NGD: F65CE

[GGJaguar]

Once again I’m attracted to shiny things. In this case, it was the shiny malachite inlays on this F-65CE. I’ve been a bit wary of shallow body acoustic-electrics because I know that I would mainly play them unplugged and their acoustic design is a compromise. But, emotional (shiny) won over analytical (sound) on this day. Unfortunately, the emotions were a real roller coaster ride with this one, so buckle up.

The F-65CE was Guild’s top model in the 16” x 3” arched back, cutaway, oval sound hole, acoustic electric line that included the F4CE (mahogany), F5CE (rosewood), F25CE (mahogany) and F30CE (maple). I suppose you could throw in the primordial F-45CE from the 1980s although that guitar had a slightly different body shape. The F-65CE was introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2001. It was available in natural, amber, sunburst, black, transparent blue, transparent red and transparent green (and probably others) at various times.

There were two serialization schemes used – one from 1992-93 (F65xxxx) and one from 1993-2001 (AF65xxxx). Based on the serials I’ve seen, it looks like close to 1400 may have been made.

The F-65CE has a laminated flame maple body with a high grade Sitka spruce top. It doesn’t photograph well, but the silking in the top is amazing.



This guitar was made in 1994. The top is straight braced. According to Guild literature, the later models had “shaved” bracing which I assume means tapered, but it could simply be marketing-speak nonsense. It also has the early 13-ply white-black rosette while later models had a 7-ply rosette that included an abalone center ring.

I think the later abalone rosette is more appropriate for the top-of-line model. But that’s slightly (very slightly) offset by the early model’s 13-ply body binding versus 5-ply binding for the later models. The earliest models had tortoise pickguards while later models had black guards. Of course, exceptions exist. In the pix below you can see these features. Also note the guitar with the tortoise has a 24-fret short scale neck.

 

[GGJaguar]

This guitar is part of the Rhode Island Series that is described in the 1995 price list and basically a regular F-65CE that had contrasting inlays based on the guitar’s finish. In this case, malachite (spelled malakite in the price list) inlays were used to compliment the Transparent Green finish. The G-shield and V inlays are malachite with triangle malachite inlays added to the bridge that are not present on the standard F-65CE. I like how even the bridge pins received a malachite dot. There was a $500 upcharge for these inlays which was substantial in 1995 and is the equivalent of $1050 in 2024.





The flame maple neck is fitted with an ebony fingerboard that, along with the headstock, use the top tier inlays as on the D-55. It has 20 frets with a 25 5/8” scale length. The earlier models had 24 frets with a 24 3/4” scale neck. The neck profile is slim for an acoustic guitar and has a 1 5/8” nut width. It’s good for playing lead or strumming, but not so easy for finger picking. It’s similar in shape and size to my D-4HG and DCE3 as shown here:



Strung with D’Addario PB 12s, the guitar has good acoustic volume given the 3” body depth. It’s not dreadnaught loud, but it’s more than enough to be satisfying playing solo at home and could probably keep up playing with another guitarist. I think the bass response is impressive and it give the F-65CE a warm voice. The tone is sweet tone as long as it’s not pushed like a flat picked D-50. There is some underlying boxiness to the sound similar to what you hear in small body guitars like the M-20. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s there and to my ears feels like the guitar’s sound is trying to fully bloom, but only gets about 3/4 of the way there. No doubt this is an artifact of the shallow body depth.

 

[GGJaguar]

Plugged in, the guitar sounds good with just a hint of piezo quack. The early versions use a Fishman Matrix Pro undersaddle transducer and preamp. The Fishman Prefix Onboard Blender was fitted on the F-65CE about a year after mine was made and then it received the Fishman Prefix Pro Blend. The latter two have an internal microphone in addition to the undersaddle transducer making them superior systems. Note the Prefix Pro Blend has a smaller footprint, too.



The Fishman Matrix Pro in my F-65CE sounds very similar to the Fishman Prefix Pro fitted to my DCE3, i.e. – decent enough and useable. And speaking of the DCE3, I find that guitar more satisfying to play in terms of neck feel (1 11/16” nut) and acoustic sound (no boxiness).

To me, the F-65CE sounds like a really good small body guitar, but with a big body (if that makes sense). It makes for a fine couch guitar. If the later models actually have shaved (tapered) braces, I’ll bet they have a better acoustic voice than the earlier straight braced version.

Overall, I think the F-65CE is a very handsome model (shiny!). The shallower body makes playing more comfortable, though it’s no lightweight as far as acoustics go (5.9 lb/2.7 kg). It’s fun to play both acoustically and plugged into an amp, but its strength lies as an electric guitar. I can see it being very useful for a performing guitarist or used for recording so if that’s your thing, I highly recommend it. If you’re looking for a purely acoustic guitar with a maple body, there are better choices like the G-37, D-30, GF-30 or the mighty F-50.

 

[GGJaguar]

Epilogue

Unfortunately, this one is not a keeper. First, I don’t think I would have kept it long because the DCE3 works better for me as an acousti-lectric guitar. But the main reason is that the guitar was damaged during shipping due to a poorly fitting non-OHSC and poor packing. It suffered neck whiplash and was returned.

You can see how loose the case fits and they didn’t add any packing material around the guitar body. There is a single neck support that doesn’t really offer much support for such a long neck. The neck does NOT rest on the top of the accessory pocket cover. It needed packing material under the neck, but there was none. You can also see the only packing material they used was one crumpled up piece of kraft paper that offered no support to the headstock.



And the result was this…





Here’s the only repair photo they show.

 

[twocorgis]

Sorry about that. Pretty guitar, but the narrow nut is a non-starter for me. Thanks for the other thread with the heads-up for @richardp69.

 

[HeyMikey]

Sad to see such a beauty damaged like that in shipping. I hope it doesn’t become the property of the shipping company and junked. Hopefully someone can work with it.

 

[GGJaguar]

I hope it doesn’t become the property of the shipping company and junked. Hopefully someone can work with it.

It was repaired by the shop after I returned it and was put back up for sale. It has sold (again) to someone else.

 

[adorshki]

Strung with D’Addario PB 12s,

Note those guitars were designed for 10-47 but will take 11-52's. Mine was choked off when I tried 12's on it. The tops are thin. I don't suggest going over the custom lights without tuning down.

Also, some of the earliest ones had maple tops (!) And think they were available by order for a while, pretty sure I've seen 'em from '94 and even '95 with a longscale, which surprised me.

Seem to recall a price list which actually showed the maple option, but didn't find it on GAD's site just now. Possibly Ralf (@SFIV1967) posted it?
Another detail: When the scale changed, the soundhole had to be relocated and thus the bracing too. The longscales understandably are said to be bit louder. The maple tops are reputed to be sonic duds in acoustic mode, really only intended for amplified performing.

"For those who didn't know...." (I suspect @GGJaguar 's familiar with those details)