory, is that like those Guys that meticulously build a clone of some famous '60s racer, someone is thinking that this would make a great Pete Townsend Tribute Guild.....you know, when He had anger issues.

David

mutantmoose · Sep 27, 2012

The market is just getting weirder all the time. There are a lot more DIY luthier guys (I'm one of them), and the skill set is getting to be pretty high all around. I've wondered about just getting guitars and busting the tops and selling them - they might go for more sometimes!

And there is the whole internet effect, where certain guitars just go crazy in (perceived) value - lawsuit Takamine, Harmony Sovereign, etc. Meanwhile, perfect examples of excellent guitars go begging. (Sovereigns for $675? Seriously?)

That said - something really smells in Denmark here. That thing is as close to an impossible project as you can get. The cost for repairs would well exceed the value after repair, unless the work is done so well that someone can simply fake that there was never any damage. I wonder sometimes if there is a scam that somebody is running that makes something like this valuable. :?:

mutantmoose · Sep 27, 2012

HEY! Is that a nut inside the body, on the neck block? Is that strap button bolted on through the neck block?

Dadaist · Sep 27, 2012

mutantmoose said:
HEY! Is that a nut inside the body, on the neck block? Is that strap button bolted on through the neck block?

MM,
Good eye,......you are correct! There was/is a big 'ol nut attached square dead center and drilled right through the neck block.

David

poser · Sep 27, 2012

David, Is there any story you can relate as to how the guitar came to be in that condition? Just curious.

idealassets · Sep 27, 2012

It might just be that some club owner wants it to hang on the wall, you know something similar to all that stuff at a Cracker Barrel or some such thing. Chalk the expenses up to advertising.-You just never know.

Craig

Dadaist · Sep 28, 2012

poser said:
David, Is there any story you can relate as to how the guitar came to be in that condition? Just curious.

Kind of an interesting story. I purchased the guitar from the brother of the original owner, who had recently passed away. A year after buying the guitar new in 1977 while in traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway, the owner's car was rear-ended and totaled, and sadly, the F-50 was in the trunk.

He was injured and what was left of the case and guitar were put away in a closet. Fast forward thirty-two years and I buy it thinking, naively, that I can have it repaired not realizing the expense.

As an aside, it's a testament to just how strong and overbuilt those arch backed Guilds are when you consider that the Guild Case was in three pieces plus the top......mostly held together by the black vinyl.

David

poser · Sep 28, 2012

Wow. A bit of a sad story all the way around.
Maybe they're not indestructible, but, as you say, it's evidence those arched-back Guilds are pretty tough.

wileypickett · Sep 28, 2012

Final bid: $585.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190729604563?ss ... 1438.l2649

Final bid: $304.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190729600196?ss ... 1438.l2649

I assume that's more than you got for 'em, eh David?!

G

Dadaist · Sep 29, 2012

wileypickett said:
Final bid: $585.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190729604563?ss ... 1438.l2649

Final bid: $304.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190729600196?ss ... 1438.l2649

I assume that's more than you got for 'em, eh David?!

G

A bit more...and then some. On the F-50, the only useable part was the neck, and then there's that 18-8, 3" Phillips head screw through the neck block. Even the back of the headstock had what looked like a burn mark or impression from something when it was stored.

BTW, I still have the original nut and saddle pins for the guitar....and I'm willing to let them go to the new owner for the reduced price of $299.99. This is a limited offer. Please contact me at your convenience.

The JF-30 12 body is just as puzzling, when you consider that one can purchase an intact guitar for $600-$800. A set of proper tuners alone (which this guitar is missing) aren't inexpensive. If anyone wants to negotiate a price for this guitar's bridge......PM Me.

Here's a theory.....maybe someone has discovered that smoking the laminate from a vintage Guild, and only from a vintage, maple Guild....(has to do with the Westerly Factory having been built on the site of a popular, 18th century brothel ..) has strong male enhancement properties that makes Viagra seem like children's aspirin.

David

poser · Sep 29, 2012

Dadaist said:
Here's a theory.....maybe someone has discovered that smoking the laminate from a vintage Guild, and only from a vintage, maple Guild....(has to do with the Westerly Factory having been built on the site of a popular, 18th century brothel ..) has strong male enhancement properties that makes Viagra seem like children's aspirin.

David[/b]

:lol: Wish I'd known. I might have bid. :lol:

taabru45 · Sep 29, 2012

That was nuts. There was a maple jumbo that only need the hardware along with a new top, and it sold for $350. Go figure. :? Steffan

walrus · Sep 29, 2012

There's no use in trying to figure out the "whims" of eBay buying/selling... There have been and will always be deals that make absolutely no sense.

I'd love to ask the buyers what their plans are, just out of curiosity!

walrus

mutantmoose · Oct 6, 2012

Probably "I'm going to get to it someday..." followed 20 years later with "I never got around to it, guess I'll sell it."

A lot of projects just sit around. I've got a 1930 Martin tenor that I'm working on right now, where the guy disassembled it, left it in his attic for 30-something years, and then died. His son sold it to me. It's a hell of a mess, but I'm actually half-way done after a year and a half...

Train wreck going for real bucks -- what am I missing?

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