billy budapest
Member
Stunning! 
bb
bb
JF 30 love thread
- Thread starter Tiki295
- Start date
Zelja
Senior Member
A JF30-12 was my first Guild. Playing at as 6 string lately, often in open E tuning & it sounds great!
My JF 30 is my number one go-to guitar and the guitar that pushed me past the event horizon of the black hole that is my collection. I love this instrument!
Attachments
Cougar
Enlightened Member
Nice lineup!
Cougar
Enlightened Member
highwayman
Junior Member
I have a JF 30 and a F30 and I do not want to miss either of them!
Ah yes... that very same radiation destroyed my wallet.Maybe we could hear some of the Hawking radiation coming out of that black hole?
Greetings. New old guy here. Owner/owned many Guilds over the years. Recently bought a 90’s Corona JF30. Beautiful guitar with minor unrepaired neck fracture at nut. I have repaired many cracked and broken necks, and I believe this does not need attention at this time. Never-the-less, I keep it tuned a step down. It also had a bridge doctor installed by previous owner. Action is good with plenty of saddle.
My comment is that it sounds a bit choked. Sweet, but I was expecting it to be brighter, louder and more lively... Now I am playing with strings that the previous owner claims are recent, and it is tuned to D, and more importantly has the bridge doctor. I suspect the bridge doctor may be an issue, so I am interested if has any anecdotal or other info about the effect of the bridge doctor. Thanks
My comment is that it sounds a bit choked. Sweet, but I was expecting it to be brighter, louder and more lively... Now I am playing with strings that the previous owner claims are recent, and it is tuned to D, and more importantly has the bridge doctor. I suspect the bridge doctor may be an issue, so I am interested if has any anecdotal or other info about the effect of the bridge doctor. Thanks
wileypickett
Senior Member
I have Bridge Doctors in a few guitars so I'm pretty familiar with them.
Generally I see an impovement in the sound of the guitars with the BD. l don't know if it's because the BD is correcting a problem that got worse over time and the top is functioning as it was orginally intended again, or if it's due to the BD itself.
If the BD is cranked too much however it may restrict the ability of the top to vibrate.
The BD dowel tightens and loosens with a hex wrench. Try loosening it a quarter turn (counter-clockwise) and see if it makes a difference. Compare the sound with the same set of strings that are currently on the guitar. Just slack 'em enough to get your hand in the soundhole with the wrench.
Generally I see an impovement in the sound of the guitars with the BD. l don't know if it's because the BD is correcting a problem that got worse over time and the top is functioning as it was orginally intended again, or if it's due to the BD itself.
If the BD is cranked too much however it may restrict the ability of the top to vibrate.
The BD dowel tightens and loosens with a hex wrench. Try loosening it a quarter turn (counter-clockwise) and see if it makes a difference. Compare the sound with the same set of strings that are currently on the guitar. Just slack 'em enough to get your hand in the soundhole with the wrench.
wileypickett
Senior Member
Nice!
A JF30 12-string was my first Guild (I still have it) AND the first of my guitars to have a BD put in it.
There was a lot bellying below the bridge when I bought it used. My luthier reglued the bridge and added the Bridge Doctor.
The way I adjust them is to put a straight-edge behind the bridge and parallel to it, across the lower bouts, and then adjust the tautness of the rod.
Go slow. You'll see the bellying come down (less light will show under the ends of the straight-edge). The goal is to reduce the bellying. You may not be able to get a completely flat surface across the lower bouts -- depends on how the top of the guitar (especially 12-strings) has changed over time. You want to bring the bellying down enough that the saddle is at a right angle to the top and doesn't tilt forward at all.
A JF30 12-string was my first Guild (I still have it) AND the first of my guitars to have a BD put in it.
There was a lot bellying below the bridge when I bought it used. My luthier reglued the bridge and added the Bridge Doctor.
The way I adjust them is to put a straight-edge behind the bridge and parallel to it, across the lower bouts, and then adjust the tautness of the rod.
Go slow. You'll see the bellying come down (less light will show under the ends of the straight-edge). The goal is to reduce the bellying. You may not be able to get a completely flat surface across the lower bouts -- depends on how the top of the guitar (especially 12-strings) has changed over time. You want to bring the bellying down enough that the saddle is at a right angle to the top and doesn't tilt forward at all.
Cougar
Enlightened Member
Indeed a beauty! Corona really knew how to do a fantastic burst. Looks like a twin sister to mine, even with the ebony fretboard. Welcome to the forum!
davismanLV
Venerated Member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2011
- Messages
- 19,323
- Reaction score
- 12,096
- Location
- U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
- Guild Total
- 2
Please, take wyliepickett's advice here. He has a ton of knowledge with 12-ers and with BD's. Some people hate them for reasons I can't imagine and they can help level a belly and they redistribute the tension on a super high tension guitar. What he said is exactly what I first thought.... Bridge Doctors are not fixed things. They have adjustment screws and just do little adjustments at a time. And also you admit to a neck fracture which must be super stable otherwise all vibration will lose it's ooomph when transfering to the body of the guitar. So this can be fixed and that's a beautiful guitar!! Lovely.... it can get to where you want it. Glenn knows and if after many trials and tribs, if it doesn't you move on. But you can save it. You might take it to a qualified luthier and ask, but remember if the "previous owner" is giving input, then it's time to change those strings and see what you got. Check back in!!!
wileypickett
Senior Member
Thanks, Tom! I'm feelin' the Vegas love!
There's probably been about five times I've walked into my local store and heard my tech friend strumming a great sounding guitar and then finding out it has a bridge truss - and he's said on most of them that the BD seemed to improve the sound. I had one put in a lost cause Yamaha 12-string and it turned into a nice player. Apparently it's not a sure thing on every guitar, but I've never actually heard of case where it made things worse.
Thanks all for the information. It is a beauty...mis-stated the build date...mut be around 2003, and apparently was a second with obliterated digits. SN CTT000??? The Bridge Doctor was perhaps overtightened, since there is some fine checking above the bridge. (I just saw on StewMac that there apparently are some fixed unadjustable ones)
The fracture is a common type of hairline, parallel with the fingerboard...maybe an inch or two starting at the nut. I decided to just watch it over the past 6 weeks or so, and the tuning has not drifted. I asked the seller to relieve the string tension when shipping so not sure if he tuned it to E or D. I have it at D. Probably should raise it to E and see how it holds...and sounds.
When I unstring it, will take the nut off and look closer at the fracture...see if it can be opened or injected.
BTW What type material of saddle and nut do you all prefer on this model? Thanks
The fracture is a common type of hairline, parallel with the fingerboard...maybe an inch or two starting at the nut. I decided to just watch it over the past 6 weeks or so, and the tuning has not drifted. I asked the seller to relieve the string tension when shipping so not sure if he tuned it to E or D. I have it at D. Probably should raise it to E and see how it holds...and sounds.
When I unstring it, will take the nut off and look closer at the fracture...see if it can be opened or injected.
BTW What type material of saddle and nut do you all prefer on this model? Thanks