New acquisition - 1977 F-112

[MancJonny]

Very nice piece, looks hardly used. It does have a couple of dings, though nothing serious.

Nice, tightly-grained spruce top:

A crack (top left):

There is a mark on the mahogany back - you can just about see it in this pic. It looks as though something soft has been pressed against it and sort of "smudged" it. I can't remove the mark with cleaner / polish, so have left it:

I'm a real sucker for the Chesterfield headstocks:

I gave the open tuners a touch of petroleum jelly just to keep things smooth; only one of them shows any sign of a little "stiffness":

I've had a few Guilds over the years, but never one with a proper (original) Guild case:

As it's been a while since I've has a 12-er, I misjudged completely the gauge of strings and installed a set of 11s-52s - way, WAY too heavy. I'm used to playing a 000-18 Martin with 11s /12s AND a shorter scale-length. A set of 9s for the Guild are on order!

Any comments / obs most welcome!

 

[wileypickett]

The crack parallel to the fingerboard extension is concerning, but it appears to me be beyond the area of the heel block / neck support braces inside the guitar.

If so, you should be able to get it cleated and secured relatively easily.

Cracks right next to the fingerboard are difficult to repair because you can't get cleats in there. To properly repair those kinds of cracks may involve having the neck removed.

I'd have your luthier take a look and see what they recommend. I'd also take the strings off to ease any stress on the top till someone has taken a look at the guitar.

 

[Heath]

I noticed that too. And the binding separating in the same area makes it appear as though the neck block has shifted.

 

[davismanLV]

What he ^^^ said!! Those cracks are an indication of neck block failure sometimes, and better to take care of it now before it gets super bad. It's a beauty. I almost bought one of those years ago, but it needed a neck reset and had just moved here and had no idea who could do the work. Sure is pretty though!!

 

[7GuildsandanSG]

Congratulations! I bought a 1977 F-112 last year! Yes the 9's on it are great. I tune down a step and (sometimes) use a capo. Love the look, feel and sound. Enjoy! Great year for Guilds I think!

 

[Br1ck]

That crack has likely broken a brace that goes across the guitar. Hard to fathom that much movement otherwise.

The F 112 is my favorite 12 string. I have a friend who does a lot of Kottke on his. No mud with the smaller body. Still, enough bass. I think his is a 77 too. The 12 strings likely benefited from the heavier late 70s build.

 

[wileypickett]

Looking at the soundhole rosettes, which are out-of-round where the crack is, it does appear you've got endblock shift going on. My D50 had the same problem; I had to have the neck removed in order get it fixed.

There is a straight brace that runs from the treble side to the bass side just under the end of the fingerboard extension. It may be cracked, as Br!ck suggests, or it may have come unglued. You should be able to tell with a mirror.

Show it to a good luthier. It may be a pricey fix but based on my experience with Guild 12-strings it will be worth it.

 

[SFIV1967]

Looking at the soundhole rosettes, which are out-of-round where the crack is, it does appear you've got endblock shift going on.

+1 !



Ralf

 

[MancJonny]

Thanks to all for replying - pretty much as I expected.

I sent a pic of the guitar to my local guitar tech & he said, definitely bring it in!

So that's my Saturday morning spoken for.

 

[portsider]

Love my F112. Great score. I hope the prognosis is for an easy (and cheap) fix.

 

[beecee]

gotta get me one of those...

Good luck with it!

 

[12stringer]

Congrats! Those F112's are wonderful and chimey! Really nice balance!

 

[Br1ck]

Frets.com has a very good explanation of this, with the proper fix and the cheapo fix. I did the cheapo fix on an old Epiphone Caballero a friend has, and much to my surprise, it held up. I reglued the cross brace and cleated the cracks. I notched a piece of mahogany maybe half an inch thick. with a finger tapered to the end of the upper bout one direction, and to the brace the other. Put a pice of board under the neck block, clamped the end block to a benck, and clamped the neck, applying pressure on the clamp until all the parts aligned, then epoxied, yes, the piece I made to the neck block corner. So at the top and neckblock corner there was a three quarter inch block, with a quarter inch to eighth inch taper both ways under the crack. Then more cleats to the soundhole. The cracks on the top got regular tightbond as did the braces. It was a fun project. It needed frets, but the owner didn't want me to bother. I wasn't charging him. I did level the frets, but left them high on the bass side, low on the treble. Yes a true hack, but the guitar plays ok.

But this is all moot, and I would not have touched his F 112.

 

[MancJonny]

Well: it's been a long wait, but I finally took delivery of the repaired 12-er.

Here is a nice neat repair:

The repairman (Taylor & Gibson authorized) said it took some doing. A first attempt was abandoned after a re-stringing resulting in an immediate re-cracking of the top. Nasty. But now, and a lot of cleating later, the piece is stable.

The repair, though neat, is never going to look pretty, never mind be invisible, but - job done! The GBP equivalent of USD 200 well-spent (that included a set-up, new saddle & new bridge-pins). And worth the wait, too.

What I have noticed is that, with .009-.046 strings, the guitar is plenty loud enough, with a bottom-end worthy of a piece with a much bigger body. The F112 will never be as loud or boomy as a bigger-bodied 12-string, but it's no lightweight!

Any further comments welcome.

 

[wileypickett]

Congrats! Keep it well hydrated and you've got a guitar that should be trouble free for a good long time.

 

[Br1ck]

The big plus for me is the F 112 is not big and boomy. My favorite Guild 12 string because of that.

 

[mavuser]

i have a 1975 F-112 and it sounds perfect with 9's (on all my 12-strings), tuned to standard pitch

 

[beecee]

Nice job!

I too am an absolute sucker for that Chesterfield....especially when surrounded by 12 chrome pegs!!!!

 

[MancJonny]

This guitar is now for sale.

 

[Br1ck]

Buzz buzz buzzz. Three demarits. Classifieds only.