Rickenmaxer
Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2014
- Messages
- 110
- Reaction score
- 110
- Guild Total
- 4
Greetings to all. Long-time lurker and frequent visitor with a long-lived admiration of Guild guitars of all varieties. I pulled the trigger on a nice enough looking Westerly JF30-12 that showed up on EBay through a pawn shop's listing. Owning a wonderful New Hartford F50 6-string, I've been on the lookout for a maple 12 and this one was priced right. Its condition was described as "Good" for its age, with a small rough spot on the bass-side lower bout, two small chips in the binding finish, and slight bridge lift where you'd expect to see it on the side toward the end pin.
Per the description, (due to the lift?) it had been stored and subsequently shipped with tension off the strings. Despite that and the decrepit strings that had only one or two wraps each, it tunes and holds to pitch, and the action is reasonably low. There's actually a very slight back-bow to the neck, but it isn't causing buzzing at any fretted position. A straight edge on the fretboard runs right to the top of the bridge, and it looks like there's still some saddle left. The bridge-lift is not bad, allowing only the top edge of a playing card (less than 2-3mm) with no gap at the treble corner, and there's only a barely perceptible bit of bellying below the bridge. Intonation is decent given the cruddy strings and questionable storage. I'm going to put a new set of light strings on it and let it humidify for a week in its case before I do any additional tweaking with truss rods, etc. (Or should I let it humidify with the existing strings then restring it?)
[Quick sidebar: The auction indicated it's a 1996 model, but the Serial Number -- AJ321913 -- extends beyond the Westerly years on the Guild .pdf with AJ321291 being the last number shown in 1997. Any firm guidance on the date?]
So, being in "good" condition, I can live with a few patches of light finish crazing on the top and a small ding on the side neck that weren't called out. One thing, though, that wasn't mentioned in the description or shown in photos is a section of heavy lacquer checking on the headstock neck joint (picture link below). While I can feel the edge of the larger u-shaped crack you see that's just above the nut line, I don't believe the neck wood is cracked given the overall stability of everything under tension. And there's no sign of repair/refinishing to the area. It's hard to tell if the trauma might have happened in transit this week or if its an old injury. Of course, the auction photos of the head stock cut off right below the tuners (and above this area). Thoughts or advice on it?
At the very least, I'm going to contact the seller to see if they acknowlege it or have photos of the full neck/headstock length to verify. I'm not sure I would have bid on it if I'd seen it, though, if everything remains stable, it will still be a decent buy. I'm definitely loving this guitar and can't wait to get it set up properly with fresh strings. And I thank you all for the years of experience and information that this site has provided.
Per the description, (due to the lift?) it had been stored and subsequently shipped with tension off the strings. Despite that and the decrepit strings that had only one or two wraps each, it tunes and holds to pitch, and the action is reasonably low. There's actually a very slight back-bow to the neck, but it isn't causing buzzing at any fretted position. A straight edge on the fretboard runs right to the top of the bridge, and it looks like there's still some saddle left. The bridge-lift is not bad, allowing only the top edge of a playing card (less than 2-3mm) with no gap at the treble corner, and there's only a barely perceptible bit of bellying below the bridge. Intonation is decent given the cruddy strings and questionable storage. I'm going to put a new set of light strings on it and let it humidify for a week in its case before I do any additional tweaking with truss rods, etc. (Or should I let it humidify with the existing strings then restring it?)
[Quick sidebar: The auction indicated it's a 1996 model, but the Serial Number -- AJ321913 -- extends beyond the Westerly years on the Guild .pdf with AJ321291 being the last number shown in 1997. Any firm guidance on the date?]
So, being in "good" condition, I can live with a few patches of light finish crazing on the top and a small ding on the side neck that weren't called out. One thing, though, that wasn't mentioned in the description or shown in photos is a section of heavy lacquer checking on the headstock neck joint (picture link below). While I can feel the edge of the larger u-shaped crack you see that's just above the nut line, I don't believe the neck wood is cracked given the overall stability of everything under tension. And there's no sign of repair/refinishing to the area. It's hard to tell if the trauma might have happened in transit this week or if its an old injury. Of course, the auction photos of the head stock cut off right below the tuners (and above this area). Thoughts or advice on it?
At the very least, I'm going to contact the seller to see if they acknowlege it or have photos of the full neck/headstock length to verify. I'm not sure I would have bid on it if I'd seen it, though, if everything remains stable, it will still be a decent buy. I'm definitely loving this guitar and can't wait to get it set up properly with fresh strings. And I thank you all for the years of experience and information that this site has provided.
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