Greetings, Guild players of Earth...
I've been lurking here for about a week now, and I'm happy to be able to say that I'm about to join your esteemed ranks with the immanent arrival of a near-30-year-old F512. I am so completely psyched, I must say! (does little Ed Grimley dance)
By means of introduction: I live in Rhode Island, which means my new (old) baybay will be experiencing a homecoming from goodness knows where she's been for the past 29 years. Fact is, I'm not all that much of a guitar player, though I'm trying my best. I'm primarily a keyboard player, and have been playing synths since 1971.
I love to contrast all the tech stuff with instruments that actually vibrate with string, wire and wood, such as sitar, mandolin, the Chinese guqin and most recently a 13-course baroque lute. (new toy, oh-ee-oh, to keep my mind expanding!)
Can I tell you a little about my adventures in 12-string shopping? Back around '96, I picked up my first 12'er - an entry-level Yamaha. It had the virtue of being affordable, but that was about it; it was a real cheese grater. Several years ago, I found an entry-level Breedlove on Craigslist, which is what I have now. Better, but still something of a struggle to play; quite a bit less than ideal.
I decided I wanted the best 12-string I could get for a reasonable amount of cash, and all my research - and MANY years of listening to music - pointed to a Guild. Yep, you know it... and I have the advantage of having a friend who worked at the Guild plant here in RI for many years when it was still in Westerly - so it was density. Destiny. Kismet!
At first I was looking at the new Chinese JF30s you can get for $700-$800, but everything I read pointed to older, American-made instruments. I found a 10-year-old JF30 in the "as-is" listings at Elderly Instruments. I was a little iffy about an instrument that needed even minor work, but I thought I'd keep an open mind about it.
This past weekend, I went to NYC for a design conference, and made it my business to visit as many music stores as I could, and play as many makes of 12s as I could, with the expectation that unless I was really surprised by something, I'd return home and order that used JF30.
I played an old Fender, Taylors (very nice!) Breedloves, Ovation (even a $3,500 model sounded like a plastic bowl beside a Breedlove... no sale), Takamine, Martin (ooh!), Ibanez, a Blue Ridge 6-string (no 12s, but very nice for the money)... nothing really changed my mind, even though I'd never yet played a Guild.
I stopped at Rudy's, one of the last indy shops on 48th street's famous music row. There were lovely Taylors, and after I mentioned I was interested in Guilds, I was shown a used 2008 F412. The shop dude tuned it, and I sat down to play.
With the first strum, there it was... THE 12-string sound I'd heard all my life, living as an archetype in my mind's ear. What joy - it played almost like a 6-string, and I can still hear it. It sounded incredible! (It's still there, as far as I know, for $2,200.)
That experience convinced me I couldn't settle for less... when I got home, I began searching for a used American F412 or F512, and found the 1981 F512 at Elderly. I read elsewhere in LTG that ya gotta show pictures, so here she is, just waiting for me...
I'll finish paying the balance by the weekend, and expect to have her before Thanksgiving. I CAN'T WAIT!
Still, I've got to tell you, there's a fly in the ointment, a flaw in the diamond, trouble in paradise... no, not with my baybay herself, but... with The Case.
It's not the original case; that's o.k. - it's just that - how do I put this.
I consider myself to be a relatively enlightened Western male, free of many of the prejudices and role stereotypes that bound our fathers and grandfathers. I've got fairly long hair, friends of various genders/sexual preferences and orientations, and a general live-and-let-live attitude about whatever people want to do, as long as they don't do it in the street and scare the horses.
Still, there's just NO WAY that I'm ever going to be caught bringing this... CASE... out in public where someone might catch an accidental glimpse.
That's right, it's Barbie's Dream Guitar.
Or maybe the Pink Panther's road axe, I don't know. I just know that I'll be getting a replacement case lined with good ol' green or red or blue or pretty much anything else I can find. It will have to wait 'til the week after Thanksgiving 'cause things are tight, but I consider it to be a Personal Priority.
Well, thanks for letting me drone on... I look forward to letting you know about the homecoming, and how she shapes up after my formerly-of-Guild friend does his magic setup tricks. I've really enjoyed everything I've read here so far, and wish all of you the very best...
