'64 F30 neck question

[Benny]

I have a 1964 Hoboken made F-30NT and the neck has a few things that seem different. 1) there is a stripe down the middle which I assume means its a 2 piece neck? The strip is pretty thin. 2) the headstock looks like a Gibson open scroll design instead of the more common Guild Crown. 3) the color of the neck and body are not that well matched. The body is typical Guild redish finish while the neck is more brown. And finally the joint between the body and neck has a kind of white line. It looks more noticeable in pics than in person. Maybe the result of a neck reset?

any insights appreciated

 

[chazmo]

Hi, Benny!

We call that a three-piece neck (not two-piece). It's mahogany-maple-mahogany sandwich (I think) in your case. They made a big block of three pieces of wood and glued them all together, then cut them into necks. These laminations are stronger than one-piece necks.

Your "open-book" (Epiphone/Gibson) style headstock was supplanted by the raised-middle headstock through the early 1960s, by the way.
If your guitar is 1964, it'd be one of the last with that style (I think). Is there a serial number branded into the back of the headstock and/or written on the label, Benny?

 

[Wilmywood]

Early Guild headstocks were Epiphonish in shape until, as Chazmo said, they changed to the current shape in the 60s. Here's the headstock on my '53 X-375 ...

 

[jedzep]

Re-check and verify your guitar's birthdate. More pics would be fun. Here's my '63.

 

[Benny]

Hi, Benny!

We call that a three-piece neck (not two-piece). It's mahogany-maple-mahogany sandwich (I think) in your case. They made a big block of three pieces of wood and glued them all together, then cut them into necks. These laminations are stronger than one-piece necks.

Your "open-book" (Epiphone/Gibson) style headstock was supplanted by the raised-middle headstock through the early 1960s, by the way.
If your guitar is 1964, it'd be one of the last with that style (I think). Is there a serial number branded into the back of the headstock and/or written on the label, Benny?

yes on serial #. 32455 on the label and back of headstock

 

[Benny]

Re-check and verify your guitar's birthdate. More pics would be fun. Here's my '63.

Serial number is 32455 so its right in the middle of the 1964 range of numbers (like its owner)

 

[Benny]

Serial number is 32455 so its right in the middle of the 1964 range of numbers (like its owner)

1964 should be from 28944 to 38636

 

[Benny]

Any thoughts on the color change between the neck and body? is that something that is seen commony? thanks again for your help

 

[Wilmywood]

Benny, if this is your listing on reverb

Guild F-30 Aragon 1954 - 1973 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.

reverb.com

You say the sides and back are maple. I see where they made some with rosewood or mahogany sides and back but I haven't seen maple other than this one. Are you sure of the maple body?

 

[Benny]

Benny, if this is your listing on reverb

Guild F-30 Aragon 1954 - 1973 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.

reverb.com

You say the sides and back are maple. I see where they made some with rosewood or mahogany sides and back but I haven't seen maple other than this one. Are you sure of the maple body?

Hi - yep that is the listing and you are right- the ad IS WRONG. For sure the guitar has Mahogany back and sides. There is no way I can edit that though. The good people at Reverb apparently decided for me the model (Jumbo vs 000) and materials. I had not noticed that unit you pointed it out. I made a request for them to edit. You'd think I could make that change myself.

 

[jedzep]

Most definitely! They pre-filled specs early in your listing, but you must have foregone completing details yourself and let them fill in. Go back and 'edit' your listing.

 

[Wilmywood]

Hi - yep that is the listing and you are right- the ad IS WRONG. For sure the guitar has Mahogany back and sides. There is no way I can edit that though. The good people at Reverb apparently decided for me the model (Jumbo vs 000) and materials. I had not noticed that unit you pointed it out. I made a request for them to edit. You'd think I could make that change myself.

I dunno Benny that looks more like rosewood to me, and they did make some rosewood F30s in 1964. Do you have a shot of the label?

 

[chazmo]

Body's definitely mahogany, wilmy.

