tmessenger
Junior Member
This story really begins about 30 years ago when I was over at a friend's house just minding my own business when he asked if I'd like to see his Martin brownie. Well, I was all in for that so he pulls out his all-mahogany 1920's vintage 2-17. It was a beautifully carved & curved little lady that smelled of solidarity and prohibition with a lovely soft warm voice, so delicious. Fast forward to sometime around 2017 and again I was just minding my own business poking around on Reverb when I came across this strange to me Guild brownie. A Mark I folk style classical, hmm now that's a unique guitar, US-made with all solid mahogany tonewoods I was more than intrigued. I realize this Mark was the bottom feeder of the Guild line but still it seemed under-loved with an easy entry point. Try any 60's Martin on for size and see how it fits in your wallet.
The deal, like every vintage guitar buyer out there I really wanted to get a good survivor without major structural issues, played in not played out. And here's the conundrum, how to make that happen sight unseen. Buying a vintage acoustic off of the bay is a crapshoot at best but sometimes you just have to step up to the table. No one wants a vintage acoustics for sale by an over-caffeinated owner, "Yeah it needs a little work but we stored it in the corner of the shower so it's nice and clean". It's also best to try and avoid a guitar that's been treated by the not so talented repair guy. I bought an early 60's Gibson B25 years ago (cheap) that had been taken to one of these hack-men and oh my I couldn't believe my eyes, I wouldn't let this guy chop my firewood let alone work on a guitar. Note: the B25 had a happy ending after much of my labor, including removing the back and the 3/4" thick maple bridge plate he had glued in. It's being played and enjoyed by a friend to this day. So anyway I spied a 60's vintage MKI on the bay that was claimed to be structurally sound, with no breaks, cracks, repairs, and etc. The ad had good photos that showed what could possibly be a good one so I decided to throw down my chips and let'em roll baby.
Conception, what was going on in the minds of those Guild factory craftsmen in 1965 when this Mark was crafted? The American consciousness was being inundated with lots of new concepts back then, hippies, free love, Twiggy, war protest, on and on. Dylan was Like a Rolling Stone, the Rolling Stones can't get no satisfaction but James Brown got a brand new bag. The Beatles got a ticket to ride when they played the Shea and set a world record for the most hysterically exuberant teenyboppers in one place at any one time. Pop was here to stay while LBJ ramps it up and Joan Baez screamed stop in perfect pitch. Oh yeah this '65 Mark should be dripping with 1960s good vibrations, how could it be any other way?
Arrival and survey, time to put on the detective shoes and find out if I'm the muffin man or a kingmaker. I'm pleased to report that structurally the Mark I is right on, really clean and tidy inside the body. The neck has no forward bow with just the right amount of relief at the 6th fret and the neck set is at or very close to the factory spec IMO (photo). The tuning machines have light wear and needed to be disassembled, polished, and lubed also the plastic peg barrels were cracked so I have given them some plastic epoxy fill. There is was a statistically significant disproportionate ratio of small dings and dents to guitar usage (practice saying that a few times before you try to use it in a conversation) on the sides, edges, flat surfaces, everywhere. Also, there are marks on the headstock that show something had been wired on. The original case that it came in is nearly perfect so it was used for storage, it never or rarely traveled in that case. I'm speculating this was a school music classroom guitar it would explain all the small dings with the headstock having an inventory number tag wired to it.
This is my first Guild and I didn't know what to expect. There's not a lot of info about the Mark I on the net other than players that have them seem to like'em. After doing a major clean/touch up on this one and carefully inspected it, including using my extendable mirror and flashlight through the soundhole I've found a very well-crafted and finished guitar. It would seem that Guild met their price point through lack of adornments and not by cutting material quality or assembly detail. I have some new saddle blanks on the way and am looking forward to finishing her up.
End...
The deal, like every vintage guitar buyer out there I really wanted to get a good survivor without major structural issues, played in not played out. And here's the conundrum, how to make that happen sight unseen. Buying a vintage acoustic off of the bay is a crapshoot at best but sometimes you just have to step up to the table. No one wants a vintage acoustics for sale by an over-caffeinated owner, "Yeah it needs a little work but we stored it in the corner of the shower so it's nice and clean". It's also best to try and avoid a guitar that's been treated by the not so talented repair guy. I bought an early 60's Gibson B25 years ago (cheap) that had been taken to one of these hack-men and oh my I couldn't believe my eyes, I wouldn't let this guy chop my firewood let alone work on a guitar. Note: the B25 had a happy ending after much of my labor, including removing the back and the 3/4" thick maple bridge plate he had glued in. It's being played and enjoyed by a friend to this day. So anyway I spied a 60's vintage MKI on the bay that was claimed to be structurally sound, with no breaks, cracks, repairs, and etc. The ad had good photos that showed what could possibly be a good one so I decided to throw down my chips and let'em roll baby.
Conception, what was going on in the minds of those Guild factory craftsmen in 1965 when this Mark was crafted? The American consciousness was being inundated with lots of new concepts back then, hippies, free love, Twiggy, war protest, on and on. Dylan was Like a Rolling Stone, the Rolling Stones can't get no satisfaction but James Brown got a brand new bag. The Beatles got a ticket to ride when they played the Shea and set a world record for the most hysterically exuberant teenyboppers in one place at any one time. Pop was here to stay while LBJ ramps it up and Joan Baez screamed stop in perfect pitch. Oh yeah this '65 Mark should be dripping with 1960s good vibrations, how could it be any other way?
Arrival and survey, time to put on the detective shoes and find out if I'm the muffin man or a kingmaker. I'm pleased to report that structurally the Mark I is right on, really clean and tidy inside the body. The neck has no forward bow with just the right amount of relief at the 6th fret and the neck set is at or very close to the factory spec IMO (photo). The tuning machines have light wear and needed to be disassembled, polished, and lubed also the plastic peg barrels were cracked so I have given them some plastic epoxy fill. There is was a statistically significant disproportionate ratio of small dings and dents to guitar usage (practice saying that a few times before you try to use it in a conversation) on the sides, edges, flat surfaces, everywhere. Also, there are marks on the headstock that show something had been wired on. The original case that it came in is nearly perfect so it was used for storage, it never or rarely traveled in that case. I'm speculating this was a school music classroom guitar it would explain all the small dings with the headstock having an inventory number tag wired to it.
This is my first Guild and I didn't know what to expect. There's not a lot of info about the Mark I on the net other than players that have them seem to like'em. After doing a major clean/touch up on this one and carefully inspected it, including using my extendable mirror and flashlight through the soundhole I've found a very well-crafted and finished guitar. It would seem that Guild met their price point through lack of adornments and not by cutting material quality or assembly detail. I have some new saddle blanks on the way and am looking forward to finishing her up.
End...
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