Guild JF30-E

[drrock]

Several years ago I purchased a 1996 (I think) Westerly JF30-E. Label says JF30-BLE. Serial AJ301864. I Love this guitar! I cannot find any info on here about these six string acoustic/electrics which is surprising. Can anyone shed share any information on this model? Is it a rarity at all? I just don’t understand why it seems so obscure. Thanks! Just realized I posted this in the arch tops thread so I copied into acoustic/electric. Cannot figure out how to delete it here so my apologies!

 

[fronobulax]

Moved.

I'm not expecting this to be rare or obscure, but it does come from a time when names were changed which can make finding info harder. Stay tuned. Someone who knows what they are talking about will be long

 

[Cougar]

I'm not expecting this to be rare or obscure....

Yeah, not too rare -- there are currently 11 for sale on reverb (well, one is a GAD, so that doesn't count), and nearly 40 show as being sold on reverb within the not too distant past (unsure how far past).

But you're right, drrock -- they are fantastic Guild jumbos! So yours came with electronics? And the BL refers to blonde, I think, but that's a guess. My JF30-12 is one of my most prized possessions....;

 

[drrock]

Yeah, not too rare -- there are currently 11 for sale on reverb (well, one is a GAD, so that doesn't count), and nearly 40 show as being sold on reverb within the not too distant past (unsure how far past).

But you're right, drrock -- they are fantastic Guild jumbos! So yours came with electronics? And the BL refers to blonde, I think, but that's a guess. My JF30-12 is one of my most prized possessions....;

On Reverb I see the 11 but only one appears to be factory electric and it’s a 12 string. The other, which mentions a pickup IS a six, and it has a bridge pickup but no volume control. Mine has volume and tone controls on the upper arm. Pic coming.

 

[Westerly Wood]

These are basically striped down F50s, right?
I can see why you love yours then.

 

[drrock]

Pic



View attachment 18135

 

[drrock]

Apologize for the duplicates...trying to get the hang of this!

 

[Cougar]

Apologize for the duplicates...trying to get the hang of this!

No problem. Yeah, I had a blue Westerly JF30-12 with that kind of electronics. Even though she was a beauty, she couldn't compete with my Corona-built, so I had to let her go....

 

[drrock]

No problem. Yeah, I had a blue Westerly JF30-12 with that kind of electronics. Even though she was a beauty, she couldn't compete with my Corona-built, so I had to let her go....

What were the differences you saw?

 

[davismanLV]

So i get confused between these years and the J and the JF so is this a small jumbo or a full sized one? 16" or 17" across the lower bout? Anyway, what a nice guitar and i'm big fan of maple and the arched back ones without the bracing in the back are awesome!! More people will be along to help with what you want to know. Thanks for the photos!! NICE!!

 

[davismanLV]

p.s.- what's that black one to the left with the oval soundhole?? Just curious....

 

[drrock]

It’s a Palmer. Really nice guitars. Needs a set of strings. It’s my son’s who is out of town working a few months. I really ought to string it up and play it as it’s really nice.

 

[SFIV1967]

Apologize for the duplicates...trying to get the hang of this!

When you edit the orginal message now at the end you see the little pictures, you can simply delete the dupicates there. Try it.
Ralf

 

[bobouz]

So i get confused between these years and the J and the JF so is this a small jumbo or a full sized one? 16" or 17" across the lower bout?

The JF-30 is a full size 17" jumbo. It features a laminated maple arched back, solid maple sides, and 3-piece maple neck. The 'E' version adds electronics. This is the same platform as an F-50, minus the bling. Typically they represent an excellent value, especially when you consider that many of them feature highly figured maple throughout.

Here’s the back of my 1994 JF-30:

 

[SFIV1967]

Several years ago I purchased a 1996 (I think) Westerly JF30-E. Label says JF30-BLE. Serial AJ301864.

That is a 1997 made one.

And I see you turned the neck pup on the Starfire III around!

Ralf

 

[drrock]

When you edit the orginal message now at the end you see the little pictures, you can simply delete the dupicates there. Try it.
Ralf

Yep, tried that several times and when I hit “send” or whatever, I was only seeing the ones I wanted to display. I’ll play around w it and figure out what I did wrong. Thanks!

 

[drrock]

That is a 1997 made one.

And I see you turned the neck pup on the Starfire III around!

Ralf

Thanks Ralf! I don’t remember doing the neck pup and if I did it was an accident and not likely. Are you a fan of this because it takes a little brightness off? I’m curious.

 

[adorshki]

So i get confused between these years and the J and the JF so is this a small jumbo or a full sized one? 16" or 17" across the lower bout?

Think you mean "F" and "JF"? (No "J" in Guild models) but no biggy, real point is:
All JF's are 17" it's what the JF means.
GF's were the 16" jumbo bodies at the time.

Several years ago I purchased a 1996 (I think) Westerly JF30-E. Label says JF30-BLE. Serial AJ301864.

Nobody's mentioned yet, but "BL" means "Blonde" and the E is for electric. Actually not too uncommon although I think the 12-string version was more common.

As others mentioned it was basically a blinged-down F50, in fact for a couple of price lists ca. '87 there wasn't even an F50, only the JF30.
Suspect you couldn't find any references because the search function usually doesn't deal well with model numbers only, and especially if you entered it as a JF30 BLE.

 

[davismanLV]

Think you mean "F" and "JF"? (No "J" in Guild models) but no biggy, real point is:
All JF's are 17" it's what the JF means.
GF's were the 16" jumbo bodies at the time.

Yeah, you're right. I mean F, not J. Silly me. I do love the GF's. Nice size guitar.

 

[dreadnut]

I almost bought a NOS black JF30, no knobs, back in the day. it had a really big sound. I finally decided to buy it and they told me they just sold it to some kid about an hour ago. Damn!