1974 Guild F50 pawnshop find

DADGAD

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Hi! New member here. :joyous: I joined at the recommendation of another site, as I recently became the owner of a Guild.

Last week, I was traveling out of state with my wife and I stopped in a pawn shop to look for a guitar amplifier or some pedals. I got there shortly after they opened. They had just put an acoustic guitar in the rack on the wall and it caught my eye. It was an old Guild. I was stunned to see the price; $150.

I looked it over for major structural problems, tuned it up and played a few chords. It sang like an angel's harp. The finish was cracked around the neck joint so I checked the neck for looseness. It was solid. I don't need another acoustic but I will never find another like this so, I bought it. They threw in the case and added sales tax.

On the way home, I dropped it off with my acoustic guitar luthier. It needs a new nut, new bridge saddle, glue down the bridge and a fret level and crown. He called me back to say it also needs the first 5 frets replaced and I should have it back in a couple of days.

Here are a few phone pics I took in the hotel. Check out the pink colored abalone inlays. Did I do good?

The guitar shows a lot of players wear. I haven't found any pictures online of a Guild F50 in similar condition to determine what it's value might be. Regardless, attempting a finish restore might devalue it further. So, I should probably enjoy it "as is". I don't have any pictures of the back at the moment but it is flame maple and matches the color on the back of the neck. Finish is worn through on the upper bout where the arm rests and near the middle of the back where a belt buckle rode. Not bad though.

It must have been somebody's pride and joy as it has been played a lot.

Any idea what factory it was made in? The label doesn't say Westerly on it. But the serial number is from the 1974 range of guitars.

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rampside

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Welcome to forum, DADGAD. "Did I do good?" would be a huge understatement! You got yourself a vintage beauty!
 
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Holy crap, I'm by no means an expert on these matters, but I would say you did well. Just out of curiosity, where was the pawn shop? There is one near me and I go in occasionally thinking I'm going to hit the jackpot.
 

Stuball48

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Welcome and did you do good! Who - or is it whomever - pawned that guitar must have done "0" worth of research and quite frankly I think "their butter done slid off their biscuit." What a great find - congratulations.8
 

walrus

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Congratulations! You didn't do "good", you did "GREAT"!

Welcome to LTG!

walrus
 

bobouz

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Your instrument was made in the Westerly factory.

It's pretty rare to find pawn shop deals like this these days, since the internet makes it so easy to get info & value on an item.

Do whatever needs to be done to the guitar, and another wonderful Guild will survive - Congrats!
 

Westerly Wood

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in 1972, the F50 starting price was $575. You got it for $150. including a case.
 

davismanLV

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Wow!! As has been mentioned above, you did REALLY well! Congrats. Once the work is done you're gonna LOVE this guitar! What a find! And welcome to LTG! :encouragement:
 

adorshki

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Your instrument was made in the Westerly factory.
Yep, they only used that "Made in USA" label there, and '74 would fit atht time, too.
Welcome aboard DADGAD, and I think at least 2 of us are still trying to figure out if it's an F50"R".
F50's had arched backs in maple, F50R's had flat rosewood backs.
Looks like an "R" just 'cause the sides look dark like all the "R"types I've seen are, and I think the F50's only came in "Blonde" or Sunburst at that time.
Usually we can tell right away if we can see bracing in the soundhole, that means it's gotta be a flatback.
But the first F50s were archbacks and were Guild's flagship acoustic.
 

D30Man

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You did dynamite my friend. One of the LTG'ers here shared your story earlier today and I called it s "unicorn" deal. Welcome to the Guild forum. Lots of great cats here and knowledge regarding your model and a great deal of other Guild models. Even with the work that has to be done you couldn't have gotten a better deal. I would have been on that bad boy flies on sh**...
 

davismanLV

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Al, I'm pretty sure it's an F50 in maple because that's not rosewood that the label is stuck to.... nope. It's maple. And when you see the label through the soundhole it's fairly centered. On a rosewood (braced) back, it would be off-center. That's what I think.
 

DADGAD

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Thanks for confirming the Westerly build and thanks for the warm welcome!

I’ll post more pictures when I get the guitar back from my luthier. The back is arched, flame maple with no seam down the middle. Perhaps the pawn shop didn’t offer much because the bridge was lifting a little but I’d sure like to know the history on this. Maybe someone inherited it and needed a few bucks. After buying it in a Vegas pawn shop, I went straight to Sam Ash to buy a humidifier. Now she’s with my luthier for TLC. It has rained for a couple of days here in SoCal so she’s getting extra care.