Randy
I've been lurking here for about a week now, and I'm happy to be able to say that I'm about to join your esteemed ranks with the immanent arrival of a near-30-year-old F512. I am so completely psyched, I must say! (does little Ed Grimley dance)
By means of introduction: I live in Rhode Island, which means my new (old) baybay will be experiencing a homecoming from goodness knows where she's been for the past 29 years. Fact is, I'm not all that much of a guitar player, though I'm trying my best. I'm primarily a keyboard player, and have been playing synths since 1971.
I love to contrast all the tech stuff with instruments that actually vibrate with string, wire and wood, such as sitar, mandolin, the Chinese guqin and most recently a 13-course baroque lute. (new toy, oh-ee-oh, to keep my mind expanding!)
Can I tell you a little about my adventures in 12-string shopping? Back around '96, I picked up my first 12'er - an entry-level Yamaha. It had the virtue of being affordable, but that was about it; it was a real cheese grater. Several years ago, I found an entry-level Breedlove on Craigslist, which is what I have now. Better, but still something of a struggle to play; quite a bit less than ideal.
I decided I wanted the best 12-string I could get for a reasonable amount of cash, and all my research - and MANY years of listening to music - pointed to a Guild. Yep, you know it... and I have the advantage of having a friend who worked at the Guild plant here in RI for many years when it was still in Westerly - so it was density. Destiny. Kismet!
At first I was looking at the new Chinese JF30s you can get for $700-$800, but everything I read pointed to older, American-made instruments. I found a 10-year-old JF30 in the "as-is" listings at Elderly Instruments. I was a little iffy about an instrument that needed even minor work, but I thought I'd keep an open mind about it.
This past weekend, I went to NYC for a design conference, and made it my business to visit as many music stores as I could, and play as many makes of 12s as I could, with the expectation that unless I was really surprised by something, I'd return home and order that used JF30.
I played an old Fender, Taylors (very nice!) Breedloves, Ovation (even a $3,500 model sounded like a plastic bowl beside a Breedlove... no sale), Takamine, Martin (ooh!), Ibanez, a Blue Ridge 6-string (no 12s, but very nice for the money)... nothing really changed my mind, even though I'd never yet played a Guild.
I stopped at Rudy's, one of the last indy shops on 48th street's famous music row. There were lovely Taylors, and after I mentioned I was interested in Guilds, I was shown a used 2008 F412. The shop dude tuned it, and I sat down to play.
With the first strum, there it was... THE 12-string sound I'd heard all my life, living as an archetype in my mind's ear. What joy - it played almost like a 6-string, and I can still hear it. It sounded incredible! (It's still there, as far as I know, for $2,200.)
That experience convinced me I couldn't settle for less... when I got home, I began searching for a used American F412 or F512, and found the 1981 F512 at Elderly. I read elsewhere in LTG that ya gotta show pictures, so here she is, just waiting for me...
I'll finish paying the balance by the weekend, and expect to have her before Thanksgiving. I CAN'T WAIT!
Still, I've got to tell you, there's a fly in the ointment, a flaw in the diamond, trouble in paradise... no, not with my baybay herself, but... with The Case.
It's not the original case; that's o.k. - it's just that - how do I put this.
I consider myself to be a relatively enlightened Western male, free of many of the prejudices and role stereotypes that bound our fathers and grandfathers. I've got fairly long hair, friends of various genders/sexual preferences and orientations, and a general live-and-let-live attitude about whatever people want to do, as long as they don't do it in the street and scare the horses.
Still, there's just NO WAY that I'm ever going to be caught bringing this... CASE... out in public where someone might catch an accidental glimpse.
That's right, it's Barbie's Dream Guitar.
Or maybe the Pink Panther's road axe, I don't know. I just know that I'll be getting a replacement case lined with good ol' green or red or blue or pretty much anything else I can find. It will have to wait 'til the week after Thanksgiving 'cause things are tight, but I consider it to be a Personal Priority.
Well, thanks for letting me drone on... I look forward to letting you know about the homecoming, and how she shapes up after my formerly-of-Guild friend does his magic setup tricks. I've really enjoyed everything I've read here so far, and wish all of you the very best...
Randy
