1965 F-20 - What is a fair price?

LTTele

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Hello Everyone! I sold the 1966 F30 and now am looking at this 1965 F20. My question is, what would be a fair price, he is asking $1500:

1965 Guild F20 Guitar
Mandolin World Headquarters...and Guitars! buys, sells, and trades vintage and used Gibson mandolins, Martin, Gibson, Fender, and Gretsch guitars, and other fine stringed instruments.
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Also, sorry for not knowing technically the answer to this question, but my F30 was 1-11/16 nut and this one says it is 1-5/8, which is better for small hands?

Thanks in advance,
Lisa
 

cupric

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The guitar looks and sounds very nice. 1 5/8" is a little bit narrower than the 1 1 1/16" nut. So I would say good there! As for value, the price seems good, but others with more knowledge of value may be better to answer that question.
 

jedzep

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That's an interesting swap. I'd be curious to know why you traded down in size, as I always felt the F30 is a fuller toned version.

If you have squarish fingers like I do, the narrower nut makes for a crowded fingering.

Looks nice, all original helps, but at retail I think you'd be paying a couple hundred bucks too much. In my world, however, when you find the guitar you have kismet with, the extra money ain't a deal breaker. I've seen more unreasonable vintage pricing, but the great playability setup is a plus.

Happy hunting. Dave
 
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walrus

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jedzep said it well - if that's the guitar you are looking for, the price is fair! '65 M-20's don't come around for sale too often.

You may want to ask, but I assume that's dust on the fretboard?

walrus
 

SFIV1967

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You may want to ask, but I assume that's dust on the fretboard?
Not sure what that is but it is not visible in the video from one month ago. Considering that the neck was just reset the cost for a neck reset can be saved for many years to come. The luthier obviously mounted the trus rod cover upside down...




Ralf
 

jfilm

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Seems like a fair price to me since it's ready to go. A neck reset costs a minimum of $500 most places, and this one won't need it, unlike many you may come across. And like walrus said, they don't come up very often, so you could try to get one for a couple hundred less, but how long will you have to wait? I think the Hoboken ones are particularly hard to find. However the other thing is, are you able to try it out in person, or, have you played the F20 before? It's quite a different sound to your F30. So depending on your finances, I'd want to be sure that this was the guitar that speaks to you before making the investment.

For the hands, for me 1 5/8 and 1 11/16 do feel noticeably different, so if you felt that your 1 11/16 was slightly difficult/too wide at times, the 1 5/8 will be better. And I think you must have had one of the rare mid 60s F30s with 1 11/16, as I thought they were also mainly 1 5/8 (I had a 1967 F30 for a time that was 1 5/8 at the nut, and would love to own a 60s F30 with a 1 11/16" nut width). But there are other considerations, such as the neck profile. I have an older F20 with 1 5/8 at the nut, but the profile is sort of chunky compared to modern slim neck acoustics. I'd assume that your old '66 F30 and this one will have similar profiles, but then, I believe the neck profiles do vary depending on who made it. Maybe someone else can weigh in on this. The 60s profiles though I think are slimmer and faster than the 50s ones, in general, so you should be okay on that point.
 

LTTele

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Thanks everyone, no I won't be able to play it first. I was hoping he might take $1350 shipped, but IDK. What do I do about the fact that the truss rod plate got put on backwards?

I sold the F30 because I thought I was done playing guitars for awhile. I had been interested in small bodies since I learned about the Collings 0, so I wondered if this would be along those lines. I am mainly a strummer and some fingerpicking, but would love feedback on if as a strummer, this F20 may not be the right guitar, if single note picking is more what it was designed for, I am not sure?
 

jfilm

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The truss rod plate is just a matter of unscrewing the two screws, and turning it around, no worries there. I think the F20 could work for your style, though it's definitely quieter than the F30. You can get some idea from the video they posted about the sound when strumming- my F20 is plenty loud but it's a bit different in that it has maple back and sides. I'm not familiar with the Collings. If you aren't sure, maybe it would be worth it to go for something in a lower price range? The foreign-built Guild GADS are particularly good for the money, I'm thinking about the GAD M20 or M120. There's also a Westerly Collection version of these, though I haven't tried them. You're looking at $350-500 for one of those, more or less. Seems like a gamble if you've never played an F20 to order at this price... you can always resell down the line, but might end up taking a loss.
 

grayhermit

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Great little guitars. I've had several over the years, and I've always liked them. But, that 1 5/8" nut just won't work for me. Way too narrow. I think it's an excellent dealer price especially considering the very nice condition.
 

jfilm

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Rewatched and realize he hardly strums the F20 - here's a better video of a '65 F20.
 

jedzep

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That vid presents the guitar very nicely, however I always factor in the player's ability to control the recording's EQ to optimize.

This is more like what I recall mine sounding like, also mic'd etc. I owned 2 Hobo F20's in my time. Strings make a big dif too...gauge and type.

 
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Br1ck

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The fact that Charles Johnson moved from Virginia to Florida a while ago, I'd say a year, and Richie was his luthier and demo guy in Virginia tells me the guitar has been for sale for a while, for whatever that's worth.
 

sailingshoes72

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Actually, Brick, this is a fairly new listing... maybe in the last two months. The F-20 first showed up on Charles’ site about a year ago, but it has been listed as “in the shop for repairs”. I like to visit the site regularly and have been waiting for when the F-20 would be offered for sale.
 

LTTele

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Actually, Brick, this is a fairly new listing... maybe in the last two months. The F-20 first showed up on Charles’ site about a year ago, but it has been listed as “in the shop for repairs”. I like to visit the site regularly and have been waiting for when the F-20 would be offered for sale.
Thanks SailingShoes72, so are you thinking of buying it? Is it a fair price in your opinion? I was steered to my first F30 from a fella that knows what he is talking about and said my style of playing seemed suited to a F30, so i just kinda assumed an F20 would be okay too?
 

jedzep

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I feel your uncertainty with this, Lisa, and you had mentioned you thought you might throw an offer. The added info of someone you respect suggesting it fits your style tells me if it were me, I'd make the offer and try for this guitar. I know it can be a hassle and cost a couple bucks to resell, but if you look at the time you try it out as rental of an instrument that might be just right, especially of nicer quality vintage period that is only available online, you could regret not trying it out for size. I've been swapping in and out for years on that philosophy and it's been gratifying.

I assume you would be welcome to return it if it wasn't right for you.
 

sailingshoes72

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These Hoboken-made F-20 guitars are great small guitars! It will have less volume than your F-30, but it has a very sweet tone for strumming or finger-picking. Charles Johnson is very knowledgable about vintage instruments and his descriptions are usually accurate. I think that this is a fair price because it already has had the neck reset to the proper angle. This is a common, and often necessary, repair for acoustic guitars that are 50 years old. You should ask Charles about his "trial period" and return policy. And he does say in his introduction... "please feel free to make an offer". I am not in the market to purchase this instrument, but I visit Mandolin World Headquarters regularly because he often has cool vintage stringed instruments for sale.
 

LTTele

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Thanks All, I think I am going to call him and chat about it and go from there.......
 

jedzep

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Great! Have a ball! Now you get to try out a zillion different strings. More fun.

Dave
 

sailingshoes72

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Congratulations! I'm looking forward to hearing about your impressions of the guitar. I hope that it is a good match for your style of playing.
 
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