My '61 Mark VI

[gilded]

Hi guys, some LTG folks were talking about Mark VI Guilds, so I thought I'd take some pics and show you guys what the top of the line Guild Mark guitar looked like in 1961! Here are some pics I took today of a guitar I bought from LTG member Two Corgis a few months ago. These are the first 12 pics. This is an Indian Rosewood Guitar with a Spruce top. The Rosewood is very straight and the Spruce has a very nice grain to it, which befits a guitar that sold for $500 in '62.

I've tried to take pics of everything; wood, engraved tuners, etc. There are two small spots on the top (lower bass shoulder where small bits of wood have been replaced. You can see that in the pics. There is also a very small ding on the neck close to the F# area of the finger board. I didn't feel it, I saw it, so it's really tiny.
I can't feel or see any other dings on the neck.

Some former owner made some holes along the edge of the fingerboard, but never filled the dots in. Two Corgis' luthier added some dots and I have to say, they've been very helpful to me!

I have three Guild Mark guitars. Not surprisingly, this one sounds the best, although my two Mark IV guitars have charms of their own.

This guitar has been played a lot, but is not worn out. I would rate it as being in good condition. The case is original and sturdy, but the 'locking latch' is, ah, busted!

Again, the first 12 pics:

 

[gilded]

HI guys and gals, here are the rest of the pics

 

[walrus]

Wow! That is a beautiful guitar - a piece of art, really. Congratulations!

walrus

 

[gilded]

Thanks, Walrus. And thanks to my 'two-corgied brother' Sandy for selling it to me in the first place! He's a good man!

 

[twocorgis]

Hi folks! I bought this guitar knowing that I probably wasn't going to keep it, and because I wanted to give it the TLC that it needed at the time, and to keep it out of the wrong hands. It's a special guitar that should be in the hands of somebody who will love, appreciate, and play it.

If Harry doesn't want to keep this one, let's find it a good home in the LTG family. EDIT: and thanks for the kind words Harry. You're a gentleman and a scholar!

 

[gilded]

Sandy, as we discussed yesterday, I am thinking about selling it, but it's a wonderful guitar to play. My issue is that it's a big neck and it impacts the arthritis issue in my left hand.

Kudos, to your luthier, Sandy. He really did a fine job fixing it up; dressing the frets, replacing those small pieces of wood on the lower shoulder and re-laquring the new ones. "My luthier" really appreciated the quality of the work that your guy did. I left his repair bill in the case pocket for future generations to venerate.....

 

[twocorgis]

Sandy, as we discussed yesterday, I am thinking about selling it, but it's a wonderful guitar to play. My issue is that it's a big neck and it impacts the arthritis issue in my left hand.

Kudos, to your luthier, Sandy. He really did a fine job fixing it up; dressing the frets, replacing those small pieces of wood on the lower shoulder and re-laquring the new ones. "My luthier" really appreciated the quality of the work that your guy did. I left his repair bill in the case pocket for future generations to venerate.....

Thanks Harry! Mike is not only the best luthier I've known, he's also ridiculously reasonable. That's why he gets a $100 StewMac gift certificate for Christmas every year, because he won't let me pay him more. And he's second only to our own Fixit when it comes to nitro repairs, too.

 

[silverfox103]

Hi Harry

That is a nice guitar, Sandy buys good stuff that's for sure. I was surprised that it is Indian Rosewood way back in 1961. Mine is a 68 and I believe Brazilian Rosewood, but who knows, I wasn't there when the tree was chopped down.

Sorry your arthritis makes it hard to play. That's a bummer and the necks on the Mark IV's don't bother you?

Tom

 

[GGJaguar]

Wow, you don't see those too often and that one looks great!!!

 

[gilded]

Preview

Hi, Tom!

Yes, I think it's East Indian Rosewood. I have seen pics of another Mark VI out of the same batch, over on the Clasical Gas section of the Unofficial Martin Pages. The exact thread was called 'Pre 1970 Guild Mark IV and it was started by Joe Penny, in 2017. The subject matter changed from Mark IV guitars to Mark VI guitars over the course of the thread.

If my memory is correct, somebody ID'd a Rosewood body as Brazilian. Hans showed up and correctly ID'd the Rosewood as East Indian and also informed the guys that they did indeed build Mark VI guitars in '61.

Why the Veer, you ask? Basically, one of the members had seen a Mark VI for sale at Aurthur's Music in Indianapolis. The Identification went on from there and somebody thought that the straight grain EIR was Braz, but they were set straight by Hans.

So, Tom, why would they use EIR on their top-of-the-line guitar? Maybe because that was the nicest-looking and/or nicest sounding Rosewood they had in '61.

Also, I don't think at that point in time that Guild had sourced the "Super Duper Brazilian" that showed up later in the Mark VI Artist model or Mark VII guitars.

I also don't know how 'consistently good' the Brazilian was that Guild did have. The first Braz Guild I played was a mid '60s D-50 in the early '70s. The D-50 had been played a lot, but only sounded okay, not great. I'm not tryin' to come down on Guild by saying this; Gibson didn't have a very good pile of Braz back in the '30-40s, at least compared to Martin's Braz woodpile.

Again, this is all guesswork on my part. I will happily wait for Hans and others to gently educate me where I'm wrong.

 

[gilded]

Wow, you don't see those too often and that one looks great!!!

Greg, I'm sure glad that you like my guitar! And thanks for taking a look at it!