1963 Guild F-20 Lefty Flattop Guitar

Another lefty conversion! Mr. Dan sent me this one as a righty and I swapped it around for him. I'm a big fan of '60s Guild small-bodies like this one because they punch way above their weight. They've got a lot of warmth and fullness to their sound despite being as small as they are. Their necks are also very modern with a slim C-shaped profile that would feel at home on any current guitar.

This one's obviously been through a bit -- it has an older repair to a series of cracks on the lower bout that includes a small section of replaced top. All of the imperfections make it delicious to look at, though -- it's got that "well-seasoned" look that makes you want to grab it up and make noise.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, lefty side dots, fill/reslot to lefty-ize the bridge saddle, new saddle, replacement ebony bridge pins and endpin, new "aged" double pickguards (cut from the shape of the original one), tuner fussing-about (I replaced some worn gears and posts with same-period, same-make ones from my parts-bins), many cleats to support the old crack repairs to the top, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. The neck is straight, the frets are in good order, and the truss works. Strings are currently a set of Martin Retros (monel) in something like 54w-12 gauges.

Scale length: 24 11/16"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"

Body length: 18"

Lower bout width: 13 3/4"

Waist width: 8"

Upper bout width: 10 1/2"
Side depth at endpin: 3 7/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: x-braced

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: rosewood

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: as noted, it's beat -- and has replaced saddle, bridge pins, and new pickguards. There are a number of repaired cracks to the top and lots of pickwear and usewear throughout the finish on the body and the neck. It's been well-loved.