NUGD Orpheum 12 Fret Dread

29er

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Just joined the forum and this is my first post. Years ago I owned a 60's Starfire and an 85' Nightbird but this is my first Guild acoustic. Anyhoo, last week I pounced on a 2013 Orpheum 12 fret dread that I stumbled across online. I had read so many great reviews and have been curious about the Orpheum line. It arrived on Wednesday and I am a happy picker. What a huge sounding instrument. I have not owned a dreadnought for decades and I always liked the 12 fret design. Other than some finish checking on the top it is in excellent condition. Only complaint I have is the quality of the hardshell case. It does not live up to the guitar and it's actually a little too big, the guitar can move fore and aft about an inch. Not a hug deal but I expected better.Took a few pics outside this morning.
 

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GGJaguar

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I love 12-fret dreads! To me they are the bomb. And the nice thing is that it has a solid headstock instead of the traditional slotted head as used by Martin. Congrats and enjoy!!
 

HeyMikey

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Heck of an entrance 29er! Welcome and congratulations on the Orpheum.great pictures. She looks like a real beauty. Lots of love for those on here. My short list includes getting an Orpheum OM someday. Hope you stick around. Mike
 

gjmalcyon

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Welcome. Stick around - nice group of folks here. Much love for Orpheums around here. My 14-fret rosewood dreadnought is one of my guitars my heirs will have to figure out what do with.
 

Stuball48

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Welcome and what a beautiful Dread. You have come to the right place. Undoubtedly, the best group of "enablers" on any forum. We can advise on how to spend money on guitars. We don't always agree on which one to buy but we agree on "buy."
 

twocorgis

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Welcome 29er, and you chose wisely! The Orpheum acoustic line is unlike anything Guild has made before or since, and they really are superb instruments. It's a shame that they'll probably never be made again. I agree with you that the cases are junk. With my jumbo, I sold a JF65-12 with the OEM Orpheum case (same body size), and kept the original case for the JF65-12, which was much higher quality. With my Orpheum OM 14 fret, I found a used Collings geib style case that fits it perfectly. For the 12 fret dreads (which have a big body for a dread, you might want to look for a Gibson case for their Roy Smeck or Jackson Browne model. that should be a good fit, and in fact, there's a lot of shared DNA in these instruments, being that both were Ren Ferguson babies.

Good luck in the hunt!
 

Rayk

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Ooo I beat that's sounds sweet ! Enjoy and welcome aboard.😊
 

29er

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Thanks for the welcome, folks. I am going to install my favorite strings (Light gauge Martin Retro) tomorrow. I'm also thinking about a tuner swap if a drop in is possible. The original Gotoh's are not that great. But I don't really want to drill new screw holes. Does anyone know if Grover's or Waverly's are a drop in swap?
 

twocorgis

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Thanks for the welcome, folks. I am going to install my favorite strings (Light gauge Martin Retro) tomorrow. I'm also thinking about a tuner swap if a drop in is possible. The original Gotoh's are not that great. But I don't really want to drill new screw holes. Does anyone know if Grover's or Waverly's are a drop in swap?

Waverlys aren't, but Gotoh SE700s are. I did that swap on both of mine. Keep the originals though, because in New Hartford factory circles, they're considered "special". I never liked them much either, but the ivoroid G shield buttons are cool.
 

29er

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Thanks. Yeah, it would be really dumb to toss the originals. I like the G shield buttons but wish they were a better quality piece of hardware.
 

29er

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So I have owned this wonderful guitar for almost two weeks and have played the snot out of it. The honeymoon is still going strong! I replaced the strings with Martin Retro's and they sound great on this big ol' dread. However, I'd like to ask those with more experience with this model than I do what strings they find to work best with this guitar. I tend to prefer Retros on all my guitars but I know lots of players don't like them. Any thoughts or advise? Thanks in advance!
 

GGJaguar

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I don't own that model, but I do have a bunch of 12-fret dreadnoughts. The ones with mahogany bodies sound best with the following strings (in no particular order): John Pearse PB (.013 - .056), Dean Markley Signature PB (.013 - .056), D'Addario PB (.013 - .056), DR Sunbeam PB (.013 - .056) and the wild card of the group, Martin Retro Monel (.013 - .056). Right now, I'm using the Retro's on all of them and haven't gone back to PB (phosphor bronze). YMMV. :)
 

gjmalcyon

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+1 on the John Pearse. Also have had good luck with Curt Mangan's 80/20 bronze "half-size" sets (.115 - .053) on my exclusively 14-fret collection. Interestingly, different guitars seem to "prefer" different strings. Or rather, the player of said different guitars prefers different strings. I have not yet found a single make of string that works across all of them.
 

29er

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I used JP 80/20 strings for years and now they seem to only sound good on my Waterloo. I know it's likely me and what my ears hear and not that the strings have changed. I do have a pretty severe high frequency hearing loss in my right ear. We all hear differently!
 

Zelja

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Congrats on the Orpheum. I have a same model/year as well that twocorgis (who posted above) helped to get to me here in Australia. Along with an Orpheum Jumbo I may add - eternally grateful to you for that Sandy!! The 12fret dread is a big & rich sounding guitar for sure.

I have got John Pearse PB - 13-56 strings on it as well but will try others. I have no issue with my tuners since they got lubed by my guitar tech. Previously they were hard to turn & I was worried I 'd break the the tuning buttons. No more. Not sure what he used though.
 
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