Fastest dang guitar purchase I’ve made in my life!

HeyMikey

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I was already a bit late to the party so

I did not ask the seller my typical myriad of questions about condition.

I did not make an offer.

I looked up the specs as I have specific needs around a smallish lower bout and 1-3/4 neck.

I quickly looked at a couple discussions to see if there were serious issues with this model.

Then I hit the buy button as fast as my stubby little fingers could manage.

Even if it needs work baring any major undisclosed issues there should still be enough room to do whatever is needed for good playability. Now the really hard part... trying to not bite off all my fingernails waiting for it to arrive safely. Not much info out there on this model but it seems like a really good fit for me. Gorgeous wood in any case, and an ebony neck... Yummy!

6068EBA2-7841-4B79-9713-1C234D51E994.jpeg
 
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Bonneville88

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Very cool guitar, don't see many of those - nice score! Looking forward
to a report!
 

richardp69

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Nice!!! I was looking hard at this one myself. Dave's in La Crosse, Wisc. (where I went to college) is a really good and stand up store. They do have a return policy as well so you're covered. Seemed like a nice price to me. The others I've seen (and there have not been many) have gone for $900+. I hope you enjoy it.
 

The Guilds of Grot

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It will be interesting as to what you think of the sound of this guitar. I believe it has been stated here on LTG that the A-50 was not one of Guilds stellar ideas and that the sound was not your typical guild.
 
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Stuball48

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You are looking right direction-forward-you never gain looking backwards.
 

HeyMikey

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Thanks guys. I’ll tell you it’s hard to watch so many great used Guild pass by knowing they’re too big or have too thin a neck for me. Finding something that checks the boxes is rare so I had to roll the dice on this one. I passed on a beautiful NH built F-30RCE last week because it is so similar to my F30R, which ain’t going anywhere.

I did read some comments about the heavy bracing in the A50 and that it might be better for fingerstyle than strumming. Some didn’t care for the sound but then others loved it. Finding something to complement what I already have is a good thing so it will come down to a matter of personal preference if I like or don’t like the sound. My bigger concern was it not having known issues like the necks on some later CV models, I didn’t see any red flags on this one.
 
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davismanLV

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Steffan had one of these! He ended up selling it to a Vancouver singer/songwriter lady and it's her main guitar. Or at least it was. Beautiful guitars, and they may be a bit overbraced for the size, but you'll soon know! They sure are pretty..... I can't wait to hear what you think. They didn't make a whole lot of them and they don't come up for sale that often. :encouragement:
 

hideglue

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Very nice find. Like the M20s, these are great for Nashville tuning.
A bit of trivial backstory: When these rolled off production into Final Assembly I was a bit miffed.
Willie looked at me, picked one up and said "Small. For the ladies"
 

beecee

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I have been looking for one of those for a while. Ebony fret and bridge, abalone rosette. Really pretty guitars. I'd kill for one in burst.

Hope it sounds as good as it looks...
 

Cougar

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....Then I hit the buy button as fast as my stubby little fingers could manage.....

Haha! That's the way to do it! (I've done that a time or two, with good results!)

Man, that guitar is gorgeous! Love the abalone rosette and ebony fretboard! Major congrats!
 

HeyMikey

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Well folks it arrived yesterday. I gave it a once over and I would have to say that I won the lottery on this one! Plays easily and sounds terrific. More like my ex-Martin in that it is lush with rosewood overtones. Better in fact with more low end and full resonance that is immediately captivating.

Cosmetically attractive, it also has an old Fishman that I need to test. They neglected to mention much of that in the listing.

It’s not so good for fast or hard strumming as expected, but it’s tone is a great complement to what I have. I need to go through it more closely tonight inside and out but it’s a keeper. More later.
 
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Stuball48

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HeyMikey:
Thanks for the update-been anxious to get your thoughts on your purchase. Sounds like a winner to me!
 

davismanLV

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Wow! If you're liking the guitar and the work was all done well, it's sounds like all good news to me!! My smallest guitar (Taylor GC-8) doesn't stand up to heavy strumming as well as the big boys or the Breedloves, but since I do stum a lot, over time it's gotten better. Play it hard, it may learn to like it more...... :encouragement:
 

dreadnut

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HeyMikey: at least all the repairs and upgrades were already done! That is a beautiful guitar!
 

D30Man

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What a pretty guitar HM!! Man not a model I am familiar but it is easy on the eyes.. Good price too from what I can see.
 

HeyMikey

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Played the A-50 again. Same impression as before. Excellent bass, very resonant, glorious overtones, a sensitive touch and projects well. Angelic actually, which is why I am naming her Angelica.

Not a great strummer only in that like my ex-Martin the bass and overtones build upon themselves and muddies up a bit. That is where the hog backed F30 excels superbly being much cleaner and punchier for strumming. The F30R is in between both and is the best all around player I have. The A50 is going to replace my MFA-70 which is similar in many respects, but is just not as rounded and warm sounding. One in, one out is where I have to be right now.

Inside I see a date of Oct 30, 1995 or 1996 from the look of it. The serial number AF500074 makes sense for late 1995 since there are no codes available for that year, and the 1996s start with AF500079. Last code in 1997 is ...209. The lower bout is 15 x 4-3/16, upper 11 x 3-1/2, neck at nut 1-3/4, spacing at bridge looks like 2-1/4. Very comfortable to play.

Cosmetically from a distance it looks great, but there are 3-4 areas of finish checking that show in the right light/angle. A couple nicks here or there. Doesn't bother me in the least. The good news is that the obvious "crack" from sound hole to bridge near the pick guard doesn't go through. Its deep but in the finish only so I might have someone see if they can clean that up a bit. Right now I have it under humidification to make sure they don't get worse.

I LOVE the ebony fretboard. It has Grover closed tuners that I'm not sure are original, but they work well and there are no holes showing so no issue. The original looking case is in very nice shape.

In addition to cleaning up the "crack" there are a couple weird things that I may want to take care of including the pickup and a mysterious second strap button...

I found a note that it was previously owned by Paul Abbott of Zen mastering who might have had some kind of recording mic or pickup system glued in at the neck block, so there is glue remaining to clean up. The next owner had a Fishman Matrix installed. I haven't tested it yet. The battery is in a horrible place up under the neck, which would be a nightmare to change. I will very likely reconfigure the battery location if it sounds good or replace it with something like a K&K or Schatten. There is also a second strap button installed above the pickup hole. Weird looking so I might have it filled at some point.

Some pics...








 
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