70's Guild vs Recent Eastman?
 

I'm considering a fixer-uper early 70's Guild F-30 vs a few recently built Eastman or Blueridge guitars, mostly focusing on OM style bodies. What are your thoughts?

The right Guild is going to be hard to come by. If you're going that route have patience.

I was looking for a used Guild back in 2002 but I am so happy I bought my Taylor first. Even since there's been zero time pressure with my subsequent purchases, and gigging with the Taylor has paid for all of it.

So my advice is to get a bird in the hand with a new guitar now.

It depends what 'fixer upper' entails, and how competent and trust-worthy your repair person is.

Keep in mind you are not guaranteed to like results after the guitar is repaired.

I'm not a risk taker, so I'm very unlikely to buy a fixer-upper guitar.

All that said, if the 70s Guild was well-restored they are IMO hard to beat.
I love my two mid-70s Guilds.

Agreed on it depends what fixer upper entails. I have my ‘74 Guild and it is hands down a stellar instrument. I was hunting for a Gibson when I found it. That being said, it is currently awaiting a neck reset so I can’t play it at the moment, but once the wife approves the funds my luthier is waiting. It is the best sounding guitar I have both acoustically and for recording.

Re-reading this... the Guild is probably a specific, identified and available guitar. Sorry about that. Particularly if the guitar is already in the family (from a relative) then the whole equation changes.

In case anyone is still reading this thread, I went with the 1971 Guild F-30. Yesterday I ordered $280 in tools and supplies to begin restoration :)

Wow, you and the guitar will most definitely become fully acquainted and hopefully with a strong bond because of it! Sounds like a great journey.

Good luck, and have fun!

What work will you be doing on the Guild?
Pictures of before and after please.

post deleted, since the images weren't coming through properly. please see the link post below for images.

Where? ...nothing here.

As much as I love older Guilds, the current lineup from Eastman is just amazing.

Still, would love to hear more about this "fire upper".

Sorry, I'm having trouble posting images. Here's a repost with image links.

Overall view of guitar:
https://imgur.com/CfXyKfd

Top:
https://imgur.com/P5cJZ04

Pickguard cracks:
https://imgur.com/NKg9VTO

Fretboard plane intersect with bridge:
https://imgur.com/mtB8R7n

Belly with the bridge still on:
https://imgur.com/0hd9vXu

Belly after I removed the bridge yesterday:
https://imgur.com/XTTyV9D

Thompson Belly Reducer clamped:
https://imgur.com/z1bFEO9

Attempting to save the cracked bridge:
https://imgur.com/OYCCTqh

A few prework measurements. Sorry for the mix of units:

Low E, 1st fret .03"
High E, 1st fret .035"

Low E, 12th fret 5mm
High E, 12th fret 4.5mm

Fretboard plane intersect, distance from top of bridge 4.5mm

I'm starting with bridge fix and belly reduction, with the slightest wisp of hope that I don't need to reset the neck. I'm in waaay over my head, but proceeding with patience. My only failure so far is chewing up the bridge a bit in attempts to clamp it to fix the crack and bellied bottom.

If you wind up needing a new bridge, go over to the Let's Talk Guild Forum.
There you will look for a member named Hauns Moust.
He is the authority on all things Guild and he has a nice selection of Guild parts.

Even if you don't need a new bridge, check out the Forum.

PS,
If you do need a neck re set, there is a guy at LTG that does great neck re sets on Guilds. you can contact there. [fixit] is his nameon LTG.