**1956 1st Year** Guild F20 Guitar New Case + Kluson Deluxe Tuners-Free Shipping

Description: I also have this listed for sale online at letstalkguild under the buy and sell section. More photos and details can be seen there. Please feel free to let me know if I have any for the details of this guitar wrong. I would rather be accurate so any input is appreciated. 1956 Guild F20 guitar First year and early in the year. Serial number 3298. Rough estimate the spring of 1956 I am the 2nd owner/family of this guitar I purchased it from a friend of my sons father. It was his mothers guitar which he said she purchased new at the end of high school and played it thru college and after. When the original owner passed away the guitar went to her son the father of my sons friend. He is a hobby guitar player but really only plays electric as he had some nice 1970’s strats but rarely plays acoustic. I purchased it about 4.5 years ago. I found a seller on Reverb a music store that had 5 NOS Guild F20 cases and purchased one for $100. They were discounted to move them. I think at some point in the recent past Guild stopped making the F20 model so maybe they were surplus. Its actually one of the nicest cases I have seen. I kept the guitar in the case in the box the case came in in my family room and take it out maybe a half hour every six months just to check it out and play it a little. I oil the fingerboard once a year and change the strings etc. I just recently gave it a complete set up with John Pearse Phosphor Bronze 10-47 strings. I cleaned and oiled the fingerboard. I filed the saddle down and filed the nut slots and needed and adjust the truss rod to make it play very well. The action by the nut in first position is very low. Around the 5-7 frets low and around the 12 fret medium-low. I spent several hours doing this set up to find out how well the guitar was capable of playing. It came to me with medium high action and I wonder if it ever had a set up. It plays nice now. Better than how I have received many new guitars. I filed and lowered the saddle well and its still has about 1/16-1/8” left that can be filled down. I left a slight relief in the truss rod adjustment and I filled the nut slots that needed them to make the action at the first few frets as low as it can go almost effortless to fret the notes on the first few frets. The action in the middle is still very good and the action around the 12th fret is a little higher. Not high just medium and better than most acoustic guitars I pick up at the store. I do not feel the guitar needs a neck set up despite its age. It you were playing this guitar everyday and you play often up around the 12-15 frets like lead guitar and you would like the action lower there is always the option to file the saddle down a little more or I would recommend having your luthier file the bridge down as it is a very thick bridge and has plenty of thickness to be filed down to lower the action. I do not think it is necessary as I am very comfortable playing this guitar. I just put a new set of strings on today and played it over and hour up and down the neck and no issues at all. No buzzing and its just fun to play. It sounds really good. It just has its own character and is surprisingly loud for its size and it really cuts thru. You notice some of the notes just ring and sustain like only an old guitar does. I have a newer Gibson J45 and it sounds sort of muddy in comparison at times. The saddle is original The tuners are original The pickguard is original The bridge pins and end pin for a strap and OEM Guild that I purchased when I got the guitar. The guitar had a trapeze tailpiece on it for who know why. Lol. It came without the bridge pins and end pin due to having a trapeze tailpiece. I seem some picture of old fold acoustic players and some had guitars with trapeze tailpieces so maybe the original owner did that. No idea why. You can see on the top that the trapeze cause three holes on the top eventually and one worn spot. If you can picture where some adjustment nuts or nuts to hold the parts of the trapeze tailpiece were by wear over time caused the small holes in the top. Not cracks. Just tiny holes. The trapeze is gone and Guild end pin and bridge pins are installed. I had a set of Kluson Deluxe strip tuners that I was going to put on a early 1960’s Gibson SG Special that never happened. They are new never used. The stock F20 Guild tuners work fine unless you are bending strings like crazy playing the blues so I just left the stock ones on but I am including the new Kluson set also so you have options. The case does not have a mark on it. Kept in the plastic bag in the box. The guitar has player wear from over the years and has the common issues with the plastic used for the binding edges at that time that shrinks and cracks. The top binding has two small pieces that cracked off and are gone and the binding on the back is mostly worn away or cracked off. This is a common issue and all the Guilds that I have seen from this era. In the last 4.5 years all the Guild F20’s from the late 50’s early 60’s have all had the binding replaced. I was going to have the binding replaced or do it myself but I chose to leave as is as it does not bother me and I wanted the next owner to choose how to restore it if desired. There is a chip of wood missing at the lower edge of the soundhole. Not unusual from pick strumming on and old guitar. I had a late 1950’s Gibson J50 with almost the exact mark and have seen many similar but just wanted to point it out. I tried to show many descriptive pictures The top of the guitar finish has some typical checking but No cracks. Same with the back side. The top other than the three small holes from the trapeze tailpiece looks great. The back has more wear. The fretboard and back of the neck are in good shape too. Just a few nicks on the back of the neck but the finish is intact and not worn thru from excessive playing unlike many vintage guitars. The headstock has a small peeled off section of the front face veneer layer. It was plain wood where it peeled off by the corner by the G and B string tuners. I gave it a light coat of black with a Sharpee marker and it looks good and flat color like the rest of the headstock The sticker in the sound hole has the serial number. From what I gather in 1956 they did not stamp the back of the headstock with the serial number. They must have started that in 1957 when they moved the factory as I see a 1957 on Ebay with a 4000’s serial number stamped on back of headstock. No cracks on the top, the bridge is stable not pulling up, the neck has never been reset, no twist if in the neck/fretboard. The nut is original. I do not see any signs of any types of repairs ever being done on the guitar and the original owners son was not aware of any work ever being done to the guitar by his mother the original owner. I have watched what these have been listed and sold for over the past 4 years and have never seen a 1956 and this one was made early in the year. I am pricing it for what I believe is below market value. This is based on what I have seen in the last 4 years and of my experience with guitars. This one unlike most had not had the binding replaced or a neck reset or the finish redone. I am pricing it in mind with that a buyer may want to have the rear binding replaced and possibly other repairs or work done to make it cosmetically restored however they see fit. This will be a buy it as is no returns type of sale. I will try and post clear pictures and I really have made a point to accurately describe the condition of the guitar. I am pricing it in my opinion very fair just to hopefully move it by the end of the year to avoid a next year sale where the IRS limits for reporting gear sales go from 5000 to 600. Just trying to make a win-win for both sides. It will be double or triple boxed and padded. I will detune the guitar a step or two before packing. I have packed and shipped many guitars. It will ship out the same or next day via either UPS or Fed Ex ground. No USPS. USA 48 states only. Regular PayPal only or local pickup with cash only. I am located in NW Indiana about 30 miles from Chicago. Please message if any questions or need more pictures. I would rather do the work on the front end and make a clear and hassle free transaction for both sides. I can provide links or items I have for sale on Reverb and Ebay if you would like to check my feedback. I think its like 1500 total transactions with 100% feedback. Thank you! Dave

Price: 1750 USD

Location: Crown Point, Indiana

End Time: 2024-12-29T08:57:43.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD