Information About ALB F40 #2

F312

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It is pleasant as it is unusual.

Ralph
 

dreadnut

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Big fan of Alvin Lee and Ten Years After. I had the "Cricklewood Green" and "A Space In Time" albums.
 

adorshki

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Since we're veering on Alvin, I've got a place in my heart for him as well.
Does anybody remember how "Goin' Home" from Woodstock basically got played to death?
Hate to admit it but I actually don't even want to put that on anymore.
But what I am glad to still have after all these years is the First Great Rock Festivals of the '70's which features an absolutely magnificent version of "I Can't Keep From Cryin' Sometimes" from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival.
https://www.discogs.com/Various-The...-Of-Wight-Atlanta-Pop-Festival/release/472312
A tour-de-force which I don't think is available anywhere else, not that version, anyway.
Outclasses the Woodstock cut at least 3 times IMHO, by featuring a little classical, a little jazz, and a whole lot of tone exploration by everybody.
Although some of the stuff like Hendrix's and the Allman Bros. sets have since been released elsewhere, there's still enough other stuff there to make it worth acquiring, especially Mountain, Johnny Winter, and MIles Davis (if you get into the early jazz/fusion school).
:friendly_wink:
 

marius

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I'm convinced it is a New Hartford Guild, so I find it somewhat remarkable that the OP lists their location as....New Hartford, CT
 

adorshki

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https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-...release/472312

Thanks Al, I should get this.

Saw David Bromberg last night in Auburn NY. Incredible talent

:friendly_wink:
Yep, and his "Mr Bojangles" cut on there is just fine, as are Leonard Cohen's.
"Blame it on the Stones" is also stuck in my memory after all these years (I bought it new).
In fact the only cut I only listened to twice ( to give it a second chance many years later)was Procol Harum's "Salty Dog", a real yawner for my tastes.
I much prefer Trower's work on Broken Barricades
broken-barricades-4

over the "Whiter Shade of Pale" type stuff.
It presaged his solo work.
Actually I still prefer that album to his solo stuff.
 
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merlin6666

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I'm convinced it is a New Hartford Guild, so I find it somewhat remarkable that the OP lists their location as....New Hartford, CT
It is also notable that the store is in Winsted which appears to be near New Hartford. This makes me wonder if the guitar was built by an employee as a personal project and for fun he used an old Westerly label and put on his own initials "ALB" and indicating his second build. I vaguely remember that other employee built guitars have surfaced, and after the recent round of layoffs I would not be surprised if some former staff are liquidating their personal guitars for some extra cash. Hopefully the OP will chime in again and let us know if he contacted the store again.
 

SFIV1967

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This makes me wonder if the guitar was built by an employee as a personal project and for fun he used an old Westerly label and put on his own initials "ALB" and indicating his second build.
I thought the same initially but would hope no former employee would come up with such wrong story about Albert Lee and the store hopefully neither, so wonder who wrote the strory about that guitar?
Ralf
 

fronobulax

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Yeah. My intuition and Occam's razor suggest this is a New Hartford Guild - perhaps factory made, or perhaps employee made, the label was either a gag or a deliberate attempt to deceive and someone uncritically accepted the "origin story".
 

mavuser

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i’d like to step in and offer my opinion on this, if only for the benefit of the OP, and first off congrats and enjoy the beautiful new Guild! My guess is there is actually some degree of truth to the tale, some obvious confusion based on the label, and some things that are crystal clear.

First off it is a late NH build, the very late stuff left the factory at the end unfinished/unsold, some stuff finished, or 99 percent etc...I have direct experience with these pieces. many or most of those late acoustics had no label at all, and therefore no serial number either. ive had one in my hands. thats what this is.

someone completed the build outside the factory at minimum with adding the label and possibly the pickguard and other features mentioned previously. it is not so crazy for Guild employees to have old parts and labels lying around at home or even at the factory. as stated, the Westerly labels can be obtained online...and they all started out in the hands of employees in the first place...if an employee had a new Guild w no label post NH, and also had blank Westerly labels (or wanted one), it is not so crazy to use the new Westerly label on the new NH Guild. even the factory used Hoboken labels on Westerlys and possibly Westerly labels on Coronas. it does appear the NH labels ran out or ran out west at some point. I don’t believe the Westerly label *itself is there to deceive or benefit anybody, just a Guild USA label on a Guild USA guitar, similar to the wrong pickguard or bridge pins or tuners etc. On a brand new Guild u would rather advertise it as a NOS NH than a westerly, there is nothing financially to gain in calling that a Westerly. street for that NH model brand new is probably like 3,000 or so. this is not a 2008 telecaster being passed off as 1958. i see no foul play in the Westerly label itself, other than causing some obvious/innocent confusion on where the guitar was made.

what is written on the label is certainty interesting, and my first thought is, id like to think that if 100 of us were going to fake this guitar in any way, at least 99 of us would just write the correct model number and somehow come up w a serial number- be it NH or Westerly. writing “ALB-40x #2”...is not trying to counterfeit anything at all, in my opinion.

the Alvin Lee story is interesting, and not so far fetched so as to suggest that there is a better explanation to it. His surprise death and the no NH label/employee completion post NH certainly lines up w the NH factory closing as far as timing. There is more to the story obviously. They may have made a couple guitars for him, not necessarily all at the same time. they may or may not had made it into his hands. if they did, they did not have Westerly labels. maybe no label at all. this is an ex employees way of conveying what he (or she) knew about the instrument, or thought they knew at least, and just a way of giving it any identity all, something that says Guild USA, its more accurate than wrong if u look at the big picture. just my opinion.

also again, so many better options if you were going to make up some tall tale. just nothing here to gain. the guitar has to be worth at least 2K, maybe closer to 3, if its brand new w the 2013 DTAR.
just my opinion. I would however, change to the non-cutaway pickguard. cheers!
 

mavuser

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and I believe either the shop owner in CT or the ex employee themselves came up with obtaining it at a factory event, so as not to say “an ex employee finished it at home.” that part is merky and likely the truth got muddied in that regard as well.
 
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and I believe either the shop owner in CT or the ex employee themselves came up with obtaining it at a factory event, so as not to say “an ex employee finished it at home.” that part is merky and likely the truth got muddied in that regard as well.

SO... what year would you say this NOS Guild F47R was built? I’m tempted to take the label off and call it a NH Guild built at the time of Fender’s selling the company. Because it seems that’s what it is It plays new; it looks new; it sounds new. The fit and finish, by the way; is perfect.
 
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