M-30 on Ebay

[Metalman]

Guys, get a load of the Hoboken M-30 listed on Ebay . . . never even seen one before!

A bit on the expensive side. Sure is a beaut. I want it . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guild-Vintage-M-30- ... dZViewItem

But, Nick Drake? Come on . . .

 

[Russell Letson]

"Nick Drake" brings out the fetishists, who might be persuaded to pay silly sums. It does seem tacky to push that button for an M-30, though. On the other hand, if it works, it will tempt me to part with mine, as much as I like it. (Somehow I think this seller is going to be disappointed.)

 

[Metalman]

"Nick Drake" brings out the fetishists, who might be persuaded to pay silly sums. It does seem tacky to push that button for an M-30, though. On the other hand, if it works, it will tempt me to part with mine, as much as I like it. (Somehow I think this seller is going to be disappointed.)

All this gab about "Nick Drake used this - blah, blah" !

Really; didn't he use a Martin D-28 for most of his recordings, and is only rumored to have used an M-20. Not even a M-30. But you are right; some people will use almost any marketing toy to sell their product.
But that is not the subject of this thread. But about this rare guitar - the M-30. And to think about it, it was one of the cheapest guitars Guild built, next to the M-20!

 

[plaidseason]

It's Ebay! And the goal is to get as many people as possible to find the thing you're selling.

The weird thing about the Nick Drake thing is that for years we heard "Nick only used an inexpensive Guild M-20" for all his recordings and then sometime later it became that even though he appeared on the cover of Bryter Layter with a an M-20, he in fact mostly played a D-28. Huh? If only someone could produce some actual studio photos and settle this thing once and for all!

-chris

 

[john_kidder]

Here's the cover from Bryter Later:

An article from Total Guitar says:

• Total Guitar, May 1999
  
  Nick Drake is a guitarist few of us can imitate. Nick Drakes chords are easy to master but few us could play those complex fingerstyle rhythms with such ease. Most of Nick's chords are simple one or two-finger shapes.
  
  Nick's friends recalled the way he would endlessly retune his guitar by loosening the strings until they were completely slack and then tuning up. Drake's close colleague and fellow guitarist John Martyn recalls Nick Drake being "extraordinaryily secretive" about his tunings.
  
  Some of the tunings used are fairly unusual but they are simple modifications of existing tunings. For example, Pink Moon uses a Csus4 tuning which is acheived by simply dropping one tone on the G string.
  
  However, mastering Nick Drake's chord shapes is only a small part of understanding the incredible guitar sound he created. Most of the sound came from his right hand. Listen to Black-Eyed Dog or River Man to see what I mean.
  
  Sadly, there is no film footage of Nick playing, even few pictures of him playing a guitar. So getting a precise idea of his style is not easy, but his arranger Robert Kirby recalls Drake's "virtuoso classical technique".
  
  Nick played small-bodied guitars, like the Guild M-20 that he used for most of his recording work. He made the guitar sound bigger and played loud, using long fingernails to pull the strings firmly, while his thumb controlled the rhythm parts on the lower strings.
  

Although that writer says "there is no film footage of Nick playing", there are a few on Youtube. Here's one video of Drake with an M-20 - (this is an earlier "lip-top" one, it appears from others that he also played a later version M-20):Nick Drake - From the Morning

 

[plaidseason]

John Kidder,

You are a hero to Guild fans everywhere!

I salute you!

 

[Russell Letson]

I'm sure the enthusiast community (Drake's, not Guild's) has hashed this out six ways to Christmas, but that's a studio shot, and maybe, therefore, a studio prop.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

BTW, I rather like my M-30, above and beyond its relative rarity. Sturdy old bugger, too. I'd part with it before I would my D-40, but after my 1900 Mason parlor and even my Eastman archtop.

BTW-on-edit: That's not Drake in the video but an enthusiast.

 

[plaidseason]

I think John was just being "wise" with the you tube clip - which made me laugh aloud when I first saw it.

 

[Jeff]

John Kidder,

You are a hero to Guild fans everywhere!

I salute you!

Yes indeed, thank you John. Come to find out Nick & I were born the same year, 1948. Nick checked out in "74,

Far as i can tell, young Nick was a petty fair picker, personal preference being what it is.

Black Eyed Dog's a pretty darn git down tune, if this is an M20 (& I have doubts) so much the better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDnDxvVjBic

The Nick Drake mystique's been hanging on a good long while.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... o_blue.jpg