Pinning for lefty 12 strings...

[chazmo]

Spotted this on eBay, and I found it interesting. Dual pickguard notwithstanding, does anyone know if Guild actually made lefty 12 strings? I'm thinking this guitar is just maybe nut and saddle made for reversed strings, but not shipped by the factory as a lefty guitar (I don't know).

What I mean is that if you look at the bridge pins for this guitar, it wasn't reversed from the standard... so that means string 11 (low E) is pinned further from the bridge than string 12 (octave E)... Guild's normal pinning would have this the other way.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guild-1996-JF30-12- ... 19b8e1a297

 

[dreadnut]

My buddy has a factory F-212 I think.

 

[GardMan]

Chaz,
If it's not original, it looks to me like the saddle slot has been filled and recut, so that the low (bass) strings ARE longer, as they should be for proper intonation. It also looks like a 1/8" saddle... which would not be original on a Westerly Guild (at least, I don't think so). SO I would guess this one has been converted right to left (bridge slot filled and recut for leftie 1/8" saddle).
D

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Did Guild add a letter "L" to the serial number on lefties?

 

[GardMan]

Did Guild add a letter "L" to the serial number on lefties?

I don't think they appended an "L" to the SN... rather to the model designation. D
Added: actually, I think it is "LH" I have seen in the model designation of some Guild lefties.

 

[chazmo]

Yeah, Dave, guys, I too agree this one is probably a manual conversion. That said, I don't think I've seen a lefty 12-string from the factory...

Dread, if you see your friend, do you think you could take some pictures? Would like to see how they did the bridge, etc. I would *think* that they would've mirror-imaged everything including the bracing of the top, but I don't know... My curiosity never ends.

 

[hansmoust]

Dread, if you see your friend, do you think you could take some pictures? Would like to see how they did the bridge, etc. I would *think* that they would've mirror-imaged everything including the bracing of the top, but I don't know... My curiosity never ends.

Hello Chazmo,

As weird as it may sound, you will not find left-handed bracing on an original Guild lefthanded flat top guitar. That's how they did it!

Also, the bridge pins didn't always have the configuration that you would expect on a lefty.
I've seen 'm both ways!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[chazmo]

Dread, if you see your friend, do you think you could take some pictures? Would like to see how they did the bridge, etc. I would *think* that they would've mirror-imaged everything including the bracing of the top, but I don't know... My curiosity never ends.

Hello Chazmo,

As weird as it may sound, you will not find left-handed bracing on an original Guild lefthanded flat top guitar. That's how they did it!

Also, the bridge pins didn't always have the configuration that you would expect on a lefty.
I've seen 'm both ways!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Oooh, interesting, Hans!! Thanks for the info! I guess re-bracing the guitar would be a lot of work for a very limited number of guitars. And, in a case where they didn't mirror-image the bridge, I guess there's little difference between what the factory did and what aftermarket would be done to make a lefty out of a righty...