M20 Advice Needed

Neal

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Listening to Nick Drake right now (Pink Moon), courtesy of the Internet, to satisfy my curiosity. Never really paid much attention to him before.

He gets some really good sounds out of that M-20. A little boxy perhaps, but a very good match to his style. Kind of an English James Taylor kind of thing, only far more depressing. A troubled soul.

So, if you'll excuse me, I need to mix a drink and lie down for a while...

Neal
 

SFIV1967

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He gets some really good sounds out of that M-20.
Untrue, he never played a Guild M-20 according to all existing intel. It was most probably a Yamaha he played.

evans2.jpg


But he also played Dreadnoughts, in those 3 pictures from 1967 (?) a "Levin":

performing.jpg
Nick_Drake_pic4.jpg
n28.jpg


Ralf
 
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Neal

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So, let me see if I've got this straight...

The M-20 has developed a cult following around an obscure artist who held it on an album cover but did not use it to record the music that he is posthumously known for? What's up with that?

Whatever he used to record the music I am listening to right now was a small guitar. No bass note to be found anywhere on this recording. Really nice finger-picking on this album, though.

Neal
 

SFIV1967

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@Neal: The internet is full of conflicting info regarding Nick Drake and his guitars, but the summary info there is that he only held a friends M-20 (which possibly at one stage was owned by Eric Clapton) for the album cover of Bryter Byter and that the music there was done by a Yamaha classical guitar like the first of the pictures in the post above. I have not searched here on LTG yet if Hans ever commented on the topic.

Another post here: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3624950&postcount=15
It talks about why it could have been a Martin D-28 (!!) with "dead stings" as Nick preferred.

Ralf
 
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SFIV1967

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My favorite M20 video. Neal Young: Love and War...
Here's the story:

"At the start of the 2010 Twisted Road tour Neil appeared onstage with a dark red...mahogany Guild M-20. Daniel Lanois had loaned the...guitar to Neil during the Le Noise sessions earlier in the year. The guitar has a L.R. Baggs M1 pickup across the soundhole and is played through a vintage ‘50’s Fender tweed amplifier. It can be heard on Peaceful Valley Boulevard and Love And War on the LeNoise record. Later, Neil used this guitar during the 2011 Buffalo Springfield Reunion tour on songs such as On The Way Home, Burned and Broken Arrow."


guild_m20_2010_2.jpg


A few more pictures are here: http://www.sugarmtn.org/instruments.php?instr=15

Ralf
 
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SFIV1967

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I am a Nick Drake fan (if you're not listen to Day is Done, Pink Moon or Fruit Tree) but I knew the conflicting rumors about the guitar before getting stuck on the M20. By the way I found the following correspondence online regarding the Bryter Layter album cover between a fan and the album's photographer (spoiler alert: turns out neither the guitar, chair, nor shoes belonged to Nick).

Nigel Waymouth is the photographer of the cover photo of Nick on Bryter Layter. The following are copies of email correspondence between Marsha Zemekis and Nigel Waymouth in regards to the cover photo.
*********

4 June 2002

Hello Mr. Waymouth,
In the photograph of the album cover of Nick Drake's "Bryter Layter", why were his shoes off? Did that have a meaning?
Thank you for your time,
Marsha

4 June 2002

Marsha,
They weren't his shoes, they were mine. After I had asked him to take off his shoes, I put them there to add an optimistic note (blue suede shoes - dancing shoes), in an otherwise somber photograph, that would echo the title of the album, Bryter Layter. A few years later Nick came up to me at a party and said how much he liked the cover and that he now understood what it was about. The chair, by the way, once belonged to Charles Dickens, who sat in it to write, and the small Guild guitar was one that Eric Clapton gave to his friend and flat mate, Martin Sharp, the australian artist and chief designer of Oz magazine. Oh, and the shoes were made to my design by the Chelsea Cobbler. Hope that covers it! Nigel Waymouth
 

bobdcat

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I have owned two Hoboken-made M20s. The first, a '65, was the first decent guitar I owned. I bought it used in high school and had it for a couple of years before trading it in on a Guild Mark IV.

Several years ago, I bought another one. I really liked the sound of it, but the narrow (1 5/8" string separation) low profile neck was uncomfortable for me to play. And, since my '51 Martin 00-17 has a similar sound, I ended up selling the M20. My wife is the hand model.



If you're accustomed to playing narrow-neck electric guitars, you may find the M20 to be very comfortable. I would try to stick to ones made in the 60s or early 70s, though. The later ones are kind of overbuilt and don't have the same sound at all.
 

ladytexan

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Toni, that's the exact same guitar that jgmaute posted (see above) and which is also on ebay. And it is sold in the meantime!
Ralf
I understand, Ralf. It seems the seller had it up for auction at Reverb & eBay at the same time. Confusion solved! :laughing: (I, originally, posted this guitar on the ebay/craiglist thread (posted on CL) back in February - with some info from Hans.) Did anyone here on LTG get it? Gosh, I hope so....it was such a nice one!
 
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Seized in the moment and in awe of the guitar posted on ebay (and CL and LTG) I bought it even though I promised myself I wouldn't go above my max limit of $1,100 total with shipping. I couldn't resist. Now comes the hardest part as the guitar is shipped to the east coast and then to me in Jerusalem!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg (video is Rickenbacker heavy; however, I've seen pics of Tom Petty with a 12string Guild).

When I get back to the U.S. in a few years I may scour estate sales and pawn shops for an older Guild (I just felt too apprehensive about ordering something and having it shipped sight unseen-- while I'm sure they exist, I also don't know any luthiers in Israel or Palestine).

Once it arrives I will add some photos. And at some point I hope to bother Hans about the long story behind the serial number.
 
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Seized in the moment and in awe of the guitar posted on ebay (and CL and LTG) I bought it even though I promised myself I wouldn't go above my max limit of $1,100 total with shipping. I couldn't resist. Now comes the hardest part as the guitar is shipped to the east coast and then to me in Jerusalem!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg (video is Rickenbacker heavy; however, I've seen pics of Tom Petty with a 12string Guild).

When I get back to the U.S. in a few years I may scour estate sales and pawn shops for an older Guild (I just felt too apprehensive about ordering something and having it shipped sight unseen-- while I'm sure they exist, I also don't know any luthiers in Israel or Palestine).

Once it arrives I will add some photos. And at some point I hope to bother Hans about the long story behind the serial number.
 

jgmaute

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Seized in the moment and in awe of the guitar posted on ebay (and CL and LTG) I bought it even though I promised myself I wouldn't go above my max limit of $1,100 total with shipping. I couldn't resist. Now comes the hardest part as the guitar is shipped to the east coast and then to me in Jerusalem!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg (video is Rickenbacker heavy; however, I've seen pics of Tom Petty with a 12string Guild).

When I get back to the U.S. in a few years I may scour estate sales and pawn shops for an older Guild (I just felt too apprehensive about ordering something and having it shipped sight unseen-- while I'm sure they exist, I also don't know any luthiers in Israel or Palestine).

Once it arrives I will add some photos. And at some point I hope to bother Hans about the long story behind the serial number.

Glad it is on its way to a good home, it really looked good. We await your report along with some pictures. May it travel safely and quickly to you.
 
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