A New F-512 Is In House

DrumBob

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I took delivery today of a brand new American-made F-512 Maple, and my initial impression is that it's a spectacular instrument. I looked it over quickly, and cannot find a flaw anywhere. The workmanship is excellent. The nitro "new guitar smell" was so overwhelming, I stood there and breathed it for a minute. Intoxicating. The flamed maple sides and back are gorgeous, and the solid sitka spruce top is equally nice. I strummed a few chords and put it back in its very plush HS case, where it will remain until I write my review for Vintage Guitar. Of course, I'll play it a lot before writing the review.

When I worked for Guild, we made the best production acoustic 12 strings in the world. The Martin guys were even envious, and I heard that straight from the horse's mouth; a Martin sales rep. The 12s were made like a tank too; very well built and rugged guitars. I had a nice conversation one day with with Paul Kantner, who loved his 512. We did an endorsement ad with him.

I'll check back after I've played the guitar for a while.
 
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fronobulax

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Nice. Make sure you save something for LTG before the review. For the record are you considered an unbiased reviewer of Guilds? :)
 

DrumBob

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Nice. Make sure you save something for LTG before the review. For the record are you considered an unbiased reviewer of Guilds? :)

I just played for a bit and loved it. The maple/spruce combination produces jangly, glassy high end and solid midrange, and it's a very loud guitar with the arched back, as I expected. I know it's going to be very hard to send this one back to Guild, but at the price (List $4630), it's not in the cards for me. Still, I can enjoy it for a while.

To answer your question, yes, I'm unbiased, even though I have a long history with Guild instruments. If something Guild sent me sucked or didn't measure up, I'd just send it back. You have to understand that no magazine is going to print a lousy review of gear that's poorly made. You don't see, "This pedal stinks," or "That amp sounds like crap." Journalists with integrity know how to criticize constructively when it's called for. So far, Guild has never sent me anything bad. Any company would be crazy to send a review instrument out that wasn't damn near perfect.
 
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Cougar

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I took delivery today of a brand new American-made F-512 Maple....

Wow! Lucky man, even if it's temporary!

When I worked for Guild, we made the best production acoustic 12 strings in the world..... The 12s were made like a tank too; very well built and rugged guitars.....

Amen, Amen, AMEN! I absolutely love my 12ers (and the same goes for my F50R!).
 

fronobulax

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I'll fill you all in it, as I play it. I just played for a bit and loved it. The maple/spruce combination produces jangly, glassy high end and solid midrange, and it's a very loud guitar with the arched back, as I expected. I know it's going to be very hard to send this one back to Guild, but at the price (List $4630), it's not in the cards for me. Still, I can enjoy it for a while.

To answer your question, yes, I'm unbiased, even though I have a long history with Guild instruments. If something Guild sent me sucked or didn't measure up, I'd just send it back. You have to understand that no magazine is going to print a lousy review of gear that's poorly made. You don't see, "This pedal stinks," or "That amp sounds like crap." Journalists with integrity know how to criticize constructively when it's called for. So far, Guild has never sent me anything bad. Any company would be crazy to send a review instrument out that wasn't damn near perfect.

Thanks. As a fanboy I could claim that you were biased towards Guild but I am inclined to believe in journalistic integrity and might even argue your past experience made you a better reviewer.

(When I wrote for gaming magazines, I was given a game to review and liked it and so produced a generally positive review. The magazine came out. The game was on the cover and my review was the cover story. It then came out that the magazine had sold the cover space as advertising. Shouting, chaos and finger pointing ensued. To this day I don't know whether I was assigned the game because the editor expected a review that would support an ad or what.)
 

DrumBob

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Thanks. As a fanboy I could claim that you were biased towards Guild but I am inclined to believe in journalistic integrity and might even argue your past experience made you a better reviewer.

(When I wrote for gaming magazines, I was given a game to review and liked it and so produced a generally positive review. The magazine came out. The game was on the cover and my review was the cover story. It then came out that the magazine had sold the cover space as advertising. Shouting, chaos and finger pointing ensued. To this day I don't know whether I was assigned the game because the editor expected a review that would support an ad or what.)

When I wrote for a major guitar magazine years ago, my editor-in-chief, a great guy and a terrific writer, quit over some shenanigans the publisher pulled concerning a review he wrote, and that was the beginning of the end for me there. I hope they've rectified their practices.

There's a reason why you never see bad reviews in magazines, and as a writer, you know why; advertising dollars. It's just the way it is. Luckily, Guild has never sent me a dog to review, as mentioned previously. Truth is, I have never gotten a bad product from anyone, luckily. When I was doing record reviews many moons ago, I got a ton of sh**ty music and was encouraged to say so. That was a lot of fun, but I pissed off a lot of artists. I reviewed Ray Manzarek's post-Doors band, Nite City, at the Bottom Line in NYC. I was sitting with John Rockwell from the NY Times that night. He left halfway through after taking a few notes. I panned the band in the paper, and Manzarek called trying to get my phone number and address, which the staff refused to give him. Rockwell hated Nite City also. They tanked after one record.

