57 Guild F20 vs brand new Martin 0015

Jeff

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Greetings fellow Guilders. I have been away and upon my return have been pleased to catch up on the latest news.

I made a recreational trip to our local music shop yesterday and was enthusiastically handed a brand new Martin 0015 to play. The salesman said is was an amazing little guitar.

He was absolutely correct. This particular little Martin was hot, sounded fantastic, nice volume, easy to play & very nice in the upper registers. I was shocked how much I liked it. I thought almost for sure my love affair with the Little F20 was over. It was a very sad time.

It was so emotional I came home & brooded darkly over the issue. I played My F20 & began mentally planning for the breakup. Early this morning I put a new set of strings on the F20 & felt better, it was over due & it's only been a few weeks since they were installed. I felt better but, am ashamed to say, still had doubts.

I packed up my baby & drove down this morning to compare them one on one. I was sure I would be having to explain another $800.00 to the little lady.

Fortunately, there were several old coots hanging around killing time & I found willing participants for the compare off. The little Martin was no slouch, it was universally assessed an an exceptionally nice little guitar, $800.00 plus tax & no case. plain Jane mahogany guitar. It's a good buy, I am sure they will sell it in a day or two.

My F20 is smaller and a little more difficult to play, but has a much sweeter, more pure, clear, ringing voice, noticeably louder with better sustain. It was clearly the favorite of all in attendance.

I apologized to the sales people, proudly packed up, bought a new set of strings & came home.

Now I am back where I started, looking for a small body guitar, superior to my F20 for less than 3 or 4 grand. Not a good position when you know, lurking quietly in the shadows, there are, at least a few, Guild guitar enthusiasts combing guitars for sale nationwide, looking for that elusive A50. I hope you are all on vacation when it finally shows up on Ebay or I will hate you if you can afford to pay more than I.
 

West R Lee

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Jeff,

That is a very interesting story. Side by side, with several players and a unanimous decision? Great!

What is an A50, excuse my ignorance, but is that an A45 with more bells and whistles? The A45 is a beautiful guitar by the way.

West
 

Jeff

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I have never actually seen an A50. It would seem there are two A 50 models built by Guild, one in the 50's, an archtop F hole model and another built in the 90's, I am led to believe a small body, rosewood flat top.

Anyone is welcome to sign in and correct me if necessary.
 
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a small body guitar, superior to my F20 for less than 3 or 4 grand

You're kidding, right? If I take "less than" to indicate, say, $500 under the lower figure, the woods are full of excellent instruments (new as well as used) that can compete with even a fine F-20. I really like Guilds, but $2.5K buys a lot of guitar these days. Every example of the Martin Eric Clapton model I've played, for example, has been very nice, for a street price in the mid-$2K region. Of course, if "small body" means 00 or smaller, the field narrows and the hunt gets interesting--but I've seen used Thompsons and Huss & Daltons for very modest money.
 

Jeff

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Russell,

Thanks for the tip, I have never heard of Thompson or Huss & Dalton guitars. Actually those kind of words might be considered blasphemy in this forum but I'll do some research anyway.

I have only limited experience with Martin & Gibson small body guitars. I have played maybe 20 or 25 small body Martins & a few smaller LG series Gibsons. Some of the Martin's were pretty cool, but I have never held a small Gibson that was interesting. Few of the Martins have been as good, only those commanding high prices were tempting.

Don't misunderstand, I am very interested in finding a better small body than my F20. Actually craving is a better term, it's an illness.
There just do not seem to be many 0 & 00 size guitars for sale period
& those that are exceptionally fine are quite pricey. Maybe $4000 is a bit of a stretch, but start looking at vintage rosewood single 0 & double 00 guitars & I think you will find 3 or 4 k isn't all that uncommon.

I can have Gerald Sheppherd build me a nice one, All I need is to send him a 1000.00 down payment & come up with the balance of 2500 to 3500 in a few months when it is finished, depending on wood & ornamentation.
 
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reasonable smallish guitars

Maybe it's a peculiarity of the Minnesota market, but I see nice used 000-and-smaller instruments fairly frequently. The Podium in particular seems to attract them. Right now, for example, there's a Collings 0002H for $2600, and I've seen used Thompsons (an under-the-radar builder) for even more modest money. They also carry new instruments by Collings, Huss & Dalton, and Charles Hoffman that might run up past your budget ceiling--Hoffman's prices seem to have gone up a bit recently, for example, but he's making some of the nicest small-bodies around.

There's a link to that Collings:

http://www.thepodium.com/collingsOOO2H.html

And while I haven't seen a new Gibson I'd take as a gift, I wouldn't give up on Martin, and I certainly would remain open to finding an underpriced sleeper 00 or 0 from the 1960s.
 

Jeff

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Thanks for your tips re: Huss & Dalton & Thompson small bodies, it broadened my search capabilities a good deal.

The real problem is not necessarily the price ceiling, although the little lady might want me to reciprocate with something equilavent , like maybe a nice red convertible if I ever lost my mind & just went out & paid the price. This situation, while not 100% guitar related, is certainly a factor.
I have a bit of an issue sending off serious money for a guitar I've not seen or heard.

Small body guitars, 00 & smaller are rare as hens teeth around here. The brand name is of little consequence, they are obvious when displayed in a shop or show & I immediately go for a look. 000's are a bit more common, but my vision is a superb 0 or 00. It's working, I haven't spent the rent money yet.

The last vintage 00 I saw was at the Seattle Guitar show a couple weeks ago. It was a pretty straight Martin 0015 ?, 60's ?? Don't know for sure, I never got to touch it. The show opened at 10:00 AM, I got there at 10:15, as I was leaning over to pluck the strings & hear it ring, the seller
snatched it off the table & cased it up. There was a fellow from California with a cashiers check for the full asking price ($1850). I had a thousand dollars cash in my pocket and a sweet DV62 in the car just in case the right guitar was there. I have since become more humble.

I could have bought a freight car full of used Taylors, what the heck is the deal with the price of those things. Hasn't anyone ever heard of supply & demand. Lord a Mighty there are used Taylors for sale by the thousands.

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