c.1967 Levin-made Goya G-13M Classical Guitar


This is easily one of the cleanest Levin-made Goya guitars I've come across. It also happens to be a fairly rare model in that it's the "satin/matte" version of a G-13. Click here for more info over at Vintage Guitars Sweden. The finish is more similar to a modern Martin satin finish rather than the high-gloss, easily-weather-checked finish I'm more familiar with on these Swedish-made guitars.

Work was really pretty light on this one: I shaved the saddle area of the bridge and the saddle itself, shimmed up the nut slightly, cleaned it up a little bit, and set it up. During the setup process I noticed that the regular tie-block wasn't giving the guitar significant down-pressure over the (now slightly lower) saddle so I also drilled "through top" stringing holes in the bridge. I restrung the instrument through these and, as expected, the tone opened right up.

Anyhow -- if you follow the blog regularly, you know I'm a fan of Levin products. The faithful, oft-seen entry-level G-10s are still bang-for-buck the best classicals you can buy. Once you start stepping up the product line to a G-13 like this guy or a G-15 like this other guy, though, you start noticing that things just get better and better. The mahogany back and sides on this G-13 vs. the standard birch means a bit more sparkle, sustain and a little bit of a faster response to my ears.




I actually like the satin finish on this guy a lot. Even though the guitar has had some play it shows far less age-related wear (namely: finish spidering and cracking) than most of its gloss cousins have. This particular guitar was also well-cared for: it has zero cracks, the bracing is all tight and in good shape, and it hadn't had any poor repairs done to it in its past.


The neck is one-piece mahogany. Note the mid-60s Levin-style tuners (these were replaced with cruddier stuff in the 70s).


The flat rosewood board is joined to a neck with a flattish, thin (front to back) profile that's a feature of these Levin-made Goyas that I find really attractive: it actually plays fast and comfortable vs. most traditional classical necks.


Simple rosette...



The back and sides are plain-ish, straight-grain solid mahogany.






The neck set is perfectly good to go.




Comments

Unknown said…
Nice instrument. It did NOT, however, come with solid mahogany back and sides. It's laminated (easily seen by the lack of a back graft brace where the label is). The G-15 was the lowest number in the lineup to come with solid back and sides.
My G13 has solid back and sides. It has the cracks and splits to prove it. Also note the bookmatching on the back. Why bother bookmatching
a laminated back?
Jake Wildwood said…
Yeah, they're solid. I've never seen a ply Goya classical except for non-Levin products later-on. Next.
Unknown said…
Why is the “M” handwritten? How can you determine age? My S/N is 3578117. Thanks