1970's Guild F-612

Ivory Bridge

Ivory Bridge

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I don't think anyone these days makes an 18 inch'er 12 string, but the 1975 Maple Takamine F395 12 string (Guild F-512 copy) came on Friday and it is better sounding than the rosewood one I got a week before. While they are not Guilds, they are a light, easy playing, and good sounding alternatives to buying more 612's and 612's that seem to not come up for sale very often. Actually, these Takamines do not come up for sale very often either...... :shock:
 
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GemmaRose

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I have a Guild F612 :D !

The only other guitar that I ever heard which sounds like the F612 was an Olson, which I'll never be able to afford!
 
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GemmaRose

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I can't currently do any pix - stuck in rehab to get walking again.

Went to Mandolin Brothers with a friend just to "visit". (I should know myself by now -- the last time I went to Mandolin Brothers, I spent $1,000 on a 6 string Guild because it was, as I squealed at the time, "blue !!!") I had seen the F612 a few days before, but saw the price and said to myself "Can't possibly do this!" Plus, I have another Guild 12 string circa the same era, and I figured, that it was too expensive and didn't need it. Well, my friend picked it up and started playing. When I heard it being played, i.e. face to "face", instead of how you hear it from "above" when you play it (and my friend wasn't interested because she had just gotten a new Taylor), I realized that it was far too expensive and didn't need it, but ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT IT !!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

I begged and pleaded with them to let me pay it off, gave them $500, went home to figure out where the rest of the $4,500 was coming from, and when I settled that question, picked it up a few days before Christmas about 6 years ago. :D Since I play in Church, I considered it a Christmas present from God. (I just wish I could have used His credit card! :lol: )
 
Treem

Treem

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GemmaRose said:
As soon as I can. As soon as I can. As soon as I can!! :D
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We are ever more waiting for the pictures of this wonderful awesome F612! :mrgreen:
 
chazmo

chazmo

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Treem said:
GemmaRose said:
As soon as I can. As soon as I can. As soon as I can!! :D
Click to expand...
We are ever more waiting for the pictures of this wonderful awesome F612! :mrgreen:
Click to expand...
Treem, you're crackin' me up. GemmaRose posted in this thread then disappeared. Would be nice to see that guitar and Ivory Bridge's too (IB is also inactive), but I've given up hope. In any case, AFAIK, those are the only F-612s that belong to LTG members.
 
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wileypickett

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I have a dozen or so Guild 12-strings, but have never come across a 612.

However I do have a monstrous handmade 12-string from the '70s, made by an L.A.-based luthier named Arturo Valdez, who also serviced John Denver's Guilds back in the day.

Valdez was famous for making custom acoustics for Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and that bunch of west coast folkies. His son still runs the family guitar store out in LA, and they service the "guitars of the stars," but, last I heard, they no longer build instruments.

Anyway, the Valdez: the upper bout (with the oddest cutaway I've ever seen) is 13", the lower bout is just under 18". It's also got the thinnest neck I've ever come across, skinnier than Taylors, skinnier than many electric guitars.

Glenn Jones
 
chazmo

chazmo

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You guys might be interested in this... A wonderful luthier I've spoken to online, Johann Brentrup, is making an 18" Larson-like "Prarie State" guitar. Larson made some monsters back in the day. Anyway, Johann is building a 6-string here, but 12-string possibilities abound. I also put a link in that thread to an 18" 12-string by a luthier named Richard Clark that was recently completed for a fellow on the UMGF. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... p?t=190648

I hope Johann considers a 12-string in the super jumbo format in coming years. His guitars are traditional on the outside, but use unique bracing and tone tubes on the inside. So cool... A modern F-612?
 
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devellis

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I'm familiar with Hans Brentrup from his mandolin work and many threads on Mandolin Cafe that we've both participated in. He's an outstanding builder. His instruments are pricey but of the highest quality. He seems like a really good guy, too. He's done a number of reproduction instruments, essentially copies of classic designs (like the old 3-point Gibson oval-hole mandolins) that are quite remarkable. I played one of his Gibson copies at the Music Emporium many years ago and, while he succeeded in capturing the voice of the old 3-point mandolins, that's not a tone I particularly care for. But the workmanship was incredible and his goal of reproducing the original style was fully achieved. His more contemporary mandolins are reputed to sound phenomenal and I see no reason why his guitars wouldn't be equally stellar. Visually, his work is stunning. He has a really good design sense and can build either his original designs or very faithful renditions of classic designs. A very accomplished luthier.
 
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