Is pink abalone a rare thing?
 

D30Man

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And let me add kudos to the pawn shop for putting a reasonable price ( maybe a little too reasonable - pawn shop must've gotten it damn near for free ) on an item that was going to need to a decent amount of work and was in anything but pristine condition. I know a few music shops around here ( ZOO music to name one ) who would've had a $1500 or higher price tag on that bad boy. So again you did really well.
 

gjmalcyon

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I've been hanging around here for almost 7 years (during which time my signature went from one Guild to what it is now - beware), and that is about the best score I can recall hearing about.

Congrats and welcome aboard.
 

adorshki

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Al, I'm pretty sure it's an F50 in maple because that's not rosewood that the label is stuck to.... nope. It's maple. And when you see the label through the soundhole it's fairly centered. On a rosewood (braced) back, it would be off-center. That's what I think.

I agree but couldn't be sure. Forgot about the obviously light colored wood behind the label, though.
And it's obviously not pasted right over a brace either, as we've actually seen sometimes on Westerlys. ("If I recall correctly"..they may have actually been Hobokens...)
 
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Rayk

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Hi! New member here. :joyous: I joined at the recommendation of another site, as I recently became the owner of a Guild.

Last week, I was traveling out of state with my wife and I stopped in a pawn shop to look for a guitar amplifier or some pedals. I got there shortly after they opened. They had just put an acoustic guitar in the rack on the wall and it caught my eye. It was an old Guild. I was stunned to see the price; $150.

I looked it over for major structural problems, tuned it up and played a few chords. It sang like an angel's harp. The finish was cracked around the neck joint so I checked the neck for looseness. It was solid. I don't need another acoustic but I will never find another like this so, I bought it. They threw in the case and added sales tax.

On the way home, I dropped it off with my acoustic guitar luthier. It needs a new nut, new bridge saddle, glue down the bridge and a fret level and crown. He called me back to say it also needs the first 5 frets replaced and I should have it back in a couple of days.

Here are a few phone pics I took in the hotel. Check out the pink colored abalone inlays. Did I do good?

The guitar shows a lot of players wear. I haven't found any pictures online of a Guild F50 in similar condition to determine what it's value might be. Regardless, attempting a finish restore might devalue it further. So, I should probably enjoy it "as is". I don't have any pictures of the back at the moment but it is flame maple and matches the color on the back of the neck. Finish is worn through on the upper bout where the arm rests and near the middle of the back where a belt buckle rode. Not bad though.

It must have been somebody's pride and joy as it has been played a lot.

Any idea what factory it was made in? The label doesn't say Westerly on it. But the serial number is from the 1974 range of guitars.

jiuX2xs.jpg

hFEAQGv.jpg

aRHYj3r.jpg

Z1qDxoq.jpg

MyBxUlm.jpg

3JyVl1C.jpg
[/QUOTE]

What the ....... do you pick lotto numbers too ? Lol
Awesome score . 😁
 

txbumper57

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First off Welcome to the forum DADGAD! Congrats on a Smoking Deal and a Great Guild F50 Maple! There isn't anything out there on the market that can compare with a Maple Arched Backed Guild Jumbo when it comes to tone in my opinion. Granted mine is a newer version but the Arched Maple back Guild Jumbo has a wonderful tone to it with surprising overtones that resemble some Rosewood backed guitars. The Punch on the low end and overall focus of the projection make for one great sounding guitar. Glad to hear you are having her repaired properly and look forward to hearing what you think of it once the work is completed. Once again Congrats!

For those wondering if it is a Maple back or not the owner states that the back is flamed Maple in the first post. Also during the 70's it was not uncommon to get a Guild F50 Maple with dark stained outer back and sides to it. Regardless of whether the sides are stained or not it is clear that this is a Maple F50 by looking at the soundhole label and the light color of the wood on the inside of the back along with the owners description. Here is the excerpt from the first post by the owner.

The guitar shows a lot of players wear. I haven't found any pictures online of a Guild F50 in similar condition to determine what it's value might be. Regardless, attempting a finish restore might devalue it further. So, I should probably enjoy it "as is". I don't have any pictures of the back at the moment but it is flame maple and matches the color on the back of the neck. Finish is worn through on the upper bout where the arm rests and near the middle of the back where a belt buckle rode. Not bad though.

TX
 
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