I'd guess the neck & headstock have been replaced then. An F-50/F-50R should have a bound, G-shielded headstock and bound neck with block and triangle inlays and the "railroad tracks" on the fretboard.
100% agreement, or maybe just the fretboard and headstock overlay.
could be a great guitar, but realize that it's not in original condition.
Been combing the dusty cobwebs of my memory for
any potential "G-shield" headstocks
without binding, and on a "dot" neck to boot?
Can only think of the DV52 with dot ebony board, but those were mounted on necks with narrow "snakehead" headstocks with chesterfield.
We did see
another mid '70's F50R whose neck binding had been removed and replaced with ebony, just recently, but that was all..
Hi,
I have an opportunity to buy a vintage 1973 Guild for approx. 1400 dollars (in Danish crowns). It's used and worn but the neck is fine, action is nice, and the tone is out of this world (the tuners are floundering, however, and would need to be changed).
Now I need your help. It's jumbo-sized and supposedly F50R (that's what the vignette inside says). But see the picture - the inlays are only dot and the pickguard is simple black plastic. Is this a downgraded version? Any tips.
Is it worth the money?
I will be so grateful for answers.
Thank you.
Welcome aboard torpedo!
Suspect fingerboard at least was replaced. An F50R neck should have a centerstrip, should look like this:
If it doesn't have that centerstrip, then it's not an F50R neck, and to be frank, I'd move on. A replaced
fretboard I could live with, but necks are a
huge part of Guild's playability, and without a genuine Guild neck I'd say value is reduced to maybe half of current market values, if not even less.
Inside, however, is clear F50R made in 1973.
Dates were never shown on label, if it's on there, it was added. At that time, date might have been found stamped on a top brace.
Do this: Verify s/n on label and headstock match.
Send s/n to Hans Moust at his website
http://www.guitarchives.nl/guitarsgalore/ for the most authoritative answer on whether that s/n was an F50R; he actually has a database of guitars he's seen or had reported to him, as well as production records from Westerly.
What's interesting is that fretboard appears to have the correct "radiused corners" at the end, even though lacking any other inlays normally found on the ebony boards. So it wouldn't surprise me if it was replaced with a factory "blank" and the dots added at that time.
Re headstock overlay: Overlays
were in fact made of a fiberboard material at the time, and it would be pretty easy (for a professional repair person) to salvage the G-shield and logo from the original overlay and inlay 'em into the new overlay, and just leave off the binding, since neck doesn't have it either.
We've even seen "new old stock" examples of both fretboards and overlays come up on the internet as old luthier stashes come up for sale.
Plastic pickguard is correct, too. Overall, beginning to suspect the guitar had what appears (from the one photo) to be some good quality repair work.
Not too sure about the $1400.00 price tag in that situation, though. Hopefully some other European members can offer some insight there.
I'd think it's a little high for US market, but there definitely seems to be a scarcity premium in Europe for vintage Guilds in general.
.
