NGD Guild 1975 F-30

[MacGuild]

Bought this yesterday, a long road trip to pick it up. Has a couple of minor dings but, hey, me too. Nothing serious, no scratches, and happily no pick marks, a lifelong finger-picker was the previous and original owner.
This guitar is in strangely excellent shape. Brazilian rosewood fret-board has hardly any wear, same for the frets, there is no pitting. But they are the original frets. The bridge pins are also rosewood.
Mahogany back and sides.
The tuners are not original. They are Klusons, in fact, and were probably manufactured between 1956-1964, and they are tremendous, smooth as a Rolex second-hand. You can see the artifact lines where the original tuners resided; best I can tell, they were the same "Japanese" tuners you'd see on a Guild S-65D for example. At least, my S-65D's tuners (which are original) have the same shape as the position the F-30's original tuners occupied; the last photo in this set is the back of an S-65 showing those tuners. All other photos are the F-30.
It hasn't got the full spa treatment yet. I hate the strings that are on it at the moment and it is still the best damn thing I've ever heard.
Made in Westerly, Rhode Island. Nearly 50-years old, well-cared for and hardly used, what more could one ask?
Worth every minute of the 6-hour drive to get it.
See the "V"?








And the faithful ol' S-65D tuner shape for comparison:

 

[davismanLV]

What a beautiful guitar!! The rosewood bits on that guitar are amazing!! Congrats! Long drive/great guitar!!

 

[GGJaguar]

Great catch, congrats. Should provide many hours of happy playing.

 

[walrus]

Congratulations! That is really is great condition! I love it!

walrus

 

[hansmoust]

The tuners are not original. They are Klusons, in fact, and were probably manufactured between 1956-1964, and they are tremendous, smooth as a Rolex second-hand.

Congratulations with your 'new' guitar; it looks like a really nice one.

The tuners however, are not original Kluson Deluxe tuners from the 1956-1964 period. Obviously they are Kluson branded tuners, but they are more recent reproductions; excellent tuners that I wish would have been around when I started doing repairs for a living during the early '70s.

Here's a photo showing an original set from the early '60s.

If you study it closely you should be able to see the small differences.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[tommym]

Congratulations!

My 73 F30 has the nicest wood smell to it; as did my 72 F30. Does yours? By contrast, my 2011 F30 Standard really has no smell to it. Not sure why not?

As for the tuners go, I really do like the aesthetics of the original chrome tuners. They do have their quirks, but I've learned to live with them.

Thanks,

Tommy

 

[HeyMikey]

Congrats MacGuild. Looks like you found a good one. Im a big fan of the F30s. Yours appears to be in beautiful condition. The rosewood on the bridge and fretboard is spectacular.

 

[walrus]

Congratulations!

My 73 F30 has the nicest wood smell to it; as did my 72 F30. Does yours? By contrast, my 2011 F30 Standard really has no smell to it. Not sure why not?

As for the tuners go, I really do like the aesthetics of the original chrome tuners. They do have their quirks, but I've learned to live with them.

Thanks,

Tommy

Huh. The inside of my '11 F-30 smells great!

walrus

 

[MacGuild]

The tuners however, are not original Kluson Deluxe tuners from the 1956-1964 period. Obviously they are Kluson branded tuners, but they are more recent reproductions; excellent tuners that I wish would have been around when I started doing repairs for a living during the early '70s.

Ah, thank you! The Kluson tuners were the one piece about which I was uncertain. And you are correct, Mr Moust, it took me a very close examination to spot differences. Your eyes are far better than mine. The "Kluson Delux" branded on the tuner casings wasn't so easy to read (or photograph) either, I struggled with it on the F-30. Very pleased to see that you like these tuners, that is icing on the cake. Thank you for identifying those Klusons, sharing the photo, and for your kind words.

My 73 F30 has the nicest wood smell to it; as did my 72 F30. Does yours?

