Opinions, please

[WC_Guitarist]

Apparently, not everyone fancies one of these. This guitar appears to still be for sale.

Guild D-60 1987 — Mighty Fine Guitars

Built in Westerly, RI top: AAA Sitka spruce back: laminated curly maple sides: solid curly maple bridge & fingerboard: ebony neck: maple nut width: 1-11/16” scale: 25-⅝” finish: nitrocellulose lacquer the drop-D tuner is currently non-functional

mightyfineguitars.com

Why do you think it might be languishing on the wall? Do you think the price is fair?
I am not sure, but I think since MFG is a consignment shop, I would assume all sales are final.
However, it's a very reputable shop. I don't think he takes anything into his inventory that would need to be returned.

And then please compare it to this one:

Guild 1988 D60NT Acoustic Guitar

We have the Guild 1988 D60NT Acoustic Guitar in stock in our Vintage collection. Shop now and receve free shipping on your order today!

www.guitarcenter.com

Which is a little more expensive, but comes with a no questions asked return policy.

Obviously one is maple B/S, one is not maple. But they are essentially the same guitar, same era, same condition.

Thanks!!!!

Not urgent to respond. I'm not in the market at the moment, but you never know when you might win the lottery or something.

 

[HeyMikey]

Beautiful guitars! Not enough pics of the first (maple) one. I’d want to see more. You would also want to determine if either need any work to the neck, bridge, frets, cracks, braces, etc. as older guitars often need some work regardless of cosmetic condition.

Good reference here:

FRETS.COM

 

[Uke]

Good reference here:

FRETS.COM

Good information -- thanks!

 

[Westerly Wood]

One is an arched back and the other is a flatback. And one being maple, the other rosewood b/s, hard to compare the two without playing them. I think the prices are high, could be the reason they are languishing.

 

[hansmoust]

Obviously one is maple B/S, one is not maple. But they are essentially the same guitar, same era, same condition.

Hello WC_Guitarist,

No, they are completely different guitars from a different period; the maple one was completed at least 10 years later than the rosewood one.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[davenumber2]

Both are priced too high IMO. I would need more info as to condition, 12th fret action, and saddle height before considering.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

@HeyMikey - I can speak from experience about the maple guitar. It is really pretty. I've played it a few times.

 

[Br1ck]

I think this is a very downscale guitar for this shop. If you look at their inventory, luthier built instruments are the norm. Stevie Coyle is a straight shooter.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

@WesterlyWood - I'm out of my depth with either of these guitars, but I compare to what I know which is my Martin 000-18. A brand new 18 series Martin, albeit a completely different animal with no bling, but it's what I know, is in the same ballpark price-wise. Also comes with a warranty.

Now if you factor in the cost of one of these vintage D-60s with a new D-50, 55 or 40, that's another consideration.

Intuitively, I feel like they are too expensive, but I don't know what I don't know. Yet.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

Hello WC_Guitarist,

No, they are completely different guitars from a different period; the maple one was completed at least 10 years later than the rosewood one.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Interesting. So the maple guitar is from 1997? That might just be a typo on his website. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

I think this is a very downscale guitar for this shop. If you look at their inventory, luthier built instruments are the norm. Stevie Coyle is a straight shooter.

100%. It's probably the least expensive guitar he's got in the shop. Stevie is a very nice person; very patient as I have "visited" this guitar a few times in the last six or eight months. I was convinced it would fly out of his shop. I don't know whether it's just a sleeper, or it's waiting patiently for me to buy it.

 

[davidbeinct]

I think this is a very downscale guitar for this shop. If you look at their inventory, luthier built instruments are the norm. Stevie Coyle is a straight shooter.

I wonder if his customers don’t know what to make of the laminated back?
I would make that De Lapp Nick Lucas mine now on looks alone if my wife and I weren’t busy paying for the family vacation to Tahoe.

 

[adorshki]

Interesting. So the maple guitar is from 1997? That might just be a typo on his website. Thanks for clarifying.

You can take Hans' input to the bank.

The later D60's are very poorly documented, they aren't on the published s/n lists for one thing, and this causes a lot of dating errors from the late '90's period on the part of sellers.

I wonder if his customers don’t know what to make of the laminated back?
I would make that De Lapp Nick Lucas mine now on looks alone if my wife and I weren’t busy paying for the family vacation to Tahoe.

