Of course he’s open to an in person transaction. Now it’s become an extremely hard debate. I have a feeling I would quickly fall in love with the tone of the jumbo 12.....
Nobody thinks the finish checking is a detractor? I know it doesn’t affect tone or playability. My 80s Ric was riddled with finish checking. A fair asking price at $950? The Corona build doesn’t detract much to me, I would be of the feeling if it passed QC it is every bit a Guild as any other Guild.
Let's not forget Fender actually bought Guild in '95 (finalized in November) so the last 5 years of Westerly production were actually under Fender ownership, and more than a few members here believe that was a high point for Westerly quality.
Primary reason Westerly was closed was that it would have cost too much to upgrade it to modern construction facility standards.
I mean, the place was ventilated with massive swing-open windows on the roof, exposed to fluctuations in humidity 24/7, for one thing.
Fender built a dedicated production building for Guild in Corona and was basically "hands off" about actual construction.
These weren't just built on a Fender line and had the logo slapped on.
They even built special runs like the 50th Anniversary D55 to show off their capabilities.
Member TXBumper has a magnificent Chris Fleming signed F47R, a one-off true Custom Shop Masterbuilt guitar.
And Fleming did
at least 2 or 3 prototypes that I know of for the brand, exploring new model ideas and techniques.
THAT's where Fender's "Laying on of Hands" occurred.
I think the sticker was just to make it clear where the guitars had been built, a little bit of PR like the "True American" Truss Rod covers of the '90's.
In
2002 (
first production model year, ad title should read "
2002-2004"), Corona was known primarily as the location of Fender's Custom Shop so there may have been the intent to cast a little bit of that halo on the instruments.
When I got my D40 I actually thought it
was built in the Custom Shop since that's the only thing I recognized Corona for at the time (2004).
I only found out about Fender's infrastructure investment when Hans Moust explained it here, a while after I joined.
They also installed a brand new state of the art (and CARB-compliant) spray booth to be able to spray NCL, and sadly, that
was a weak point early on: finish issues.
That serial number is pretty low, I'd bet it
is a first year,
maybe 2nd.
Hans Moust will know for sure.
There
was some B-stock let go due to checking issues.
Far as I can tell from pics that's not a "B" stock though.
If it was a "B" stock it'd have some kind of marking like a "Used" stamp over the headstock s/n or possibly a red B on the label, I don't recall if Corona actually used that 2nd method though.
So, price? I think $950.00's ambitious primarily due to the checking, I'd put a $100.00 deduct on it right there., but other folks who buy and sell regularly might have a better idea.
Market's kinda funny due to lack of production while Oxnard was ramping up.
So, there you have the inside scoop about Corona, whether you buy this one or not.
They only just started gettin' some respect, but there could still be some screaming deals to be found.
Just be on the lookout for "MIRC" guitars, those were refurbs or simple unsold inventory Fender liquidated when they closed Corona, (which was a major source of Corona's bad rep).
They're readily ID'd by a barcode sticker over the s/n on the label, but we'll get into that in another chapter.
Oh yeah, fall in love with the tone?
If it's good enough for Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, it'd be good enough for me...
Or, maybe, if hardcore blues is a little more your style, you'd like Stevie Ray Vaughan's choice of the F412, the upscale mother of the JF30-12, for his MTV Unplugged show:
Hey a maple archback's a maple archback, no matter what kinda clothes she's wearing..
:friendly_wink:
Final note:
RichardP mentioned the Oxnard F40, just remember that item is a full 17" lower bout (like the JF30-12); not to be confused with traditional F40's of 16" width.
In case you discover that's relevant for you.