Another time, I angered a NJ-based guitarist after a bad album review. He somehow got my number and called and gave me grief over the phone, making threats, etc. I just hung up on him. Same thing happened with a guitar player from Georgia who sounded like SRV. I was writing for Blues Revue at the time, doing reviews for a princely sum of $10 apiece. He threatened to fly to NJ and put me in my place. Idle threats. It never happened.
 
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richardp69

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Man, lots of stuff going on in your life. My only worry is keeping the Black Bears away from my Bird Feeders.
 

Guildedagain

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Cool stuff, keep writing, post a link to the article ;-)

I only wish I could have had the luck to land a gig like that, or do photography for a magazine (especially motorcycles :) but with the internet, you can write til your fingers hurt and show all the pics you want, not that anyone really cares but it's still out there.

I'd love to review bands, I'm highly critical with a fairly refined ear at nearly 60. Things that impress me are proficiency regardless of genre, tone, gear, etc.
 
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SFIV1967

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I had a nice conversation one day with with Paul Kantner, who loved his 512. We did an endorsement ad with him.
1980-Paul-Kantner-of-Jefferson-Starship-Guild-F-512.jpg


Ralf
 

adorshki

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Wow, that's the first time I ever saw the text on that, and the first time I ever saw that statement that "A Guild 12 was my first guitar with the Airplane".
And here he was one of my heroes beginning in '68 (I actually got turned on to 'em from Baxter's not Pillow), "Martha" being one of my favorite cuts.
OK Airplane having inaugurated in '65, what does the photographic evidence say?
Bingo, first hit:
7a6a5824a8d8ab0dd6bc3d244f1a015a.jpg

There's that tell-tale pickguard that never really registered with me before, and at the time could only be one of 2 choices, F-212 or 312.
But wait, what's that Marty's playing?:
hqdefault.jpg

Hard to tell about the p/g in B&W and against that 'burst but is that a tell-tale rooftop logo on that headstock?
Then again, considering Jorma's already been sighted with his Thunderbird from that same period, why not?
8dc923e434f57dc41c143e224e7385bc.jpg


Thanks for sending me down that rabbit-hole (rabbit-hole, get it? :glee:), Ralf!
Y'think we might be able to safely assume that's a Guild on "Martha"?
 
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The Guilds of Grot

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I reviewed Ray Manzarek's post-Doors band, Nite City, at the Bottom Line in NYC. I was sitting with John Rockwell from the NY Times that night. He left halfway through after taking a few notes. I panned the band in the paper, and Manzarek called trying to get my phone number and address, which the staff refused to give him. Rockwell hated Nite City also. They tanked after one record.


Hmm, I kind of liked Nite City. I mean you couldn't compare them to the Doors, but in there own right they had a couple good hooks.


 

walrus

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That's a great live version of "One Way or Another"! Not sure what those two dancers are doing, though...

Looking forward to your review, Bob!

walrus
 

idealassets

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Wow, that's the first time I ever saw the text on that, and the first time I ever saw that statement that "A Guild 12 was my first guitar with the Airplane".
And here he was one of my heroes beginning in '68 (I actually got turned on to 'em from Baxter's not Pillow), "Martha" being one of my favorite cuts.
OK Airplane having inaugurated in '65, what does the photographic evidence say?
Bingo, first hit:
7a6a5824a8d8ab0dd6bc3d244f1a015a.jpg

There's that tell-tale pickguard that never really registered with me before, and at the time could only be one of 2 choices, F-212 or 312.
But wait, what's that Marty's playing?:
hqdefault.jpg

Hard to tell about the p/g in B&W and against that 'burst but is that a tell-tale rooftop logo on that headstock?
Then again, considering Jorma's already been sighted with his Thunderbird from that same period, why not?
8dc923e434f57dc41c143e224e7385bc.jpg


Thanks for sending me down that rabbit-hole (rabbit-hole, get it? :glee:), Ralf!
Y'think we might be able to safely assume that's a Guild on "Martha"?

I hate to be a schlunk, but all those pic's are from 1966, not 1968. They are all during the time that Jefferson Airplane Takes Off album was released in late 1966. It looks a bit strange to see Skip Spence on drums all through that first album. For 1966 it was great, all American, great vocals, and great arrangements.
 

fronobulax

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I hate to be a schlunk, but all those pic's are from 1966, not 1968.

Clarification noted. But if you go back and read, the only time '68 was mentioned was that was when Al discovered the Airplane.

If you're not into drummers, the presence of Signe Anderson puts the pictures before October 1966. Casady makes them after October 1965.
 

DrumBob

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Yes, that's the one. Paul was a real nice guy. He called me one day and said he already had the guitar, didn't want us to send him another or give him any money. He even paid for the photo session! It doesn't get much better than that.

On the other hand, we approached a guy named Billy Rush who played guitar with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. He demanded seven guitars for free in exchange for his endorsement of the S-300. We told him to take a flying leap. To no one's surprise, once he was out of The Jukes, he was never heard from again.
 
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