F612 restore or leave it alone

I have an F612. It’s definitely in rough shape. The top has a couple of cracks but they are stable and have been professionally repaired. It plays well and sounds like a choir of angels. Given its scarcity, should I have it restored or just leave it alone? Your thoughts?

My first thought... Let’s see some pictures, and tell us what do you think needs to be restored? As you said given its scarcity it’s worth repairing so that it plays to its best potential. From there I’d want to see it.

What kind of repairs or restoring are you thinking it needs? Have you taken it to a luthier for an inspection and an estimate? Speaking for myself, without having seen any pics, I would restore it and keep it until I die.

If you can post some pics that would be great.

I'm having extensive work done on a '78 F-212XL right now (neck reset, complete refret, bridge rebuild, plus more) and so I can identify somewhat with your decision. For me it came down to whether I wanted to keep it long term. Otherwise, I would have probably sold it. If it was a 612 well it would be a no brainer.

I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Get in touch with Dave ( LTG: dapndave ) and Tom Jacobs (LTG: Fixit), they have experience with such rare Guilds.
Tom worked in Westerly and was an authorized Guild repair center during New Hartford times, and their workshop is just 2 1/2 hours drive from you on the space coast. http://www.jacobscustomguitars.com/about/

Ralf

I have a 71 F612 that was originally owned by Jonathon Edwards and was very well played over the years with some major repairs. I am one of those folks who would rather restore a Guitar of that quality than not. However, with there being somewhere around 15 or less of these F612's known to exist today I chose to make sure it played as good as possible while keeping it as original as possible. Mine sings like an angel but I didn't even want to have the top refinished to avoid taking away from the originality of it. The decision of course is always up tot the owner but I figure I am just a Steward of this guitar in my lifetime and wanted it to remain as original as possible for future generations.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

TX

As has been mentioned, Jacob's Custom Guitars is not that far from you. When I needed some serious repairs done to my sorta rare D65S from 1994, Tom Jacobs was my only choice, even from Las Vegas, NV!! Being that close, it'd be worth a trip to see what his impression is. I'm kinda with TX as far as TOTAL restoration on such a guitar. I'd want to fix that which needed fixing, yet keeping the original vibe of this really rare guitar.

Here's a link to follow: http://www.jacobscustomguitars.com/

Butch, I agree. Take it to Tom and they can evaluate it for you. Good luck.