Hello Everyone,
I am new to this forum but have been learning a lot from previous conversations about Guild Guitars. I have an acoustic-electric Guild made in Westerly from the year 2000. It's one of my favorite guitars. I am writing because I am getting into playing jazz and am looking for a vintage arch top that is in the $2,000 and under range. This weekend I had the privilege of playing a 1970s Guild x500 and loved everything about it - the looks, the feel and playability, the action and - most of all - the sound. It was hard to put down. The seller wants $2200, which seems like a good price for a Guild x500 in general. However, the seller informed me that a few years ago the guitar was mishandled during shipping and the neck separated from the body. It was professionally reset by a luthier. As an intermediate player, the guitar seemed great to me and nothing about it's playability made it seem like anything was wrong with it. After he told me about the neck reset, I asked him if he would consider $2000 and he said he would. So, I love the guitar, but I've never bought one that had had such a major repair before. I wanted to check with the experienced Guild players on this forum to get your opinions on whether buying a guitar that's had a neck reset for this reason is okay as long as it was done right, or whether it's too risky. If I love the way the guitar plays and sounds, and the intonation and action are great, does that matter more than whether it was damaged and repaired in the past?
I've posted two pictures that I took of the guitar. I had taken the pictures just to remember what it looked like and they are not very comprehensive. If I go back and play it I could take more photos of the neck.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer some guidance here. I really appreciate it!
Matt
I am new to this forum but have been learning a lot from previous conversations about Guild Guitars. I have an acoustic-electric Guild made in Westerly from the year 2000. It's one of my favorite guitars. I am writing because I am getting into playing jazz and am looking for a vintage arch top that is in the $2,000 and under range. This weekend I had the privilege of playing a 1970s Guild x500 and loved everything about it - the looks, the feel and playability, the action and - most of all - the sound. It was hard to put down. The seller wants $2200, which seems like a good price for a Guild x500 in general. However, the seller informed me that a few years ago the guitar was mishandled during shipping and the neck separated from the body. It was professionally reset by a luthier. As an intermediate player, the guitar seemed great to me and nothing about it's playability made it seem like anything was wrong with it. After he told me about the neck reset, I asked him if he would consider $2000 and he said he would. So, I love the guitar, but I've never bought one that had had such a major repair before. I wanted to check with the experienced Guild players on this forum to get your opinions on whether buying a guitar that's had a neck reset for this reason is okay as long as it was done right, or whether it's too risky. If I love the way the guitar plays and sounds, and the intonation and action are great, does that matter more than whether it was damaged and repaired in the past?
I've posted two pictures that I took of the guitar. I had taken the pictures just to remember what it looked like and they are not very comprehensive. If I go back and play it I could take more photos of the neck.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer some guidance here. I really appreciate it!
Matt