NGD: JF65-12

[JackMcColl]

After a lot of research, including the invaluable knowledge on this board, I recently purchased a JF65-12 off Ebay and, after some shipping shenanigans, received it today. Beautiful guitar with a beautiful tone. It's a big step up over my Takamine in every way. I was worried about buying an old 12-string online without a chance to inspect it in person, but I asked the seller about neck angle, action, etc. and he assured me a luthier had recently gone through it and declared it in great shape. Low and behold, it is. Action is surprisingly low and it plays nice and easily. I almost want to ask my tech to raise the saddle a bit. Only snag is that the bridge has started to lift, which the seller didn't disclose, but I had spotted in the pictures and, given the price, is no big deal. Other than that, though, this thing is in great condition with just a little bit of lacquer checking and no cracks, major dents or anything. It has some light scratching on the lower bout (almost looks like checking in the picture), but that, as they say, should buff right out.

I was wondering if anyone could answer some questions about this guitar for me. It must be near the end of the Westerly run, but I can't find the exact year on the Guild website. Their listing for this model ends in 1997, about 400 digits shy of this guitar's serial (which ends with 0677). Also, from what I could tell in my research, these models usually came with maple necks, though this one is clearly mahogany. Does anyone know when that switch-over happened? These are small things, but I'm curious.

Anyway, looking forward to playing the hell out of this thing.

 

[chazmo]

Oh my, that’s a pretty sunburst. Congrats, Jack.

You could probably (seriously) buff those scratches out on the treble-side lower bout, but it’s really beautiful regardless. Leave it alone for now.

I don’t know when the maple neck made the transition to mahogany, but I am a fan of the maple. Yours is gorgeous nonetheless and is nicely ‘bursted.

Take a look inside at the neck and tail block and there might be a date stamp in there. But, yeah, the tables for Westerly are cut short. Maybe Hans Moust will chime in here and get you the date. Tallyho. Enjoy that beauty!

 

[GGJaguar]

An F-412 by any other name... Congrats!!

 

[rmoretti49]

Yeah, that is really a very pretty sunburst!

 

[JackMcColl]

Yes, it is a looker. I was hoping to get a sunburst but they're obviously less common so I wasn't holding out hope to find one in such good condition. Got lucky with this one.

I had a chance to play it a good while last night and it's on another level from the 12 strings (Taylor and Takamine) that I've had in the past.

 

[Boneman]

Great score, HNGD! That is real pretty, they did bursts right in that era, and I dig the hog neck, great looking guitar, enjoy the heck out of it

 

[GF60]

I had a J65-12. Sold it. Miss it.

 

[Cougar]

...I recently purchased a JF65-12 off Ebay....

Wow! Definitely a beauty! Love that burst! And abalone rosette, perfect! It's a close call, but I kind of prefer the maple archback over the flat rosewood back. They're monster 12-strings! Super major congrats!

 

[JackMcColl]

I’ve never played a rosewood F512, so I’m not sure how I’d like it over the maple version, but I generally prefer other body and side materials instead of rosewood. What a lot of people consider “full” or “rich” I kind of think muddles up the sound.

 

[chazmo]

Jack, congrats. I’d be interested to hear how you feel if you are able to make that comparison someday.

My F-512 (rosewood) has been my Excalibur for about 18 years.

 

[JackMcColl]

If I ever see a rosewood one, I’ll definitely want to try it out. So far I’ve only ever been able to find the maple jumbo 12s at the local stores (when I can find any Guild 12s at all).

 

[kitniyatran]

Congratulations on a beautiful 12 string.
Guild has always had a reputation of being one of the best for 12 strings.
I agree with you that while Rosewood is a beautiful back wood for some purposes, there are a lot of other tonewoods I'd prefer to have in my own stable