1965 Guild F-30 000-Size Guitar

My friend Michael has been going on for years about wanting a nice Guild F-30. I kept telling him, "Get a '60s one!" but yet '70s ones were what arrived in his guitar-embracing arms. If you're a Guild fan, you know that these are completely different beasts. A '60s F-30 is a 000-size, Martin-shaped thing that sounds like a hybrid between a Gibson LG-2 and a Martin 000-18 and has a short (24 3/4" or so) scale length. A '70s F-30 is more like a mini-jumbo with a long scale and sounds and plays more like an OM-18 or '70s dreadnought but with a more even voice.

Suffice to say, he finally found this beauty and we spruced it up on Thursday for him before he went home -- no video, though, sorry! Tone is robust and punchy, woody and warm, and suits fingerpicking and flatpicking. These guitars are prized for a reason. Mississippi John Hurt played one for a reason. They're fantastic instruments and I haven't played a bad one yet. Well -- not totally true. I did play a savaged one which was down on its luck so much that it couldn't help but be a little miffed at not being allowed to die.

This one has a previously-replaced bridge, but my work was a neck reset, fret level/dress, saddle-slot recut, cleaning, and setup. It's now playing bang-on and good to go.











Comments

Michael Mulkern said…
This guitar is a keeper. Thanks so much, Jake.
Unknown said…
Wonderful guitar ! Thanks fot sharing.