Definitely! And in a living and maturing way, not any musty way. Thank you for mentioning this, it is quite distinct. Yes, this guitar smells like when you open the drawer of an antique solid wooden desk, which can be highly evocative. Our scent-memory is remarkable, rich as music itself. And the F-30 has a strong and pleasing bouquet. The only comparable guitar I have with that strong of a wood smell is a Spanish classical that has a Canadian Red Cedar top that is less than a decade old but fills the room the way incense would, but it is still very fresh.
I always smell guitars (and certainly cases) when checking them out, mostly searching for smokiness, moldiness, any negatives. The F-30 wood hit my nostrils as soon as I reached for it, strong like a new guitar but age-refined the way 50-year old Scotch develops character. Hooked me before I laid a finger on it.

As for the tuners go, I really do like the aesthetics of the original chrome tuners. They do have their quirks, but I've learned to live with them.

Yeah, I like the original tuners, too, Tommy. I have no doubt that Grovers or Klusons are precision and performance upgrades. But maybe it is that antique look. Or maybe I'm sentimental like that.

* * *
This is the first Guild in my modest herd that has fabric side wall impact strips. Apologies for the awkward photo, the guitar is still strung. I was a bit mystified by these at first but, of course, Let's Talk Guild had the answer.

 

[tommym]

MacGuild,

If you have the time to do so, can you see if the neck block (as viewed from the soundhole) is stamped with an "F-30" or "F-112"? Sometimes it is really hard to see the stamp. Just wondering as my 73 F-30 has F-112 stamped on the neck block. So it's a hybrid between the two.

Thanks,

Tommy

 

[MacGuild]

If you have the time to do so, can you see if the neck block (as viewed from the soundhole) is stamped with an "F-30" or "F-112"? Sometimes it is really hard to see the stamp. Just wondering as my 73 F-30 has F-112 stamped on the neck block. So it's a hybrid between the two.

Sure thing, Tommy. Here you go. It is stamped F-30.

 

[tommym]

Thanks, MacGuild

Tommy

Sure thing, Tommy. Here you go. It is stamped F-30.

 

[Canard]

Congratulations!

This is pretty much identical to mine, except that mine is a bit more cosmetically beaten up and it has Schallers on it.

My favourite guitars!

 

[F30!]

If you have the time to do so, can you see if the neck block (as viewed from the soundhole) is stamped with an "F-30" or "F-112"? Sometimes it is really hard to see the stamp. Just wondering as my 73 F-30 has F-112 stamped on the neck block. So it's a hybrid between the two.

Tommy,
My 1974 F30 has a neck block stamped f-112. The body has an additional top brace as well. I’m the original owner.

 

[plaidseason]

I love this iteration/era of the F30. I played one in a local store a couple of years back and it was magnificent - a perfect balance of everything.

 

[tommym]

Tommy,
My 1974 F30 has a neck block stamped f-112. The body has an additional top brace as well. I’m the original owner.

Thanks for the follow-up! I had both a 72 and 73 F30. The 72 had the normal 6 string top bracing; the 73 has the 12 string bracing. Surprisingly the 73 with the 12 string braced top was the better sounding of the two, not by much, but still noticeable. I posted this image a while back showing my 73 F30 with the 12 string bracing. Not a very good image, but you can still see the additional bracing.

Tommy

 

[bobouz]

Many congrats, and well worth the drive! I just love the mini-jumbo shaped F-30 from the ‘70s. I had purchased one brand new back in the day, and of course should have kept it. I tried to right that wrong about seven years ago by picking up this rather rare first-year ‘73 F-30R, which I do dearly love. The richness of tone delivered by this body design seems to be consistently stellar - Enjoy!

 

[Br1ck]

You young guys should keep an eye out for the clean well cared for 60s-70s guitars that will hit the market as boomers die off or hands give out. Hopefully I'll be in the former category. Buying a dead guy's pride and joy is so much better than buying from a guy unable to play. IMHO

Nice F 30.

 

[walrus]

You young guys should keep an eye out for the clean well cared for 60s-70s guitars that will hit the market as boomers die off...

Hey! Don't rush me!

walrus

 

[12stringer]

Sweet score MacGuild! Well worth the 6 hour road trip!!! Congrats and enjoy!!!