Need some expert advice..........F47M for a 70 Martin D18?

Br1ck

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A 50 year old guitar needing a neck reset is not and indication of poor quality. My 70 D 35 needed one. The bad rap 70s Martins get is a result mirroring what all the manufacturers were forced to do to shelter themselves from rampant mistreatment of guitars by their owners. No manufacturer was immune. Pick up almost any Guild from 1970, then it's counterpart from say, 1978. The later guitar will be much heavier, not a good thing IMHO. For sure there is no excuse for the bridge misplacement, but the heavier bracing and huge bridge plates that hinder Martins of the era, were basically a reaction to customer abuse. Hot trunks mostly.

I wish I had a D 18. They do things my D 35 won't, especially in a blue grass vein. But I don't like the new ones. A 65 D 18 would be very nice. It is interesting how my tastes in guitars evolved from mid size, to smaller and smaller, then to dreads almost exclusively now. But the bottom line is not what I like, but what you like.
 

adorshki

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It’s a Tacoma guitar. TK1300XX is the serial#. 2007. Beautiful flame on the back, open back tuners. I think red spruce top too.
YES on red spruce, synonymous with Adirondack Spruce, or "Adi".
I see Tom caught you up re tonal qualities while I was off for the weekend, but another benefit of Adirondack is that it's got better torsional stiffness than sitka by weight, so bracing can be lighter but yield equal strength than traditional sitka bracing, contributes to better top resonance.
That also allows for thinner tops themselves which can vibrate more freely, which is also part of why it's prized for tops.
But yes takes a little longer to "open up" or "break in" than sitka.
Tacoma was first Guild factory to use it, for bracing on all except 2 made-in-Mexico models , and tops on the F40, F47, F30, and the "Bluegrass" D40's and D50's.
Is there a similar book for post 77 Guilds out there?
Not that I'm aware of, but member GAD has downloaded a ton of catalogs and price lists from all eras and much can be gleaned from careful perusal of those, always bearing in mind that catalog specs were subject to change without notice, and there are some outright errors in 'em:
https://www.gad.net/Blog/2019/08/28/gads-guild-catalogs-price-lists-ads-flyers/
It amazes me how much you all know about Guilds.
Virtually everything I know about 'em I picked up here, I sure there're plenty of others that applies to, too.
And yet even after ten years there's still stuff that pops up that surprise me.
It's part of the charm and mystique of the brand, or at least, up until Corona.
Seems the percentage of "off-spec" builds went way down after close of Westerly, which is kind of understandable, because special orders and one-off builds were just part of the shop culture up through the Westerly years.
So the catalogs are a good guide to "what was supposed to be standard" but this is the only place where we can ask Hans if an oddball guitar is actually a legitimate factory build.
Or as an example sometimes things like tuner specs are hard to find and not readily visible or spec'd outright in the catalogs, such as when I tried to check whether Tacoma was using 'em, since I've become aware my poor old memory just ain't what it used to be.
Didn't have time to check enough online listing pics (let alone there's precious few of 'em), so went with my memory and lo and behold you've noted that Tacoma F47 does have open tuners.
That could only happen here.
:smile:

Don't know about Beecee, but I'd cross the street to avoid it! I don't like maple...
Assuming you've heard enough of it to know your own tastes, can't argue with that...


don't like cutaways, and don't like a bunch of gadgets to fool with.
Again, a personal taste issue, no prob, but I do want to stick up for Guild's Fishman installation in that it's "Plug and Play" and only needs a little learning curve to understand settings, and is still offered by Fishman to this day, an indicator of how of just how good a design it was ,back in the early '90s'.
Give me a plain old folk guitar any day!
Y'mean like this first year '63 F47?:
whfpuwtk1hka4zfk8hfy.jpg

Yah I'm messin' wit ya buddy, couldn't resist.
:biggrin-new:
 
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dbirchett

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I had a '66 D-18 for 40 years until FedEX turned it into kindling. I have some very nice acoustics but still miss the D-18.

Having said that, if you strongly prefer the Guild to the D-18 then you should make the trade. If not, then fix up the Martin. Life is too short to put up with guitars you don't love unless you have to. Let your fingers and ears decide. And eyes as well, if that is important to you.
 

bobouz

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If given the opportunity, I'll always trade away something I don't really love and needs a repair for something that I'll like more and doesn't need a repair. Good luck!

This philosophy has worked out well for me numerous times in the past.

Out with the old & tired - In with the new & inspiring!
 

beecee

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Sorry guys, wasn't awake much yesterday.
I was only trying to point out that the F47 Mce has laminated sides and is frankly a dud in the market and not worth the same as a an F-47M...or R.

Mine btw was a NH version...
 

adorshki

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Sorry guys, wasn't awake much yesterday.
I was only trying to point out that the F47 Mce has laminated sides
Because of the Venetian cutaway...awfully tough to bend solid wood around that one.
And laminated sides aren't any big hit to sound, any more than a laminated back, both of which also resist cracking much better than solids...basically impervious, in fact.
(But I did see your daytime TV thread and figured you were a but distracted.)
and is frankly a dud in the market and not worth the same as a an F-47M...or R.
With all due respect sir, is that the cough syrup talking?
You know what that does to GAD, don't you?
:glee:
On what are you basing that observation, considering that basic "ce" outline generated no less than 12 variants dating back to the F45ce of '83 I think it was, and lasting all the way through New Hartford?
And there are 2 basic variants of the F47Mce, and starting in Tacoma they did go to the Florentine (sharp) cutaway, enabling the use of solid sides and lost the Fishman "barn door" as well.
And technically you're correct about the "ce"'s having lam sides since they dropped the "e" in the model name on Tacomas and Hartfords, but only fanatics like us would note that subtle distinction.
Final arrow in my quiver:
The Doyle Dykes DD's were based on the (New Hartford)F47Mc, says so right in the catalog, and don't recall ever reading a bad review about one of those.
Although, yeah, I guess you could call it a sales dud, numbers-wise.... :glee:
Ok, done givin' ya a hard time, hope you recover quickly.
:smile:
BTW if you're into holistic remedies, capsicum (hot pepper oil) is good for the lung lining try some drops added to chicken soup or go all-out Chinese with Ma Po Tofu; and the pickled ginger (gari) and horseradish (wasabi) typically accompanying sushi have bacteriostatic properties as well, or even just fresh grated ginger for that matter.
Wasabi can be found in little dry powder form cans, just add water to the amount you want to use.
I use it on pan-seared tuna steaks, but I gotta forego soy sauce due to sodium content these days.
:friendly_wink:
 
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