The different colors between the neck and the body are interesting, @Benny I'm not sure if it was unusual or not, but I suppose there is a possibility this guitar had its neck off at some point for either a refinish or a neck reset.

 

[chazmo]

Good luck with your sale, @Benny. You might want to consider listing your guitar in our FS/FT section here. Looks nice.

 

[Benny]

well - I can't even edit my own listing on Reverb. I had to "request" that they make the edit. I'm sure its Mahogany though

 

[fronobulax]

Good luck with your sale, @Benny. You might want to consider listing your guitar in our FS/FT section here. Looks nice.

And now he has 10 posts so he can - https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/read-me-fs-ft-rules-donation-link.202401/

The Reverb listing says

THe shrunken headstock plastic was replaced with a wood veneer

I'd be interested in second opinions - not all Guilds of the era had the headstock overlay and if there was one and it was removed, the inlays survived remarkable intact.

 

[adorshki]

Benny, if this is your listing on reverb

Guild F-30 Aragon 1954 - 1973 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.

reverb.com

You say the sides and back are maple. I see where they made some with rosewood or mahogany sides and back but I haven't seen maple other than this one. Are you sure of the maple body?

The original F30's had arched maple backs, until '59 IIRC.

I dunno Benny that looks more like rosewood to me, and they did make some rosewood F30s in 1964. Do you have a shot of the label?

Nope, no rosewood F30's until '67 when Mark Dronge took their first prototype to Paul Simon. This one's hog, as Chaz said.

I have a 1964 Hoboken made F-30NT and the neck has a few things that seem different. 1) there is a stripe down the middle which I assume means its a 2 piece neck? The strip is pretty thin. 2) the headstock looks like a Gibson open scroll design instead of the more common Guild Crown. 3) the color of the neck and body are not that well matched. The body is typical Guild redish finish while the neck is more brown. And finally the joint between the body and neck has a kind of white line. It looks more noticeable in pics than in person. Maybe the result of a neck reset?

any insights appreciated

You know as I look at those pics "Something just doesn't look right", and I'm usually right about that.
Pickguard's not correct.
Yes, the white lines could be evidence of cut lacquer at the neck joint.
Yes, the neck and body finish should match although I've seen necks with "fade" from playing or a sunburst pattern.
Yes there should be a headstock overly that the inlays were set in.

I think that neck was stripped when it was off the body and the overlay removed at same time, inlays re-moved and re-set.
At first thought it was actually a replacement neck, but I don't think Guild would have re-finned it that way.

 

[Benny]

I know the guy that did the headstock work (was done before I bought it). He says he used the original inlays and set them in ebony and he did a nice job. That was done in the last 4 years, but that was all he touched. Any other work like the repair on the treble bout was done long ago, but a lot can happen in 60 years of guitar life. It plays and sounds great with a nice substantial neck profile.

 

[jedzep]

I'm pretty sure there's a way to edit, unless things have changed since six mos. ago, when I last sold on the site. If Reverb has you locked in with the spec overview, you can simply explain and correct for buyers in the body of the description.

Sometimes it's better to just end the listing and start over, refining the re-write.

 

[jfilm]

Any thoughts on the color change between the neck and body? is that something that is seen commony? thanks again for your help

Benny- looks like the neck has been stripped of its original finish- it would have originally been a reddish color like the sides. My guess is that a neck reset caused enough finish damage to make the owner want to just strip the neck of all the finish rather than leave it looking spotty- that's my guess because it's exactly what I did with my 1964 D-40. I got the neck reset and the finish around the heel looked really rough- I didn't want to pay for a refinish job, so I eventually stripped it myself. As you can see from the photo, the stripe is an off-white along the neck- I left the headstock, so you can see how red it is up there in comparison. I also stripped the finish off of the back, so the color you see here is minus the Guild original reddish tint finish. Later on I ended up using a gel stain to get it to go red again, and then finished with Tru-oil.