[J.K.]
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2018
- Messages
- 57
- Reaction score
- 8
The M-30 Del Rio: famously played by Big Foot as evidenced by the singular blurry photo of him that exists.
What's the deal with its rarity?
I was always curious about the M-20 (though the recent Oxnard M-20 I purchased wasn't quite what I was looking for, as noted in my review/for sale listing in the FS/FT board), and when I was originally shopping for a mahogany guitar maybe three years ago, I was primarily interested in the M-20 until a cheap 00-15M chanced its way to me via someone my band shared a practice space with. But whenever I saw "M-30," I always thought it was a typo from someone who was a key shy of their intentions.
So naturally, as time when on, I assumed "Del Rio" (presumably named after the river that nursed the gold-leafed trees at the heart of El Dorado) was, at best, just a rumor told to inspire collectors and drive them mad, but after seeing a dowdy and abused/loved one Reverb a few months back when I was purchasing an F-30, I became more curious. (Another strange addendum in relation to the that link is that when I was searching for that it, I found another listing that looks to be the same guitar, especially when looking at the cleating, but the date is 1953 and it apparently belonged to the seller's father... how it got purchased and resold in such a short turnaround and somehow even got misdated in the process is a mystery for another time.)
I don't know how well it can be believed, but Guitar List seems to purport the incredulous notion that they were produced from 1952-1985, which might be semi-plausible if they made one a year, but I don't see them as a fitting in to Westerly's mid-70s output. Furthermore, Guild's dating system doesn't seem to leave room for them in their 1965-1969 dating scheme.‡ If nothing else I think it's safe to assume that they were among the first off the line and were around at least until the date of that catalog I linked to, which is from "196X."
Does anyone know how many may have been made, or have an explanation for the scarcity of them? Were they that unpopular? Or was the price point to close to a spruce-topped F-series model in a time when all-mahogany guitars weren't in vogue? If nothing else, they seem to have been an option for nearly a decade, so the scarcity is at least a bit of a surprise.
(‡ To be fair, though, I don't see the M-20 in their mid/late 60s numbering system, but I do see the equally elusive M-20¾, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the AH serial numbers on regular sized M-20s from that period. I am a bit curious about those, too, like is the ¾ scale actually ¾, and if so, is that in relation to the 24.75" models, or did the M-20 also get a 25.5" scale length boost in the 70s like the F-20s did?)
What's the deal with its rarity?
I was always curious about the M-20 (though the recent Oxnard M-20 I purchased wasn't quite what I was looking for, as noted in my review/for sale listing in the FS/FT board), and when I was originally shopping for a mahogany guitar maybe three years ago, I was primarily interested in the M-20 until a cheap 00-15M chanced its way to me via someone my band shared a practice space with. But whenever I saw "M-30," I always thought it was a typo from someone who was a key shy of their intentions.
So naturally, as time when on, I assumed "Del Rio" (presumably named after the river that nursed the gold-leafed trees at the heart of El Dorado) was, at best, just a rumor told to inspire collectors and drive them mad, but after seeing a dowdy and abused/loved one Reverb a few months back when I was purchasing an F-30, I became more curious. (Another strange addendum in relation to the that link is that when I was searching for that it, I found another listing that looks to be the same guitar, especially when looking at the cleating, but the date is 1953 and it apparently belonged to the seller's father... how it got purchased and resold in such a short turnaround and somehow even got misdated in the process is a mystery for another time.)
I don't know how well it can be believed, but Guitar List seems to purport the incredulous notion that they were produced from 1952-1985, which might be semi-plausible if they made one a year, but I don't see them as a fitting in to Westerly's mid-70s output. Furthermore, Guild's dating system doesn't seem to leave room for them in their 1965-1969 dating scheme.‡ If nothing else I think it's safe to assume that they were among the first off the line and were around at least until the date of that catalog I linked to, which is from "196X."
Does anyone know how many may have been made, or have an explanation for the scarcity of them? Were they that unpopular? Or was the price point to close to a spruce-topped F-series model in a time when all-mahogany guitars weren't in vogue? If nothing else, they seem to have been an option for nearly a decade, so the scarcity is at least a bit of a surprise.
(‡ To be fair, though, I don't see the M-20 in their mid/late 60s numbering system, but I do see the equally elusive M-20¾, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the AH serial numbers on regular sized M-20s from that period. I am a bit curious about those, too, like is the ¾ scale actually ¾, and if so, is that in relation to the 24.75" models, or did the M-20 also get a 25.5" scale length boost in the 70s like the F-20s did?)