Help identifying maker of guitar

goodry

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A gentleman is selling a guitar near my hometown (2 hours away) that he is unsure the maker of. But, he says it plays just as well as, and is built to spec of a martin D-28.

He doesn't know the maker but is sure that it is solid wood - it has a finish crack that goes from very light at bridge to darker towards the bottom as you can see in the pictures, he says crack does not go through the wood to the inside.

Can any of you eagle eyes help in identifying who makes this guitar?
Headstock 1.JPG
Headstock 2.JPG
Whole guitar.JPG
Front of guitar.JPG
Back of Guitar.JPG
Side of guitar.JPG
 

chazmo

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Good one, Goodry! I was gonna' say maybe this is an early Breedlove but I doubt it. You might get a certain answer on the AGF in the luthier's section.

No idea really. Very pretty birdseye maple on the faceplate. Looks like some nice rosewood on the body.
 

goodry

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Good one, Goodry! I was gonna' say maybe this is an early Breedlove but I doubt it. You might get a certain answer on the AGF in the luthier's section.

No idea really. Very pretty birdseye maple on the faceplate. Looks like some nice rosewood on the body.
Thanks. I did so - I had already posted in the general section but also cross-posted in the custom shop portion as well.
 

chazmo

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Did you look inside the guitar for some sort of label or branding? If it's really a luthier's axe, they usually put some sort of labeling inside. Keep us posted. I love a good mystery.
 

goodry

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Did you look inside the guitar for some sort of label or branding? If it's really a luthier's axe, they usually put some sort of labeling inside. Keep us posted. I love a good mystery.

It's a Facebook post - Im trying to figure out what it is before I drive 2 hours each way to buy it haha.
 

GAD

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I think I can help but I need to be at my computer to confirm. If I’m right stay far away.

Edit: I was wrong - never mind, but it kind of looks to me like a headstock for a guitar I got scammed on some 12 years ago where a "luthier" took a low-price Washburn, stripped off the headstock veneer, put his own on, and sold it as a "custom" instrument. You can read all about that in this thread over on TGP: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/the-guitar-from-hell.473956/

I turned my misfortune into learning how to work on semi-hollow guitars and sold it to a very happy guy for dirt cheap when I was done.

Anyway, that guitar in the OP gives me the same vibes.
 
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goodry

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I ended up balking - too many red flags - I couldnt figure out from any source, who made it - i read in another forum that even matching inside grain to outside grain is no indication if it truly is all solid - there were just too many things - I told him, we dont know eachother, and no offence but you have no reason not to sell me a laminate guitar, unbeknownst to either of us.. and never look back - so, I have to buy it at a price that I would pay for a laminate guitar - and, if i hate it, i have to buy it at a price that I believe I can resell it for. so I offered him $250, he declined.

That money is going towards an Eastman E8D with 3 hours of playtime on it.
 

goodry

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Goodry, why don't you look for a used Guild D-25 or something?

I have a guild D50ce and a Guild D50 Bluegrass special.

I was interested in the above guitar because of its price.

The E8D supposedly has some close comparisons to a Martin d-28 or a lot of pre-war guitars with its bracing and tone woods.
 

davismanLV

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It's a very festive and decorated guitar! I like the details. But what bothers me the most is the way the shoulders "shrug" and dent in at the neck joint. Not a straight shoulder or slope shoulder but actually dents IN at the neck joint. Normally, I'd think neck block problem but I think this guitar was just built that way by someone who doesn't know. But then what do I know?? You know?? Pretty details, though.....
 
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