I will start this with an excerpt of a note I wrote to Tom Jacobs, of JACOBS CUSTOM GUITARS, INC in Merrit Island Florida
"Hello Tom,
I recently was given a 1964 Guild M-30 by the original owner who never learned to play it and basically kept it in a case for 50+ years. It was never abused, but time has taken it’s toll and it has a few age related problems. I’m hoping that you will consider taking on a restoration project. I am a player not collector so I’m looking more for integrity and function than historical accuracy.
This model of guitar has a personal attachment for me. When I was a teenager in New Jersey a close friend had a hand-me-down Guild M-30 and I with our circle of brothers and friends would pass it around when we Jammed together. It was the first quality guitar I ever got to play and it is legend to us. That guitar ( a “ Ghost Label” C:1959-60) is now in the care of my brother in Santa Cruz, CA.The original owner moved on to South Carolina and pre-war Gibsons and we are all still in touch through life and music. As I recollect I can honestly say I never saw another Guild M-30 before or since until I peeked into a crappy chipboard guitar case while helping a friend pack up his house that was going to be demolished by the State of NJ. I told him he needed to buy a better guitar case, and the next day he took me aside and gave me the guitar to keep. I told him how much that guitar meant to me, and promised that it would be well loved and played often.
When I brought the guitar home, I removed the old strings (possibly original??) and strung it with light gauge acoustic tuned to DADGAD. Strummed open it sounded like Angels with their harps… beautiful.
When I woke from my dream and took a close look at the guitar itself I could see it has many issues that may need to be rectified…
The plastic veneer on the headstock has shrunk bit and lifted. The plastic pick guard while still attached has shrunk and is causing depression in the top below the sound hole. The bridge is starting to lift from the back and has split in the upper rear corner. The lower bout has a mild belly behind the bridge and it’s missing a strap peg.
The most obvious problem is the neck angle. While the neck itself seems pretty straight, the strings are way too high (13/32” at the 14th fret.) I’m pretty sure it is going to need a neck reset.
I have called around to local guitar repair shops around Philadelphia,PA where I live, and the few who offer to work on this guitar are booked many months into the future.
I have been on the “Let’s Talk Guild” website and you were recommended by many participants on that forum (my forum name is chrisdb and the posts I am referring to are under the title “nobody wants to work on a vintage Guild acoustic” if you are interested). Their advice has been very helpful about how to go about getting this guitar fixed up. I’ve had a little experience servicing and modifying my own guitars, and have built an acoustic guitar from a custom kit from LMI. I was on the fence about taking on this restoration project myself and have come to the conclusion that I can’t take a chance on screwing it up. I want to find someone who knows and likes to work on old Guilds and that guy is you.
Although this was in the Catalog as a “budget” guitar it is priceless to me. Please let me know if you can take on this project. If you would like to see the guitar before deciding I will arrange to have it delivered to you.
thanks."
My Guild came back to me from Tom's shop a couple weeks ago and I couldn't be more pleased - everything that was wrong was made right. Some problems were obvious and others, like the top braces under the pickguard coming loose, weren't obvious to the untrained eye. The repairs were all done with respect for the original guitar - the only alteration to the original was the addition of a bone saddle and fresh pegs in the bridge.
I've been enjoying playing it daily and getting to know this guitar. I think it plays more easily than any acoustic guitar I have ever played...It's setup perrfectly for finger-style play, and still sounds to me like angels singing.
As an aside, when I asked my brother in Santa Cruz to send me a pic of the label of the M-30 he has so I could look up the date of manufacture, he did so with apologies. It turns out the serial number had faded over time to invisibility. I had to chuckle when I saw the pic of a Ghost playing a Guild guitar
"Hello Tom,
I recently was given a 1964 Guild M-30 by the original owner who never learned to play it and basically kept it in a case for 50+ years. It was never abused, but time has taken it’s toll and it has a few age related problems. I’m hoping that you will consider taking on a restoration project. I am a player not collector so I’m looking more for integrity and function than historical accuracy.
This model of guitar has a personal attachment for me. When I was a teenager in New Jersey a close friend had a hand-me-down Guild M-30 and I with our circle of brothers and friends would pass it around when we Jammed together. It was the first quality guitar I ever got to play and it is legend to us. That guitar ( a “ Ghost Label” C:1959-60) is now in the care of my brother in Santa Cruz, CA.The original owner moved on to South Carolina and pre-war Gibsons and we are all still in touch through life and music. As I recollect I can honestly say I never saw another Guild M-30 before or since until I peeked into a crappy chipboard guitar case while helping a friend pack up his house that was going to be demolished by the State of NJ. I told him he needed to buy a better guitar case, and the next day he took me aside and gave me the guitar to keep. I told him how much that guitar meant to me, and promised that it would be well loved and played often.
When I brought the guitar home, I removed the old strings (possibly original??) and strung it with light gauge acoustic tuned to DADGAD. Strummed open it sounded like Angels with their harps… beautiful.
When I woke from my dream and took a close look at the guitar itself I could see it has many issues that may need to be rectified…
The plastic veneer on the headstock has shrunk bit and lifted. The plastic pick guard while still attached has shrunk and is causing depression in the top below the sound hole. The bridge is starting to lift from the back and has split in the upper rear corner. The lower bout has a mild belly behind the bridge and it’s missing a strap peg.
The most obvious problem is the neck angle. While the neck itself seems pretty straight, the strings are way too high (13/32” at the 14th fret.) I’m pretty sure it is going to need a neck reset.
I have called around to local guitar repair shops around Philadelphia,PA where I live, and the few who offer to work on this guitar are booked many months into the future.
I have been on the “Let’s Talk Guild” website and you were recommended by many participants on that forum (my forum name is chrisdb and the posts I am referring to are under the title “nobody wants to work on a vintage Guild acoustic” if you are interested). Their advice has been very helpful about how to go about getting this guitar fixed up. I’ve had a little experience servicing and modifying my own guitars, and have built an acoustic guitar from a custom kit from LMI. I was on the fence about taking on this restoration project myself and have come to the conclusion that I can’t take a chance on screwing it up. I want to find someone who knows and likes to work on old Guilds and that guy is you.
Although this was in the Catalog as a “budget” guitar it is priceless to me. Please let me know if you can take on this project. If you would like to see the guitar before deciding I will arrange to have it delivered to you.
thanks."
My Guild came back to me from Tom's shop a couple weeks ago and I couldn't be more pleased - everything that was wrong was made right. Some problems were obvious and others, like the top braces under the pickguard coming loose, weren't obvious to the untrained eye. The repairs were all done with respect for the original guitar - the only alteration to the original was the addition of a bone saddle and fresh pegs in the bridge.
I've been enjoying playing it daily and getting to know this guitar. I think it plays more easily than any acoustic guitar I have ever played...It's setup perrfectly for finger-style play, and still sounds to me like angels singing.
As an aside, when I asked my brother in Santa Cruz to send me a pic of the label of the M-30 he has so I could look up the date of manufacture, he did so with apologies. It turns out the serial number had faded over time to invisibility. I had to chuckle when I saw the pic of a Ghost playing a Guild guitar
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