1964 Guild Mark IV on Ebay

[Metalman]

Well, I did it; each year for the last 5 or 6 years I have succeeded in purchasing one guitar before the year is out, and I just won on Ebay a 1964 Mark IV. This is the one with spruce top, and PEARWOOD back and sides.

This guitar was made in Hoboken, NJ, and I am looking forward to gettting it. Another reason for this purchase, besides the price, is that 1964 is the year I started playing guitar.

Got a good deal on it, I hope ($243, plus shipping), and now I want to hear from others who own any of the Mark series classical guitars, especially from this period.

Also, any Guild Mark sightings out there? Did anybody in the professional world use these guitars? I have yet to see one in the hands of any pros.

I know no other info on the Mark Series, other than what I read in Hans' book.

 

[West R Lee]

I started to suggest to my wife that we score that one just for the heck of it Metal, but it seemed no one was serious about bidding on the '85 Mark IV, so we went for it. We'll compare notes when they arrive. Congratulations to you....heck of a deal you got there.

West

 

[Metalman]

I started to suggest to my wife that we score that one just for the heck of it Metal, but it seemed no one was serious about bidding on the '85 Mark IV, so we went for it. We'll compare notes when they arrive. Congratulations to you....heck of a deal you got there.

West

That is sort of the same attitude I had in bidding on this one. Figured, what the heck, the price is low, go for it. Really didn't care if I got outbid at the end . . .Like I did LAST week . . . . :x !

Yes, I was sort of watching that '85 Mark IV as well, looked really nice, but surprisingly the price was much higher than the '64 Mark IV!
Well, it is in better shape. Mine has a few cracks in the hull.

Was that the one with the cedar top, and laminated rosewood back and sides? If that's so, then I know now why I didn't go for it: I already have a smiliar model, in the Yamaha classical.

So when you get that, by all means, lets compare notes . . .it's one of the things that make it fun bidding and buying.

 

[chazzan]

Congradulations- hope you both enjoy your guitars!!!!!!

the 85' looked nice but "sigh" I think 5 is enough for now- it took a long time to come to this point- still in the big picture 5 guitars is Abundance, but anyway.........

I have 2 Guild classicals a 78'mark ii and a 79 Mark IV- the mark IV is solid rosewood b&s with a cedar top- the II had solid mahogany/cedar

they sound great- the mark IV is made a little deeper and wider, so it has a loud fat sound- it may need a neckset in a few years- FYI guild classicals do not have a spanish heel so you CAN reset the neck on them if needed

I don't know of anybody with a "name" that plays them but everybody in the know around where I live "professional musicians/ music store owners" feel Guild classicals are a great value

I'd be curious to read how yours sound....................

 

[Metalman]

Congradulations- hope you both enjoy your guitars!!!!!!

they sound great- the mark IV is made a little deeper and wider, so it has a loud fat sound- it may need a neckset in a few years- FYI guild classicals do not have a spanish heel so you CAN reset the neck on them if needed

I'd be curious to read how yours sound....................

Chazzan,

Appreciate your comments on the Mark series Guilds. I have been playing acoustics since 1965, and this is my first serious foray into nylon stringed guitars.

For the price I paid for this model ($243), a neckset is an affordable option, if needed. I liken it to root canal.

What do you mean by a "spanish heel", and what does the lack of it have to do with making a neck reset easier, or even do-able at all?

When I get the guitar, I might take a trip into Manhattan with it, show it to Carlo Greco and get his comments. He might have even made it himself.

Wow, should I have him sign it?

 

[Guildmark]

Nice get, Metalman!
Looking forward to your review and pictures!

 

[hansmoust]

I have 2 Guild classicals a 78'mark ii and a 79 Mark IV- the mark IV is solid rosewood b&s with a cedar top- the II had solid mahogany/cedar

they sound great- the mark IV is made a little deeper and wider, so it has a loud fat sound- it may need a neckset in a few years- FYI guild classicals do not have a spanish heel so you CAN reset the neck on them if needed

What do you mean by a "spanish heel", and what does the lack of it have to do with making a neck reset easier, or even do-able at all?

Hello Metalman,

The 'spanish heel' refers to the way that spanish guitars are built traditionally; they don't have a separate neck and neck block, meaning they're one and the same piece of wood; hence no dovetail neck joint.
Guild classical guitars have the necks made separately from the body, just like the steel string acoustics. This makes it possible to remove the neck and adjust the angle.

Hello chazzan,

Maybe you would find it interesting to know that the high-end Guild classicals from the 60's and '70s were made by Carlo Greco by hand and those were done with a 'spanish heel'.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[chazzan]

Thanks Hans for weighing in on the "Spanish Heel"

I'm curious, which guitars were the handmade ones by Carlo Greco?

My luthier said my mark IV did not have a spanish heel- my guess is that the handmade guitars were the Mark V and VI, while the rest of the Mark series from IV down was factory made, at least in the late 70's- although Hans I read your book and I think you mentioned CG retired in the late 70's.

