Thinking about buying a 2010 Guild 12 string

From the original owner who doesn't play, No returns. I've only seen pictures. Lives in Florida, so I wouldn't have to worry about it having been humidified. No structural warping of any kind and loosely tuned. What could go wrong?

get pics of the neck, and the action of strings at 12th fret. you never know re neck resets etc...sounds good though!

bones4fido said:

What could go wrong?

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Hi "Bones", welcome aboard!
Like Wood said, get pics, especially of what we call the neck alignment:
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html
Reason I mention it is because we did have a member here a few years back, who'd bought a New Hartford 12 new, (I think 2010 was the first year for 12's from New Hartford); and wound up having a bit of a nightmare getting a warranty neck re-set.
In fairness, Fender was in re-organization of its service system at the time and the first "fix" was to severely shave the bridge at an apparently less-than-experienced shop, it came out looking like a literal hack job.
Even, then, action kept raising and he was only finally given a warranty exchange guitar after much argument with Fender/Guild. It was finally allowed that the original neckset wasn't stable.
It's only conjecture on my part but I wondered if it might have been because New Hartford started using Titebond for setting necks, but prior to that, Guild was "All hideglue all the time".
Anyway, don't let that scare you off, it's the ONLY New Hartford 12-string horror story I can recall.
In general, owner/members here consider New Hartford builds to be some of the finest Guilds ever made, but that anecdote is a precise answer to your question, and why it always pays to do your diligence where possible.

Hey bones welcome aboard

Al we don’t know it’s a USA guild yet

Bones since it’s a no returns sale I assume theres an ad plus photos ? We won’t take another persons potential buy away from them here we don’t roll like that so you can link it and the gang will look it over for ya if there is an ad that is

I Love 12 strings

Hi, It's a 2010 Guild F512. Very nice! $2955.00 plus shipping.

Rayk said:

Al we don’t know it’s a USA guild yet

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Good point, Ray. We've got precious little information about this "2010 Guild 12-string" and nary a photo. Helpful would be a photo of the bridge/saddle from the side, where the neck meets the body, the label inside, the string height at the 12th fret, etc., etc. And how does the seller describe it? Excellent condition? Or just "good" condition? Plays easy? U.S.A.-made Guild 12-strings are the cream of the crop. I'm sure the Chinese-made 12ers are great for the money, too. Good luck, Bones, and welcome to the boards!

Hi, It's a 2010 Guild F512. Very nice! $2955.00 plus shipping.

bones4fido said:

Hi, It's a 2010 Guild F512. Very nice! $2955.00 plus shipping.

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Well OK! That is a top of the line 12-string, and nobody does 12-string better than Guild. At that price, it should be in excellent condition. With the seller's 'no return' policy, I'd ask a lot of questions and request a lot of photos to check on the condition. If everything looks good, GO FOR IT!

Agreed, top of the line and with a top of the line price tag. With the no return policy I think I would practice patience and keep my eyes open for other Guild 12's. They do come up for sale this is just a bit of a dry spell perhaps. If it's in perfect condition it should be a great guitar, however, at that price you are basically paying retail for a new guitar. Another however and that is that the New Hartford Guilds have a great rep. Possibly this guitar will increase in value through the years???

crank said:

Agreed, top of the line and with a top of the line price tag. With the no return policy I think I would practice patience and keep my eyes open for other Guild 12's. They do come up for sale this is just a bit of a dry spell perhaps. If it's in perfect condition it should be a great guitar, however, at that price you are basically paying retail for a new guitar.

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I think there's that issue of "no new ones being built" at play, too.
F50's seemed to be exhibiting that trend (scarcity) until Oxnard finally announced they'd be building new ones, then suddenly several used pieces seemed to pop up at the same time although sellers still to seem to be holding out for top dollar.

crank said:

Another however and that is that the New Hartford Guilds have a great rep. Possibly this guitar will increase in value through the years???

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True about the rep but potential increase in value'd be the last reason to buy a regular production Guild.
Or almost any guitar, for that matter.
IF Oxnard lasts long enough to start making 12's, we'll se a bunch of them come out of storage as flippers/investors try to unload 'm before the market adjusts to the presence of new warranted product.

I can say that I have seen the ad but will not post a link here unless the OP does it first. To the OP of this thread, The seller has a few things listed incorrectly in the ad. For starters the DTAR pickup that is in it is the DTAR Lock N' Load which has the big hole drilled in the Tail block to insert the batteries. This is a single stage UST only pickup. This is not the DTAR Multisource he is listing it as and it does not have the internal condenser mic feature with the Blend control. The pictures in the ad are so small and of poor quality definition it is hard to tell what kind of actual overall shape this guitar is in. If it were me I would have to have it in hand or have to have some more High quality photos of all different angles of the guitar. Being that the pickup is not what the seller states and the year of the guitar, If everything is spot on perfect with it I could see it going for between $2000-$2500 no problem. If it has issues including even the smallest of finish issues or anything the price only goes down from there. You have to remember that even though the guitar may be in Like new condition you are buying from an individual and not New from a Licensed Guild dealer. That means there is no warranty.

On a personal note I have 2 New Hartford made Guild F512's and there is no way anyone could pry either of them away from me. The New Hartford made models are Amazing instruments with top quality Materials and Craftsmanship. They both have Amazing tone and the fit and finish on each is beyond superb. The New Hartford model F512's don't come up for sale very often but when they do the can command a premium. On top of no F512's being made right now in Oxnard, there are a lot of people with myself included that feel the New Hartford models were some of the Best Guitars ever made. That by itself causes the prices to be up there a bit and then add that none are being currently produced (also when they produce the new ones there is no guarantee that they will be of the same quality of the New Hartford models) and that is where you see the market climbing for these models. Best of luck with it!


TX

Amen, brother! Nothing like starting at the top. It's what I did!!!

bones4fido said:

Hi, It's a 2010 Guild F512. Very nice! $2955.00 plus shipping.

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Ooooo that’s my list after the F50R Sunburst !
I hate you guild guys look what you done to me !!!!

Rayk said:

Ooooo that’s my list after the F50R Sunburst !
I hate you guild guys look what you done to me !!!!

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You could always sell the motorcycle.

adorshki said:

You could always sell the motorcycle.

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Yeah I could