Mysterious guitar ( Guild)

[SFIV1967]

Clearly somebody stained the spruce top (it's the original top and not a new top!) of that 1975 built F-112 brown, you also see from the inside that the brown stain came through a crack in the top:

The original rosette of the F-112 would have looked like this:

So if you compare you see two things: The outer and the inner ring of the original rosette are still there. The soundhole was a tiny bit enlarged, maybe due to previous slight damage.

The fretmarkers on the fretboard were also added by whoever did that fancy rosette. (and for sure, no such modifications were done by Guild at any point in time...)

The bridge was already reglued as well, but why did they use two screws? Usually if you reglue a bridge that should be enough. Somebody wanted to be extra sure! As Tom already pointed out (and I missed on first view), you see the two plugged screwheads on the top of the bridge:

And from inside:

A bridge doctor (the large light colored piece of wood you see) is fine for such guitar to keep the action reasonable down.

So the guitar might still play excellent, it's purely a cosmetic thing which devalued the guitar quite a bit. But as long as the owner is happy, they can do what they like to their guitars. But hey, I guess a lot of us "modified" their guitars in their youth, and many regret it today. It's like "Why did I sell that 1959 Les Paul back in the 70ies for a few bucks..."

Ralf

 

[dreadnut]

Yeah, my cousin still has his '58 Les Paul Jr. that he got brand new, and it's worth a lot more than this Frankenguild.

 

[Badger]

Davisman LV I agree

 

[Badger]

I love you people! You are great

 

[davismanLV]

Glad you're enjoying your time here, Badger!! There are a lot of super nice people and their knowledge of all things Guild and just guitars in general is truly amazing. I've learned so much in my time here. I'm so glad to have this resource at my fingertips. Ralf, looking at the original rosette makes the inlays sort of make sense. Thanks for that photo. I can see they were just "filling in blanks" as far as design goes......

 

[wileypickett]

I played a show in Berkeley, CA, some years ago as part of a tribute to John Fahey, who had just died.

One of the people on the bill with me had modifed a beautiful Gurian guitar. He decided he wanted a cutaway, so -- how hard could it be? -- got out his reciprocating saw and cut out part of the upper bout. To fill the gap he didn't bother with such niceties as bent side wood or kerfing or anything else. Rather he inserted a thick hunk of pine into the hole, applied glue, clamped it, sanded it to more less match the cutaway -- done.

He told me he'd done this when he was "young and stupid," decades earlier. It was one of the most unsightly repairs I've ever seen, but the guitar didn't seem any the worse for it, structurally or sound-wise.

I went looking for Gurians after playing his; tried out a few, bought one, which I still have. But none of them matched his -- it was one of the best sounding guitars I've ever played.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I played a show in Berkeley, CA, some years ago as part of a tribute to John Fahey, who had just died.

One of the people on the bill with me had modifed a beautiful Gurian guitar. He decided he wanted a cutaway, so -- how hard could it be? -- got out his reciprocating saw and cut out part of the upper bout. To fill the gap he didn't bother with such niceties as bent side wood or kerfing or anything else. Rather he inserted a thick hunk of pine into the hole, applied glue, clamped it, sanded it to more less match the cutaway -- done.

He told me he'd done this when he was "young and stupid," decades earlier. It was one of the most unsightly repairs I've ever seen, but the guitar didn't seem any the worse for it, structurally or sound-wise.

I went looking for Gurians after playing his; tried out a few, bought one, which I still have. But none of them matched his -- it was one of the best sounding guitars I've ever played.

do you think it sounded that way cause of the modification he did himself? like the hunk of pine?

 

[davismanLV]

do you think it sounded that way cause of the modification he did himself? like the hunk of pine?

Or possibly in spite of? Could be a little of both.....

 

[wileypickett]

do you think it sounded that way cause of the modification he did himself? like the hunk of pine?

I assume it must have been a great sounding guitar to begin with.

They say that very little of a guitar's sound comes from the upper bout. I have a D40 and a D40C; both sound great and both seem to project equally well, so maybe there's some truth to that.

Even though I'm relying on a two-decade-old memory, it was one of those experiences where you pick up a guitar not expecting much, play it and you're kind of blown away -- it left an impression. Gurians don't turn up very often. I've maybe tried out three in the 20 years or so since that concert took place, so I haven't exactly sampled a lot of them. And though I like the Gurian I bought, neither it nor any of the others blew my hair back in the same way.

Maybe I need to make it a cutaway!

 

[Badger]

Perhaps the memory of youth makes that feeling sweeter.

 

[beecee]

While I agree the inlay and fret markers aren't to my taste I wish I had the bawlz or ability to even attempt that kind of work!

Assuming the guitar gets played I'm amazed the rosettes are still in place...

 

[Westerly Wood]

I assume it must have been a great sounding guitar to begin with.

They say that very little of a guitar's sound comes from the upper bout. I have a D40 and a D40C; both sound great and both seem to project equally well, so maybe there's some truth to that.

Even though I'm relying on a two-decade-old memory, it was one of those experiences where you pick up a guitar not expecting much, play it and you're kind of blown away -- it left an impression. Gurians don't turn up very often. I've maybe tried out three in the 20 years or so since that concert took place, so I haven't exactly sampled a lot of them. And though I like the Gurian I bought, neither it nor any of the others blew my hair back in the same way.

Maybe I need to make it a cutaway!

Glenn maybe your DV72, cut out the section and then plug the hole with a big hunk of pine.

 

[Heath]

How could a Guild employee do that to a ‘75 Guild back in the 60’s?

 

[Badger]

.....back to the future.....

 

[fronobulax]

How could a Guild employee do that to a ‘75 Guild back in the 60’s?

They didn't. The suggestion that it was a 60's serial number was incorrect and there is no evidence that the modifications were authorized by Guild and made "on the production line". We have from time to time seen instruments that had a connection to the factory - someone took it home and repaired it instead of destroying or an employee doing a side project - but we tend not to think of those as "Guilds".

I also find an email from P. Windsor of Guild/CMG from 2018 somewhat less than authoritative. CMG pretty much has no Guild records that predate New Hartford and last I checked, no employees that had worked for Guild in Westerly.

 

[Badger]

in fact I gave up ......
I have another plan for the future!

 

[bobouz]

Wiley, like you, I was smitten with Gurians for the longest time. Only ever got to play two, and they were just okay. The few I’ve seen for sale online were pretty beat up. Thankfully, my guitar lust has curtailed substantially in the past few years!

 

[wileypickett]

The Gurian sounds different from other guitars I have in my stable, maybe due to its unique shape and deep body? That's one of the reasons I've hung onto it. Another quality it has in spades is that you can really push it without the sound crapping out. Play it as agressively as you like and the strings maintain their clarity, and the sound never gets mushy or distorted.

 

[Westerly Wood]

The Gurian sounds different from other guitars I have in my stable, maybe due to its unique shape and deep body? That's one of the reasons I've hung onto it. Another quality it has in spades is that you can really push it without the sound crapping out. Play it as agressively as you like and the strings maintain their clarity, and the sound never gets mushy or distorted.

there are a couple for sale on Reverb right now. interesting small jumbo guitar body shape, kind of like a Larrivee L series.