 

[hansmoust]

My luthier said my mark IV did not have a spanish heel- my guess is that the handmade guitars were the Mark V and VI, while the rest of the Mark series from IV down was factory made, at least in the late 70's- although Hans I read your book and I think you mentioned CG retired in the late 70's.

Yes, they were the V, VI and the VII. Carlo Greco left in 1977 but he didn't retire. People from that generation do not retire. They just keep working.
By the time that Carlo left the Mark VI and VII already had been discontinued for quite some years.
I have not personally inspected a Mark V that was made in Westerly between 1973 and 1977, so I wouldn't know if those still would have had a 'spanish heel'.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[gilded]

Hans,

How do Guild classicals sound compared to say, the traditional classic builders?

Are the Marks something you can use to play a strong classical repertoire with, or are they just a cool,
'nylon string guitar to have fun with' kind of thing?

By way of example, a friend has a '60's Martin classical, like Wille Nelson's guitar. It's a really nice, fun guitar but it isn't a Ramirez or a Hauser, etc., either student or professional grade.

What do you think?

By the way, West, your new guitar belonged to guitarslinger, one of the forum members. He listed that guitar a few weeks ago here on the forum. I thought long and hard about bidding on it, but missed the end of the auction due to holiday traffic. That's what I get for driving down to Austin on a Holiday weekend to buy another Hammond/Leslie outfit!

Congrats! gilded

 

[hansmoust]

How do Guild classicals sound compared to say, the traditional classic builders?

Are the Marks something you can use to play a strong classical repertoire with, or are they just a cool,
'nylon string guitar to have fun with' kind of thing?

By way of example, a friend has a '60's Martin classical, like Wille Nelson's guitar. It's a really nice, fun guitar but it isn't a Ramirez or a Hauser, etc., either student or professional grade.

Hello gilded,

As far as American factory made guitars are concerned, Guild classical guitars from the '60s were probably the closest to traditional classic (read Spanish) instruments. However, just like classical guitars from Spain, Guild had entry level guitars as well and you wouldn't expect those to compare to a Ramirez.
I believe that the Mark III and IV were good guitars to start on but if you were going to study classical music you would probably switch to something better eventually. All of the Mark Vs and VIs that I came across were really nice instruments and the half a dozen or so Mark VII I've seen and played were top-notch classical guitars.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[tjmangum]

Congrats on the Mark IV! I have a 67 one and really like the sound of the pearwood. Kenny Rankin plays a Mark IV: http://www.wamcarts.org/kennyrankin.html
Cheers,
tj

 

[West R Lee]

I had never heard of Kenny Rankin....very good stuff TJ.

West

 

[Metalman]

Well, the Mark IV arrived today, and it is going back; it is in pretty bad shape.

The pictures did not properly describe the flaws in this guitar. Too many cracks, and the top as well as the back was warped from the cracks. And the guitar buzzed in those cracks. Action was very high, and the whole package was just not something I could justify keeping .

All the TLC that I could give it would not make this instrument pleasing or playable.

Sigh . . too bad.

 

[mikehalloran]

The tops on the Mark II-VII series are spruce until the mid-late 1980s. That red tint that Guild used in the lacquer fools nearly everyone.

 

[hansmoust]

The tops on the Mark II-VII series are spruce until the mid-late 1980s. That red tint that Guild used in the lacquer fools nearly everyone.

Hello Mike,

Yes, I agree that most people cannot keep them apart but as far as the use of cedar for classical guitar tops is concerned, that started during the mid-'70s. However, Guild was not very consistent in the use of top wood for classical guitars and you will find similar models from about the same period of which some will have spruce and others will have cedar tops. I haven't been able to find a pattern yet.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Brad Little]

From Metalman >Also, any Guild Mark sightings out there? Did anybody in the professional world use these guitars? I have yet to see one in the hands of any pros. <

Charlie Byrd endorsed them for a while, and I think Gene Beroncini might have as well.

From Hans >I have not personally inspected a Mark V that was made in Westerly between 1973 and 1977, so I wouldn't know if those still would have had a 'spanish heel'. <

I have a Mark V from 1975 and it has a Spanish Heel.

Also from Hans>As far as American factory made guitars are concerned, Guild classical guitars from the '60s were probably the closest to traditional classic (read Spanish) instruments. However, just like classical guitars from Spain, Guild had entry level guitars as well and you wouldn't expect those to compare to a Ramirez. <

I spent two years in a B. Mus. Program (classical guitar performance) and my Mark V lost nothing in sound and playability in comparison to the three Ramirez 1As of two students and the teacher –of course theirs cost a lot more.

Hans again> Yes, I agree that most people cannot keep them apart but as far as the use of cedar for classical guitar tops is concerned, that started during the mid-'70s. However, Guild was not very consistent in the use of top wood for classical guitars and you will find similar models from about the same period of which some will have spruce and others will have cedar tops. I haven't been able to find a pattern yet.<

I’ve always thought mine was a cedar top, as mush for its sound as the color, but I may be wrong. If, as Hans said in one post, Carlo Greco made the top of the line classicals even in Westerly, he may have used whichever one he thought was a better piece of tonewood.

Brad Little