Early F-30 w/o serial #

Here's the story, please bear with me. I bought a used F-30 in 1967 in Victoria, BC. It had been played hard and needed some work but was obviously a fine instrument. After a year or two I traded it to a friend who was going to have it "restored". That restoration, mercifully, was abandoned after the sunburst finish was removed and replaced with a thin layer of varnish. When I found the guitar languishing on his wall in 1977 I quickly re-acquired it and did two things - new tuning heads (an old one was beyond repair) and a complete fret replacement. So - it's not "vintage" but boy is it a great playing, great sounding instrument. There is a Hoboken decal inside that looks like it has seen a little water damage in early times but there is no serial number anywhere I can see. An almost identical 1959 model sold locally a couple of years back for around $2K Cdn and it had a serial number etched in the back of the headstock. Mine has nothing like that. A friend who bought and sold a few Guilds gave his best guess as 1957 but I'm not confident about that guess. Thoughts?

Welcome to LTG! Great first post! Hans Moust can date your guitar defintely. As the lower line on the label seems to be "Hoboken, N.J.", that would make it anything between 1957 and 1959. '57 models had a simple G headstock as far as I know. So maybe more a 1958 model. Let's wait until Hans will look at it here, he might have more questions for you. Stay tuned! By the way, the ink for the serial number on the label often completely faded over time and light on it. Sometimes a blacklight might help to see something.

By the way, the truss rod cover seems to be mounted upside down!
The Guild correct way is this:



Ralf

You got a gem there, Ken. Mine has it's scars but I'll never part with it.

Hello Ken,

Welcome! What you have is a Guild F-30 from the year 1958 with a replacement bridge and pickguard. Without holding the guitar in my hands I can't tell you if it still has the original finish. Go ahead and show a detail shot of the back of the headstock; that may give me a little more info.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

hansmoust said:

Hello Ken,

Welcome! What you have is a Guild F-30 from the year 1958 with a replacement bridge and pickguard. Without holding the guitar in my hands I can't tell you if it still has the original finish. Go ahead and show a detail shot of the back of the headstock; that may give me a little more info.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

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Thanks very much Hans. Here is the back of the headstock but you can see the evidence of replacement tuners installed in 1977 along with a complete fret replacement. As noted, the original finish was dark sunburst, removed elsewhere and a light varnish applied. The bridge is also an update from about 3 years ago. I'm pleased to have your confirmation of the 1958 production date and will advise my friend that his guess was respectably close.

Best regards.

Ken Lutes

Would you like to get correct tuners for that, Ken?

Maybe Hans could post a photo of the machines that would look right on your guitar. Are these Waverly tuners in the ballpark?

jedzep said:

Would you like to get correct tuners for that, Ken?

Maybe Hans could post a photo of the machines that would look right on your guitar.

Click to expand...

Thanks but no, I'm not into "vintage" restoration at all. The changes I made back then were all about playability - original tuners were in bad shape and frets were worn out. Hans and Ralf have been very helpful in dating this instrument back to 1958. I keep it in steady rotation and still love it. K

Understood, but well working modern reproductions are available, vs. actual '58 machines. Just for the record.

Wow! Love the guitar! Great post!

walrus

Welcome. You bought that F30 the year I was born. Great story. A 1958. Wow!

kudos to Ralf for calling the year. That is not easy to do.

Hello everyone. I was pleased to get a note from Ken about this, brings me back to this great board for a minute. I was the guy who guessed it was a '57 - happy to see Hans' confirmation of 1958.

cheers everyone, Happy New Year, good Guilds to all.

John

Welcome back John and this forum has been a wonderful discovery along with Guild guitars.