Sam Powrie
Junior Member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 45
- Guild Total
- 3
I've been searching for a F-30 for years & have just managed to find & buy one locally here in Australia for a very reasonable price. It arrived this morning after a 1,400km journey across the country. I believe it was an estate sale & was listed as being in very good, original condition with case - which fortunately it is! In fact I'd call it 'excellent'! Just a few small marks here & there but nothing that is really noticeable. The neck is dead-straight with a fantastic all-round action & it even has some sort of battery-powered pickup inside. I'm a very happy camper!
And did I say that it 'rings like a bell' (to quote a well known guitar hero)? No? Well it does - like a beautiful bell on all stings at at all positions. Just amazing! I believe it's a 1975 guitar [edit: 1977!] - Honduras mahogany & a very fine & even spruce top. Neck joint, bridge & fret board appear untouched. The original 3-on a plate tuners have been replaced by unbranded & obviously quite old Kluson-style nickel machines which seem to work fine.
This is the full-depth 'Paul Simon' version I've always wanted so it has a proper bass register - deep, clear & powerful, almost like a dreadnaught. And very balanced across all strings & positions with a fantastic mid-range & clear & sweet trebles.
The seller was unable to ship the guitar to me directly so I asked him to take it in to Mall Music, an excellent north-shore music store in Sydney, to whom I'm very grateful - they inspected & expertly serviced the instrument for me (perfect set-up) & shipped it across the country for a very reasonable fee. My only small doubt lies with the 11-52 strings they installed. Having owned & played many 00/000 sized guitars I now consider light gauge strings rather critically - I feel that they don't always bring out the full potential of smaller instruments. My 00-03 Larrivee for instance, sounds 'weak' at the treble end with ordinary lights, but with the D'Addario True Mediums (medium gauge 6, 2 & 1 strings) it really comes alive & sings! I reckon the same might apply to this Guild so I'll be giving heavier first & second strings a go at least! Because I'm primarily a finger style player, I reckon the arrival of this new baby will see my old D-35 going to a new home soon (along with a number of other fine guitars).
So there we have it - a dream fulfilled! I'd be very interested in comments from other F-30 owners, particularly with regard to experiments with strings & string gauges. Thanks for reading!
Sam.
And did I say that it 'rings like a bell' (to quote a well known guitar hero)? No? Well it does - like a beautiful bell on all stings at at all positions. Just amazing! I believe it's a 1975 guitar [edit: 1977!] - Honduras mahogany & a very fine & even spruce top. Neck joint, bridge & fret board appear untouched. The original 3-on a plate tuners have been replaced by unbranded & obviously quite old Kluson-style nickel machines which seem to work fine.
This is the full-depth 'Paul Simon' version I've always wanted so it has a proper bass register - deep, clear & powerful, almost like a dreadnaught. And very balanced across all strings & positions with a fantastic mid-range & clear & sweet trebles.
The seller was unable to ship the guitar to me directly so I asked him to take it in to Mall Music, an excellent north-shore music store in Sydney, to whom I'm very grateful - they inspected & expertly serviced the instrument for me (perfect set-up) & shipped it across the country for a very reasonable fee. My only small doubt lies with the 11-52 strings they installed. Having owned & played many 00/000 sized guitars I now consider light gauge strings rather critically - I feel that they don't always bring out the full potential of smaller instruments. My 00-03 Larrivee for instance, sounds 'weak' at the treble end with ordinary lights, but with the D'Addario True Mediums (medium gauge 6, 2 & 1 strings) it really comes alive & sings! I reckon the same might apply to this Guild so I'll be giving heavier first & second strings a go at least! Because I'm primarily a finger style player, I reckon the arrival of this new baby will see my old D-35 going to a new home soon (along with a number of other fine guitars).
So there we have it - a dream fulfilled! I'd be very interested in comments from other F-30 owners, particularly with regard to experiments with strings & string gauges. Thanks for reading!
Sam.
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