Gave away my D60

marcellis

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Gave it to my local guitar repair guy.

I had sent it to be restored by a different luthier last year.

He did Sistine Chapel-quality work on the back, sides, and neck. Unfortunately,
he neglected to humidify the guitar during his cold winter.

I sent it w/1 small soundboard crack. It came back to me w/ 6 or 7 more.
They were damned serious. So the top of that D60 is totally trashed.

My local guitar repair guy here in the States is good. He diagnosed my NS SF III.
His 2 videos got me a replacement for that piece of Korean crap.
So I gave the D60 to him out of gratitude. I don't have room for it anyway.

The D60 still sounds fabulous. He has a studio and needed a stellar-sounding
acoustic. He's got one now. Except for a totally trashed Spruce top - it looks
as good as it sounds.

Don't bother asking the luthier's name. Sorry. He's got problems enough.
Caveat emptor.
 
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sixx

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Sorry to hear about your D60...but I'd say your miles ahead in the karma game with your gift to the local luthier. Class act.
 

richardp69

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You are a much nicer man than I for sure. I personally consider the D 60 to be one of the top Guild Maples of all time. I also do believe in Karma and you will do very well from that perspective.
 

marcellis

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You are a much nicer man than I for sure. I personally consider the D 60 to be one of the top Guild Maples of all time. I also do believe in Karma and you will do very well from that perspective.

It was a Kim Walker D60 from Jan. 1988. The Maple D60's came later in the 1990's.

I couldn't have sold it for much anyway w/the top nearly destroyed. The donee does good check-ups and set-ups for me. So I do get something from the deal. Maybe some studio hours one day too.

If he spends the money to have Cordoba replace the soundboard, he'll have a real masterpiece on his hands.
 
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richardp69

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It was a Kim Walker D60 from Jan. 1988. The Maple D60's came later in the 1990's.

I couldn't have sold it for much anyway w/the top nearly destroyed. The donee does good check-ups and set-ups for me. So I do get something from the deal. Maybe some studio hours one day too.

If he spends the money to have Cordoba replace the soundboard, he'll have a real masterpiece on his hands.

My comment remains the same. I had a D 60 RS at one time and it was also exceptional.
 

txbumper57

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Sorry to hear someone else's neglect led to the top being damaged like it was. That is a generous thing to do giving it to your repair guy and I am sure you will receive the benefits for you generosity ten fold on the back side of things. I am curious though, Did you seek or receive any retribution from the Luthier that damaged the guitar? I hope he gave you something in return for the damaged caused by his neglect.

TX
 

marcellis

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Sorry to hear someone else's neglect led to the top being damaged like it was. That is a generous thing to do giving it to your repair guy and I am sure you will receive the benefits for you generosity ten fold on the back side of things. I am curious though, Did you seek or receive any retribution from the Luthier that damaged the guitar? I hope he gave you something in return for the damaged caused by his neglect.

TX

Nope. I didn't seek any compensation. He's a mess. It would have been easy to get a court judgment. He likely wouldn't have even defended himself in court. But getting a judgment is not the same as getting actual money.

And then there is the problem of how much was the guitar worth before he started working on it? I'd spend $2-5K to get back maybe $500-$1K or so. Not worth it.

He was once an excellent luthier. Now he's a squirrel.
 
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marcellis

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Sadly, Marc, another testimonial that people do change..... not always for the better. Sorry, amigo. :emptiness:

His work was amazing restoring the neck, bindings, frets, inter alia - really high-quality. Unfortunately, my soundboard was totally trashed by the time he got around to it.

That guitar had spent several years in hot, humid, tropical Vietnam. So it had filled up w/moisture. Never a need to humidify a guitar over there. Average annual relative humidity is 80%.

I shipped it to him and apparently he didn't open the case for a few months. The winter of 2016 was cold and dry where he lives. No humidifier in the case. When he did open it, there were several new and very serious cracks on the sound board.

The most annoying part of all this was the pick-guard. When I finally got the guitar back from him and opened the case, the damned pick-guard had come partly unglued. That rendered it unplayable. Everyone was afraid to peel it off because of the cracks. But it was also risky to sand, reglue and clamp.

That's why I brought it to the local repair guy. He succeeded in removing it I think. He's recording with it anyway. That will be a super instrument if he gets Córdoba/Guild to replace the top. It's still a premium-sounding and playing studio instrument if he doesn't.
 
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davismanLV

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With all that instrument has been through and it's extensive traveling and changes in temp and humidity, it's doubtful that Cordoba/Guild would see it as "defects in materials or workmanship" and replace the top. Unless you're just speaking of them doing repair work vs. warranty work. But I don't think they're set up for that.
 

marcellis

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With all that instrument has been through and it's extensive traveling and changes in temp and humidity, it's doubtful that Cordoba/Guild would see it as "defects in materials or workmanship" and replace the top. Unless you're just speaking of them doing repair work vs. warranty work. But I don't think they're set up for that.

true. I never anticipated a free replacement. It would have to be paid for.
The quality of the restoration was so remarkable on the other areas of the
instrument though, it would be worth $1K to have a Guild factory replacement top.

That D60 had the fancy striped binding. It was restored beautifully.

But that's someone else's problem now.
 

GF60

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I bought my Gruhn/Walker Era GF-60 in early 1988. It is maple b/s. There was a rosewood D-60 in the shop at the same time, which sounded very good. I was more interested in the jumbo maple though.
 
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