1966 Guild F-212 Jumbo 12-String Guitar




A friend of mine owns this guitar and, while I'd never seen it before, he's letting a buddy of his use it for a performance. Said buddy brought it in for a restring and setup and I was pleased to do so -- I've worked on a lot of '70s Guild 12-strings but only one or two '60s Hoboken ones (if memory serves). This one had the distinct benefit of having had work done by someone as obsessive as I am when it comes to intonation issues with 12-strings... it came-in with an "aftermarket," oversize, fully-compensated bridge already in-place. How about that?

Aside from restringing with my favorite gauges (22w/46w, 16/36w, 12/26w, 8/18w, 14/14, 10/10) which give the feel of playing an electric 12-string in standard tuning, I also string-ramped behind the saddle and adjusted the pin-holes during setup, too. Said ramps give better back-angle despite the far-to-the-rear pin-hole locations and thus better tone and power even with the lighter-than-average gauges. It's all win-win... this guitar sounds full and delightful.

Specs are: 25 1/2" scale length, 15 3/4" lower bout and 11 1/2" upper bout, 4 13/16" depth at the endblock, 1 7/8" nut with 1 11/16" string spacing at the nut and 2 1/2" spacing at the bridge. Action is spot-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. The neck is pretty comfy, with a shallow C-shaped profile to the rear.

Like other F-212s, it's a spruce-over-mahogany guitar with a "jumbo" body shape (that's a bit more 000-shaped in this era) and features the usual Guild double-truss-rod install because it's a 12-string. It also has the usual Guild feature of a hairline crack on the back of the neck that's due to the truss-rod channels nearer the edge of the neck. It's no worry, though -- and the guitar is, actually, in really dang-good shape for its age.












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Scott Lynd said…
I have a '65 F212 I bought from the widow of the original owner 2 years ago. I couldn't believe how light weight it seemed compared to Westerly era Guilds. It's become my favorite
non-resonator acoustic guitar. I've been keeping mine in a double drop "D" tuning.
March 28, 2018 at 9:41 AM
Tom Johnston said…
I have a 1967 Guild F212 that I got used in 1970 or 71. Over the years I lost interest in guitar so it ended up in a closet and almost forgotten until my son took up guitar as a teenager. (He's now 49 years old and an incredible guitarist.) Well, as kids can do, he nearly destroyed the old guitar. When he grew up and left, I looked over the old guitar and it was in very bad shape. The headstock veneer (with the Guild inlay logo) was missing, there was a crack all the way through about 4 tuner holes on the high side. There was a small crack in the back and some of the ribs had become unglued. The pick guard was also warped and breaking free from the top. Well, as I was about to carry it out to the trash, I changed my mind. Being a very experienced woodworker who, at the time, was building reproduction period furniture and restoring fine antique furniture, I knew I had the skills to restore it so I did. I fixed the crack that went through the tuner holes. I found a brand new Guild headstock veneer blank so I replaced that. I also replaced the tuners. I fixed the crack in the back, made a new pick guard. I then gave it my favorite finish which is many coats of my special oil mix - all hand-rubbed - literally with bare hands to generate heat and force the oil into the wood. As coats were applied, subsequent coats were thicker and the last coats had a bit of polyurethane mixed in for the surface. The finish is absolutely beautiful - far more beautiful than any lacquer finish. In effect, I gave it a finish similar to Stradivarius violins. Over time, the top turned a deep golden brown. Anyway, I could see that the guitar needed a neck re-set and I knew that should be done by an experienced pro so I had that done and a complete setup. About ten years later, I learned of an legendary luthier in my area so I took it to him. He did a re-fret, corrected a slight (almost imperceptible hump where the neck met the body) and made a new nut and bridge. The guitar is now extremely beautiful and it plays like a dream. However, even though it was restored to better than factory condition, the finish is not factory nor are the tuners or the pick guard so I would assume the value isn't that great monetarily. But that makes no difference because I have no intention of ever selling it. My son will inherit it. As I said, he's an incredible guitarist and he said it's the finest 12-string guitar he's ever played. My friend has a Bozo 12-string that's worth something in the $10,000 to $20,000 range if I'm not mistaken and it sound no better than my old Guild. It's different but not better, IMO.
January 15, 2022 at 3:02 AM
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