Rare bird, F-30 NT Special 1964?

[Ginridge]

Hi Folks,

I recently was asked to restore a rare Guild acoustic; an F-30 NT Special, SR# AI 1299. I was told by the owner that it is a Brazilian Rosewood guitar dating to 1964; one of only 200 or so ever made. It was in very bad shape, but it has been an interesting and complex restoration including repairing about 15 -20 top, back and side splits, removing superglue which had been previously (and poorly) used to glue many of the cracks, repairing loose braces, replacing a damaged bridge and finally a neck re-set which I am nearly done with. I've also done a light french polish to restore the damaged finish. I'll attach a pic of the guitar about 1/2 way through the restoration as well as a label shot.

My copy of Gruhn's Guide To Vintage Guitars dates to the 1990s and has very little info on Guild, just a selected SR list which starts at 1965. I was hoping someone would have more information on this particular model. It appears to be an excellent instrument now that the major damage has been dealt with.

I was surprised when I removed the neck to re-set it. While it does have the traditional dove tail joint, it almost seems to be a dovetail shaped tendon, not the traditional beveled dove tail I'm used to seeing.

Thanks for any info folks can share!

 

[hansmoust]

I recently was asked to restore a rare Guild acoustic; an F-30 NT Special, SR# AI 1299. I was told by the owner that it is a Brazilian Rosewood guitar dating to 1964; one of only 200 or so ever made.

Hello Ginridge,

That particular F-30NT Special was part of a small batch of rosewood F-30 Special models that was done during the year 1967.
One of the F-30s that Paul Simon played during his early career was part of this small batch.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[HeyMikey]

Hi and welcome. That is indeed a special guitar. Good on the owner and you for restoring it. Keep the pics coming!

 

[chazmo]

Welcome to LTG, Ginridge. That looks like a real labor of love. It seems the Hoboken shop was doing some very interesting things in 1967, this small batch of rosewood F-30 Specials among them, as Hans mentioned above! Hans touches on these guitars on the "Special Orders" page (164) of his book (hardcover version, at least).

As HeyMikey said, please keep pictures a-comin'! That is indeed a very special Guild!

 

[chazmo]

Oh, by the way, I think that wedge shape is what Guild used for all its neck joints. Are you saying that you expected that joint to be tapered? I don't think Guild ever did that. I could definitely be wrong about that.

 

[Ginridge]

Hi Folks, Thanks so much for replies. I'll get a batch of pics from the restoration up later tonight. RE the neck, This is my first Guild neck re-set. I've primarily done turn of the century Parlors (Washburn, Regal, Bruno etc) and 20's -40s Kays and Harmonies (affordable and re-sellable!). I asked on several repair forums about the Guild neck joint and heard that it was a standard dove tail joint (though I also heard a couple vague references to it being a difficult neck to re-set) so I was confused when I got it apart! I spent a lot of time looking and pondering it before finally acting. There was a thin mahogany veneer between the fingerboard extension and the top which I erroneously thought indicated a previous neck re-set. You can see it in the shot below. I'm now confident that was not the case. The neck is ready to go back on as soon as I finalize the finish work. Interestingly enough, the heel was not flat in the center, but concave. The heel cap covered it up. It's clearly a quility made instrument and I can't wait to get back together!

 

[Ginridge]

First batch of pics from the restoration

 

[Ginridge]

Been working on this one for a couple years...very slowly! I actually forgot that I had to replace a missing back brace until I saw these shots. I have an exact copy of the original bridge ready to put on once the neck is re-set, the original pick guard, slightly shrunken but flattened back into shape. I plan to re-use it rather than make a new one. I've got several layers of french polish over the finish and am letting it gas out before final hand rubbing it out. Once that's done, I'll re-attach the neck, put on the bridge, and deal with a few other minor issues.

 

[twocorgis]

Wow, really sad to see such a special old guitar in such poor condition. Looks like it was abused/neglected for a long time.

 

[chazmo]

Hi Folks, Thanks so much for replies. I'll get a batch of pics from the restoration up later tonight. RE the neck, This is my first Guild neck re-set. I've primarily done turn of the century Parlors (Washburn, Regal, Bruno etc) and 20's -40s Kays and Harmonies (affordable and re-sellable!). I asked on several repair forums about the Guild neck joint and heard that it was a standard dove tail joint (though I also heard a couple vague references to it being a difficult neck to re-set) so I was confused when I got it apart! I spent a lot of time looking and pondering it before finally acting. There was a thin mahogany veneer between the fingerboard extension and the top which I erroneously thought indicated a previous neck re-set. You can see it in the sot below. I'm now confident that was not the case. The neck is ready to go back on as soon as I finalize the finish work. Interestingly enough, the heel was not flat in the center, but concave. The heel cap covered it up. It's clearly a quility made instrument and I can't wait to get back together!

Gin, the piece between the fingerboard and the soundboard is one of those things that's part of early (Hoboken) history. I believe they stopped doing that soon after 1967, but Hans could give you more details. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you on his website as much as he chimed in here. He can fill you in on any details you need.

This is a really ugly picture of the soundboard extension on my 1967 F-50 Rosewood (since sold). This guitar was re-topped in 1971, though, so I'm not sure this is original.

 

[chazmo]

And, thanks for all the pictures, Gin! Are the diamond-shaped pieces on the interior braces for the top cracks? What did you make them out of (just curious)?

 

[chazmo]

Hey, Ginridge, check out the arched, rosewood back of my old 1967 F-50 Rosewood... This thing was really beautiful. You'll never see another like this unless you look in Hans' book! Hint: look for F-412 SPEC. And, especially, check out the interior... They made a lamination here with the inside matching the outside!!!!

 

[Ginridge]

Wow! Amazing pics. I'm becoming quite enamored with Guild guitars. The diamond cleats are exactly what you thought... re-enforcemnt for the cracks. I make a point of making them from whatever wood I'm attaching them to. In this case, Spruce for the top splits. I probably did rosewood ones for the side split as well.

That F-50 is beautiful!

 

[chazmo]

Thanks, Ginridge, and welcome aboard. Post often. We love to see stuff like this! Guilds are just amazing. We'll get you hooked in no time.

Yeah, the 1967 F-50 Rosewood was spectacular to look at, but it didn't have the sound of the 1971 F-50R I had.

I wish I'd been around for (and known about) Guild in 1967.... I would love to have seen what they were doing there!

 

[walrus]

Very cool, Ginridge! Thanks for telling us about this - interesting stuff!

walrus

 

[chazmo]

Mark Dronge's recollection of the Simon F-30R. It was in tune!!!! :

 

[walrus]

That's a pretty low bar for choosing a guitar, Mr. Simon!

walrus

 

[jedzep]

That ended up being a very overplayed S&G song, but the zing in the intro riff really showed off the greatness of that Guild small bod. They might have done well putting more of them out there.

 

[Ginridge]

I hand polished out the guitar body last night and am ready to re-assemble. I'll do it slowly over the next few days and share pics of the process. Here's she is as she sits right now.

 

[chazmo]

You've really done a great job restoring the sound box, Ginridge!