Vintage F30 Hunters Alert

AcornHouse

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He says that it has a rosewood back, but I'm not so sure about that?
Definitely mahogany, as it should be.

That one pic of the side with what looks like a crack, very blurry (hmmm!), is a concern.
 

bobouz

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As nice as those are, I've always been drawn to the mini-jumbo version from the '70s.

Thankfully, scoring a relatively rare one in rosewood has kept me satisfied - for now!
 
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The F-30R had rosewood back/sides, but 1) the pictures look like mahogany to me and 2) I think 1966 is too early for production F-30Rs. And with a side crack, $1500 would be a pretty steep asking price.
 

jedzep

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Seller says it isn't cracked, but a white surface finish mark, as well as copped to the rosewood/mahog bungle. She didn't know.

Nevertheless, she'd have to drop price by a few hundred to be in the current market ballpark. I feel the F30 from this era and earlier is one of the finest sounding thousand dollar guitars ever made.
 

ClydeTower

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Seller says it isn't cracked, but a white surface finish mark, as well as copped to the rosewood/mahog bungle. She didn't know.

Nevertheless, she'd have to drop price by a few hundred to be in the current market ballpark. I feel the F30 from this era and earlier is one of the finest sounding thousand dollar guitars ever made.

Totally agree... so much so, I finally decided to invest in my 65 F30 to have the neck reset, refret and new bridge plate. I originally purchased mine for just under 1G$. Probably won't get my money back if I ever sell it (which I don't plan to), but the tone on this guitar is so sweet, worth every penny!
 

stormin1155

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It seems to me that $1500 should get you a really pristine F30, which that one isn't.
 

Bonneville88

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I'm looking at this guitar as well, but I'm concerned it likely has
the 1 5/8" nut width.
 

ClydeTower

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I'm looking at this guitar as well, but I'm concerned it likely has
the 1 5/8" nut width.

If its any consolation, I too was worried about the 1 5/8" nut on my 65, however, after consulting with my luthier for a neck reset, it's possible to swap out the nut and increase string spacing to something similar to what you would find on a 1 11/16" nut. The fingerboard is wide enough to accommodate that. Plus, if you ever have the guitar refretted (as is the case when resetting the neck), your luthier can apply a steeper bevel on the fret ends, thus widening the available fret surface.
 

Guildedagain

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Played my '71 last night, so good, had to record. Got compliments even from the one who must be...

My one off F30, even while being slightly bastardized by an overzealous Guild employee (maybe not one of the actual repair guys in the shop) is still blossoming into the most amazing sounding guitar and it's light and tiny ;))
 

jedzep

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Easy to ask the nut size, of course, however my '63 is 1 11/16", so I'd assume they didn't go back to a smaller size in subsequent years.
 

adorshki

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Easy to ask the nut size, of course, however my '63 is 1 11/16", so I'd assume they didn't go back to a smaller size in subsequent years.

Yeah but Clyde's is a '65 with a 1-5/8".
We saw some mid '80's D30s (or G37s?) with a similar "issue": 3 reported with 1-5/8 nuts (when spec was 1-11/16) within a few s/n's of each other, making me suspect they simply built at least a "run"(loose usage) with 1-5/8 nuts maybe for no other reason than to get some of 'em to market that way.
And early '60's seemed to be a period of wider nut preference, but maybe just did that kind of thing with a run of off-spec nut widths occasionally?.
(There's precedence for doing it intentionally on an early run, '64 I think, of both D40's and D50's with 1-3/4 nuts and exceptionally flat board radius, too)
From what I can remember seeing here over all the years though, a 25-5/8 scale was most likely to get a 1-11/6 nut while a 24-3/4 scale would more likely get the 1-5/8.
And don't forget to toss in the 32nd inch tolerance on final shaping of the neck.
 
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gotomsdos

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Hi, buddies.
I contacted seller, I asked him for some data of the guitar(1966 F-30 on Ebay) and got them from him. Here're they:

Low E string Action measurement:
==========================
12th fret 3/32
7th fret: 5/64 (intended for neck relief)

Nut width:
============
1 11/16"

Neck angle
============
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/8n8AAOSwNvtdUHz2/s-l1600.jpg

Saddle height
=============
saddle1
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/BAMAAOSw~E5dUH1-/s-l1600.jpg
saddle2
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/URQAAOSwqG5dUH3Y/s-l1600.jpg
saddle3
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TXQAAOSwBh9dUH33/s-l1600.jpg

"Crack like" "white mark" thing on side
==============================
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RXMAAOSwhWpdULpO/s-l1600.jpg
white mark on side 2
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Y6cAAOSwEExdULqb/s-l1600.jpg
Seller says:
Here are two pics of the white mark. It's about 2.5" long, If you run your finger over it, you can't really feel it, doesn't seem like a scratch, just a mark
 

ClydeTower

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The string break angle over the saddle actually looks pretty decent considering the age of the guitar. Too bad he didn't show a picture of where the straight edge lines up with the bridge (for the neck angle), but judging by the action at 12th fret, it looks like a neck reset wouldn't be needed in the near future. As far as the "white mark", just part of the mojo in my view. Personally, if I didn't already own one, and I was in the market for one, I would buy it.
 
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adorshki

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The string break angle over the saddle actually looks pretty decent considering the age of the guitar. Too bad he didn't show a picture of where the straight edge lines up with the bridge (for the neck angle), but judging by the action at 12th fret, it looks like a neck reset wouldn't be needed in the near future. As far as the "white mark", just part of the mojo in my view. Personally, if I didn't already own one, and I was in the market for one, I would buy it.

Yeah I agree, given a nice tall saddle and good action height at 12th fret it sounds like it really is in good basic structural condition.
 
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