MancJonny
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2017
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 19
Hello from the UK to everyone at LTG.
I was here a few years back - my pw is lost in the mists of time, so I am using a new Username:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?154973-Just-purchased-JF30-12&highlight=aj321563
The maple JF30-12 I bought back in 2009, though nice, proved to be just a little too jangly for my taste, money was too tight, something had to go . . . you get the picture. Exit 12-string.
However, I am now the proud owner of a 1975 Guild G212 - I would post pix, but I can't figure out how to do it.
The guitar was purchased here in the UK from a seller who had obtained it from the States (see below) about 8 years back.
It is in vgc - it has the usual marks one would expect in a guitar of this age that has been played and looked after in equal measure: the bridge has been re-glued - not the tidiest of jobs, but very stable. The frets feel as if they are post-'75. The original bridge pins died a long time ago and have been replaced with very expensive ones made in Germany (?). It came in a Hiscox Liteflite Pro II case (where DO all the old original Guild cases go to?!)
Other points of note: nice Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge; and exquisite mahogany for the sides and solid back. It looks and feels a whole lot more . . . "substantial" (is that the word?) than the JF30-12 did. I'd be interested to hear from LTGers re the contrasting characteristics of these two models.
The tone of the guitar is rich and deep, as befits mahogany; and the neck comfortable - though I may wimp out of the 10-47 D'addario EXPs soon in favour of a set of lighter 09-45 gauges. I have tuned it down a whole tone from concert pitch to ease myself back in to playing a 12-er - and it just got a whole lot louder!
Originally, I had tried to obtain a Jumbo-shaped Guild from the US, but I fell foul of the CITES legislation and the piece was stopped dead in its tracks at a US airport. Fortunately, via the EBay Global Shipping Program (GSP), I received a full refund (price + shipping + taxes) within days. There's a lesson here for potential UK guitar enthusiasts thinking of buying from the US - take care! No rosewood is leaving US jurisdiction. None at all. However, the swift return of funds is a counter-balance to the harsh criticism levelled at the GSP - I can't fault it.
There are not that many pics of this model (or the rosewood G312) on the www - the dreadnought shape 12s being far less popular than the Jumbos. The best vid I could find is this not very good review (where the fingerboard dots give it away as a '78 or later model):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otevMOUk1SE
Finally, thanks (once again) to the wonderful Hans Moust both for his Guild Guitar Book - a real treasure trove for Guild owners and enthusiasts - and for his e-mails to me advising re one guitar in particular from the States which I was interested in and had queries about - which he answered with his customary courtesy and knowledge. As it is, because of the CITES legislation, I would probably never have gotten my sticky hands on it anyway, but HM was swift with A1 advice when it was needed.
I was here a few years back - my pw is lost in the mists of time, so I am using a new Username:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?154973-Just-purchased-JF30-12&highlight=aj321563
The maple JF30-12 I bought back in 2009, though nice, proved to be just a little too jangly for my taste, money was too tight, something had to go . . . you get the picture. Exit 12-string.
However, I am now the proud owner of a 1975 Guild G212 - I would post pix, but I can't figure out how to do it.
The guitar was purchased here in the UK from a seller who had obtained it from the States (see below) about 8 years back.
It is in vgc - it has the usual marks one would expect in a guitar of this age that has been played and looked after in equal measure: the bridge has been re-glued - not the tidiest of jobs, but very stable. The frets feel as if they are post-'75. The original bridge pins died a long time ago and have been replaced with very expensive ones made in Germany (?). It came in a Hiscox Liteflite Pro II case (where DO all the old original Guild cases go to?!)
Other points of note: nice Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge; and exquisite mahogany for the sides and solid back. It looks and feels a whole lot more . . . "substantial" (is that the word?) than the JF30-12 did. I'd be interested to hear from LTGers re the contrasting characteristics of these two models.
The tone of the guitar is rich and deep, as befits mahogany; and the neck comfortable - though I may wimp out of the 10-47 D'addario EXPs soon in favour of a set of lighter 09-45 gauges. I have tuned it down a whole tone from concert pitch to ease myself back in to playing a 12-er - and it just got a whole lot louder!
Originally, I had tried to obtain a Jumbo-shaped Guild from the US, but I fell foul of the CITES legislation and the piece was stopped dead in its tracks at a US airport. Fortunately, via the EBay Global Shipping Program (GSP), I received a full refund (price + shipping + taxes) within days. There's a lesson here for potential UK guitar enthusiasts thinking of buying from the US - take care! No rosewood is leaving US jurisdiction. None at all. However, the swift return of funds is a counter-balance to the harsh criticism levelled at the GSP - I can't fault it.
There are not that many pics of this model (or the rosewood G312) on the www - the dreadnought shape 12s being far less popular than the Jumbos. The best vid I could find is this not very good review (where the fingerboard dots give it away as a '78 or later model):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otevMOUk1SE
Finally, thanks (once again) to the wonderful Hans Moust both for his Guild Guitar Book - a real treasure trove for Guild owners and enthusiasts - and for his e-mails to me advising re one guitar in particular from the States which I was interested in and had queries about - which he answered with his customary courtesy and knowledge. As it is, because of the CITES legislation, I would probably never have gotten my sticky hands on it anyway, but HM was swift with A1 advice when it was needed.