Suspect you already know that lamination in a back is no big deal, an entirely different issue than laminated tops, but many folks don't realize that yet.

Also they may well get fooled if that model followed Guild's cosmetic rules which dictated the grain should match on inside and outside of back. That's caused at least a few folks to think those arched backs were actually solid.

@WC_Guitarist you may want to share that info with Mr. Coyle. Also, there should be a date stamp on the treble side of the heel block, hard to spot unless you know you're looking for it. That should convince him about date.

The '87 D60 was a flatback rosewood build and Johnny Cash used one.
The '97 was maple and didn't have any famous users I know of.

Catalog page:

 

[twocorgis]

I'd also say that a guitar like this will tend to languish in a shop full of high end guitars, because that's not their customer base. Guilds tend to languish in the classifieds over at AGF for the same reason.

 

[SFIV1967]

Interesting. So the maple guitar is from 1997?

No, Hans said "at least 10 years after", so that would make it 1998 or younger. The Maple D-60 was not available in 1997 yet as far as I read. Gruhn wrote it is a continuation of the G-45 Hank Williams Jr. model without Williams endorsement. The catalog page Al posted above was from the summer 1998 catalog.




Ralf

 

[banjomike]

It's always mystified me why maple dreadnoughts have never been very popular.
Why only the dreadnought? Jumbos, Auditoriums, And Concert sizes made of maple have always sold well in a wide range of prices, and really, there isn't an enormous amount of tonal difference between a 16" jumbo and a dreadnought.

A typical bluegrass band will have a maple mandolin, a maple fiddle, a maple bass, a maple banjo and a maple Dobro in it. Yet the guitar, almost certainly a dreadnought, will be either mahogany or rosewood.

Go figure. It's crazy to me that the dreads made of maple never caught on in bluegrass.

 

[richardp69]

Personally, I don't think that price is horrible. Not a steal of a deal but also not outrageous. I've owned both the RW and the Maple D 60 (neither tight now) and both were fine guitars. I did prefer the sound of the Maple over the RW but that's likely just personal preference and I've always preferred Mape as a tonewood.

 

[davenumber2]

It's always mystified me why maple dreadnoughts have never been very popular.
Why only the dreadnought? Jumbos, Auditoriums, And Concert sizes made of maple have always sold well in a wide range of prices, and really, there isn't an enormous amount of tonal difference between a 16" jumbo and a dreadnought.

A typical bluegrass band will have a maple mandolin, a maple fiddle, a maple bass, a maple banjo and a maple Dobro in it. Yet the guitar, almost certainly a dreadnought, will be either mahogany or rosewood.

Go figure. It's crazy to me that the dreads made of maple never caught on in bluegrass.

I think tradition gets in the way. A large portion of bluegrassers see the Martin D18/28 as the pinnacle of bg guitar. Martin doesn’t use maple often, especially not on dreads.
The Gibson Dove is probably the most popular maple dread (just my guess here) and you still don’t see them that often, certainly not in bluegrass.

 

[Stagefright]

Yet the guitar, almost certainly a dreadnought, will be either mahogany or rosewood.

It's not just mahogany/rosewood exclusive. Show up with anything other than a CF Martin and you are sure to get the stink eye. My Dad played a Guild F50 Maple in a Bluegrass setting for many years. While not a dread, the F50 definitely lacked the low end punch that the Martins brought to the party. On the plus side, the F50 stayed in tune during the shows, was never in the shop, and blended well with vocal harmony sound the band preferred.

I like the idea of a maple dread in Bluegrass.

As for prices, the D60 RW is on the low end of what I've seen lately. I couldn't find a description on the GC site and the pics show signs of wear and tear. The price might be right for a D60 RW with a few bumps and bruises.

 

[richardp69]

I think tradition gets in the way. A large portion of bluegrassers see the Martin D18/28 as the pinnacle of bg guitar. Martin doesn’t use maple often, especially not on dreads.
The Gibson Dove is probably the most popular maple dread (just my guess here) and you still don’t see them that often, certainly not in bluegrass.

On the mark with your Martin comment. I wish Martin used Maple more often. I do have an absolutely spectacular, and beautiful, Custom Shop Martin Dreadnaught that's as lovely as any Maple I've ever owned. They also used to make a J 65M that was really nice as well. I regretfully sold the one I used to own.