bayoubengal1954
Junior Member
I bring you the Killdeer F112-6 Part Deux!
Veterans of this forum know about the conversion of Joe's (killdeer43) F112 from a 12 string to a six string.
The reasoning behind it is that many of us love the 70's era Guild F30s for the tone and body shape (mahogany b/s) and they can be bought at a pretty reasonable price compared to old Gibsons and Martins.
The problem is that the nut width on many of them can be as tiny as 1 5/8" (the specs say 1 11/16" but in my experience they seem to really run smaller).
As luck would have it, during the same era Guild made a 12 String called the F112 which had the exact same body shape as the F30. Two main differences: a slightly heavier build (which doesn't bother me) and of course a bigger nut width (1 13/16" or maybe 1 7/8") to accommodate 12 strings. Nice!
When I got on this forum I found that Joe had done this conversion himself. I found and purchased a 1972 F112 and have been corresponding with Joe about his experience. He has been very gracious and helpful. I do not have Joe's skills so I enlisted Aaron and Benjamin at Strange Guitarworks here in New Orleans to do the work.
They did this:
1.) They used the tuning keys at the 2, 4 and 6 positions and filled in the unused holes at the 1, 3 and 5 on the headstock.
2.) I bought six replacement tuning machines to replace the 6 on a plate that came with the guitar.
3.) Then of course they had to cut a new nut to get the spacing correct since the old nut was for 12 strings.
4.) Since we were only using the 6 front end pin holes, they filled in the back 6 holes.
5.) They refinished the headstock to somewhat camouflage where the six holes have been plugged.
I got it back yesterday and I could not be happier! It looks great and sounds even better. The nut width makes it so comfortable to play and it is a fingerpicker's delight.
Here are the before and after pictures:
Before:
After:
Veterans of this forum know about the conversion of Joe's (killdeer43) F112 from a 12 string to a six string.
The reasoning behind it is that many of us love the 70's era Guild F30s for the tone and body shape (mahogany b/s) and they can be bought at a pretty reasonable price compared to old Gibsons and Martins.
The problem is that the nut width on many of them can be as tiny as 1 5/8" (the specs say 1 11/16" but in my experience they seem to really run smaller).
As luck would have it, during the same era Guild made a 12 String called the F112 which had the exact same body shape as the F30. Two main differences: a slightly heavier build (which doesn't bother me) and of course a bigger nut width (1 13/16" or maybe 1 7/8") to accommodate 12 strings. Nice!
When I got on this forum I found that Joe had done this conversion himself. I found and purchased a 1972 F112 and have been corresponding with Joe about his experience. He has been very gracious and helpful. I do not have Joe's skills so I enlisted Aaron and Benjamin at Strange Guitarworks here in New Orleans to do the work.
They did this:
1.) They used the tuning keys at the 2, 4 and 6 positions and filled in the unused holes at the 1, 3 and 5 on the headstock.
2.) I bought six replacement tuning machines to replace the 6 on a plate that came with the guitar.
3.) Then of course they had to cut a new nut to get the spacing correct since the old nut was for 12 strings.
4.) Since we were only using the 6 front end pin holes, they filled in the back 6 holes.
5.) They refinished the headstock to somewhat camouflage where the six holes have been plugged.
I got it back yesterday and I could not be happier! It looks great and sounds even better. The nut width makes it so comfortable to play and it is a fingerpicker's delight.
Here are the before and after pictures:
Before:
After:
Last edited: