Guild F-47 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1967)
LOADING IMAGES
This item has been sold.
Item # 11317
Prices subject to change without notice.
Guild F-47 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1967), made in Hoboken, NJ, serial # AK-259, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
The often very fine sounding Guild flattops of the 1960's can be surprisingly hard to find these days, and this model is one of Hoboken company's best-kept secrets. This 1967 natural-top F-47 was the upper midline model in Guild's line. The F-47 is basically similar in layout to the familiar F-212 12-string, but of course with 6 strings. The F-47 stood in the company's line above F-30, F-20 and M-20, and below the 17" maple F-50. While the F-30 is similar in size to a Martin 000, The F-47 is a full 16" at the lower bout, most comparable to Gibson's much-venerated J-185. By the mid-60's that Gibson was long out of production replaced by the quirkier Everly Brothers model, and Martin offered nothing in this category at all.
The F-47 was introduced as the "Bluegrass model" in 1963, replacing the similar but plainer F-40. That guitar had been made of maple, while the new model was built with mahogany back and sides. The initial few had a whimsical illustrated pickguard with a horse motif, a quirky idea quickly deleted. It settled into its groove by 1964, with a plain tortoise celluloid pickguard, multibound body, laminated mahogany/maple neck with a bound block inlaid rosewood fingerboard and "Chesterfield" inlay on the plastic-faced peghead. This early 1967 model is one of only 200 sold that year, fitted with single-unit enclosed Japanese made machines that are a guild quirk of this period. Less than 500 of these were sold from made 1965 through 1970. making it a fairly rare instrument.
The F-47 is a truly fine guitar, but one many players are not familiar with. With its slim neck and narrow-waisted body this is a very comfortable guitar for its size, and puts out a lot of sound. It is an unusually fine fingerpicking guitar for a larger instrument with a vibrant powerful midrange sound; it works equally well with a flatpick and as a strummed chord machine. This is an extremely well-built and responsive guitar, much lighter than Rhode-Island made 1970's Guilds and easily on par-or better- compared with Martin or Gibson offerings from the same era. We rarely get these in and this is a fine player's example, a bit worn in but a wonderful instrument nonetheless.
Overall length is 41 3/4 in. (106 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This guitar has some fairly light general play wear and shows a number of repairs, making for a good players example. The neck has been wall reset to the proper angle, something of a tricky procedure on these older Guilds. The bad news is this resulted in a repaired heel crack, well down at the lower end of heel but still visible. This is not an ongoing structural issue; it is completely solid but plainly visible. The seam along the back of the laminated neck can be felt but is not open anywhere.
The finish overall shows some dings, dents and scrapes; the back of the neck has some deeper worn spots up around the 10th fret area and one deep dink on the volute. there is some buffing and minor touch up to the top and one small grain split on the top just below the fingerboard on the lower treble bout. There are no other visible crack repairs. The headstock veneer is in much better shape than many Guilds from this era with only very minor shrinkage.
The rosewood bridge is in the exact original style but may be a well-done repro, in any case there has been a bridge reglue with some touchup around it. The original maple bridgeplate has had some small circular patches added to address worn pin holes. The neck angle is perfect and this is a very fine playing guitar with a robust and ringing sound, complete in the original HSC (with an ancient replaced handle). Overall Very Good + Condition.
The often very fine sounding Guild flattops of the 1960's can be surprisingly hard to find these days, and this model is one of Hoboken company's best-kept secrets. This 1967 natural-top F-47 was the upper midline model in Guild's line. The F-47 is basically similar in layout to the familiar F-212 12-string, but of course with 6 strings. The F-47 stood in the company's line above F-30, F-20 and M-20, and below the 17" maple F-50. While the F-30 is similar in size to a Martin 000, The F-47 is a full 16" at the lower bout, most comparable to Gibson's much-venerated J-185. By the mid-60's that Gibson was long out of production replaced by the quirkier Everly Brothers model, and Martin offered nothing in this category at all.
The F-47 was introduced as the "Bluegrass model" in 1963, replacing the similar but plainer F-40. That guitar had been made of maple, while the new model was built with mahogany back and sides. The initial few had a whimsical illustrated pickguard with a horse motif, a quirky idea quickly deleted. It settled into its groove by 1964, with a plain tortoise celluloid pickguard, multibound body, laminated mahogany/maple neck with a bound block inlaid rosewood fingerboard and "Chesterfield" inlay on the plastic-faced peghead. This early 1967 model is one of only 200 sold that year, fitted with single-unit enclosed Japanese made machines that are a guild quirk of this period. Less than 500 of these were sold from made 1965 through 1970. making it a fairly rare instrument.
The F-47 is a truly fine guitar, but one many players are not familiar with. With its slim neck and narrow-waisted body this is a very comfortable guitar for its size, and puts out a lot of sound. It is an unusually fine fingerpicking guitar for a larger instrument with a vibrant powerful midrange sound; it works equally well with a flatpick and as a strummed chord machine. This is an extremely well-built and responsive guitar, much lighter than Rhode-Island made 1970's Guilds and easily on par-or better- compared with Martin or Gibson offerings from the same era. We rarely get these in and this is a fine player's example, a bit worn in but a wonderful instrument nonetheless.
Overall length is 41 3/4 in. (106 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This guitar has some fairly light general play wear and shows a number of repairs, making for a good players example. The neck has been wall reset to the proper angle, something of a tricky procedure on these older Guilds. The bad news is this resulted in a repaired heel crack, well down at the lower end of heel but still visible. This is not an ongoing structural issue; it is completely solid but plainly visible. The seam along the back of the laminated neck can be felt but is not open anywhere.
The finish overall shows some dings, dents and scrapes; the back of the neck has some deeper worn spots up around the 10th fret area and one deep dink on the volute. there is some buffing and minor touch up to the top and one small grain split on the top just below the fingerboard on the lower treble bout. There are no other visible crack repairs. The headstock veneer is in much better shape than many Guilds from this era with only very minor shrinkage.
The rosewood bridge is in the exact original style but may be a well-done repro, in any case there has been a bridge reglue with some touchup around it. The original maple bridgeplate has had some small circular patches added to address worn pin holes. The neck angle is perfect and this is a very fine playing guitar with a robust and ringing sound, complete in the original HSC (with an ancient replaced handle). Overall Very Good + Condition.