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  #1  
Old 09-22-2010, 06:21 PM
flagstaffcharli flagstaffcharli is offline
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Default Guild Mark

I posted a while ago about the Martin classicals and nylon strings. How about those old Guild Mark series guitars? Any experience with them?

In particular, I'd love to try a Mark IV with the pearwood. I played a D-44 (obviously much different beast!) and I thought the pearwood was very interesting. But I see no Mark 4 guitars anywhere.

Thanks,
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Old 09-22-2010, 11:08 PM
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I have a Guild Mark I (all solid mahogany) which I bought as a kid not knowing how good a guitar it was. I still have it and will never give it up.

Sadly, Guild hasn't built the Mark series classicals for a long time. According to the Guild dating chart at http://www.guildguitars.com/resources/guild_dating.php they ended their initial run around 1970-71, and most of them had a second run from 1979 thru 1987. They don't seem to be taken seriously as classicals, but they're excellent guitars and are prized by many. One of the things I like about them (at least the ones I've played) is the slim neck, which makes the 2" nut feel smaller than it is. It makes me wonder why all of the other classicals I've played have such chunky necks.

Guild recently re-entered the classical market with three imported models, the GAC-C1, GAC-C2 and GAD-C3, which I believe are made in China. I have yet to see one personally, though.
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Old 09-23-2010, 04:20 AM
Play2PraiseHim Play2PraiseHim is offline
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Some of those early Guilds have quite a following and go for the price of a new custom hand made classical. I believe it is the MarkV.
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Old 09-23-2010, 08:45 AM
8daypsalmist 8daypsalmist is offline
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Hi Chuck,
I owned and played a D44 (Pearwood Dread) for many years. Guild went to pearwood as an alternative to maple. To me it sounded like a mix between maple and mahogany - crisp but woodsy.

Also owned a Mark I (all mahogany), Mark IV (Pearwood/spruce) and Mark VI (Braz RW/spruce - very rare, hand built by Carlo Greco). Sold the Mark
IV to my Brother in law for $400. The Mark VI was super clean and very loud - workmanship exceptional. A buyer in Europe offered me stupid money for it and I took it. My favorite was the Mark I. I'm NOT a classical guitarist though I wrote songs on it (couch guitar), played Bossa Nova Beatles workups, etc.

You can find great Hoboken built Mark I's on Ebay pretty frequently. Usually in the $400 range. Such a great deal. Old wood - lacquer finish - nice. Maybe not serious for Classical, but awesome for folk and pop. Body size is wonderful for keeping out to play.

As far as the GAD Classicals, they came to market after I left Fender, so I have not played one. I can tell you that the guy who was developing the line really knew his stuff when it came to building guitars. Steeped in the tradition of Spanish guitars. My guess is the GAD Classicals are wonderful although competing price-wise with the used Guild market.

Peace,
James
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:07 AM
flagstaffcharli flagstaffcharli is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 8daypsalmist View Post
Hi Chuck,
I owned and played a D44 (Pearwood Dread) for many years. Guild went to pearwood as an alternative to maple. To me it sounded like a mix between maple and mahogany - crisp but woodsy.

Also owned a Mark I (all mahogany), Mark IV (Pearwood/spruce) and Mark VI (Braz RW/spruce - very rare, hand built by Carlo Greco). Sold the Mark
IV to my Brother in law for $400. The Mark VI was super clean and very loud - workmanship exceptional. A buyer in Europe offered me stupid money for it and I took it. My favorite was the Mark I. I'm NOT a classical guitarist though I wrote songs on it (couch guitar), played Bossa Nova Beatles workups, etc.

You can find great Hoboken built Mark I's on Ebay pretty frequently. Usually in the $400 range. Such a great deal. Old wood - lacquer finish - nice. Maybe not serious for Classical, but awesome for folk and pop. Body size is wonderful for keeping out to play.

As far as the GAD Classicals, they came to market after I left Fender, so I have not played one. I can tell you that the guy who was developing the line really knew his stuff when it came to building guitars. Steeped in the tradition of Spanish guitars. My guess is the GAD Classicals are wonderful although competing price-wise with the used Guild market.

Peace,
James
Hey James!

How are you? Thanks for the info. I see we're still playing the same wonderful little Martin 00C-16DBRE model! I love that guitar! I also see the LG-1 gone from your signature. I hope it found a good home. My friend Jim still talks about it, though that's a guy who REALLY doesn't need more guitars!

I wrote a song on the Guild D-25 almost right after I brought it home. It'll be on my new CD! But then I was using the thing at a head Start class and I dropped it. I had two braces pop off the back. It's sitting here waiting for some TLC. Jim and I are planning to give it a neck reset and fix it up. I love it but the neck is too narrow, so I'm hoping to loan it out on a permanent basis to a good friend who needs a second axe.

I'm fascinated by the pearwood Mark IV. It's fun to run across different things, and I already have enough mahogany and rosewood stuff. I guess I'll wait `til something shows up. I was going to bid on a Martin on eBay, but the seller hasn't yet responded to my questions about it. I've also considered a Mark I. They seem to be pretty common though, so I'll wait a bit. Seems like I could snap up a good Mark I pretty much anytime. There's always a few for sale.

I hope you're doing well! Gigging?
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Old 09-23-2010, 02:09 PM
Play2PraiseHim Play2PraiseHim is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 8daypsalmist View Post
Hi Chuck,
IAlso owned a Mark I (all mahogany), Mark IV (Pearwood/spruce) and Mark VI (Braz RW/spruce - very rare, hand built by Carlo Greco). Sold the Mark
IV to my Brother in law for $400. The Mark VI was super clean and very loud - workmanship exceptional. A buyer in Europe offered me stupid money for it and I took it.
James
Those brazillian rosewood models that are built by Carlo Greco are the ones I was referring to that go for alot of $.
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Old 09-23-2010, 06:23 PM
flagstaffcharli flagstaffcharli is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Play2PraiseHim View Post
Those brazillian rosewood models that are built by Carlo Greco are the ones I was referring to that go for alot of $.
I think the Mark VII...

Out of my range. LOL! I'm looking for a IV.
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Old 09-26-2010, 08:17 AM
brad4d8 brad4d8 is offline
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The Mark I to Mark IV were built with a type of dovetail neck set. The V, VI and VII were built with the Spanish foot and until he left the company, around 1978 I think, I understand they were all built by Carlo Greco. The VII was available only by custom order, made to customer's specs. The difference between V and VI was in the wood and the bridge, at least that's what I was told by a Guild rep in the mid 70s. Some years, maple was offered as an alternative for the body, at least in the V. When I was studying for a B. Mus. in guitar performance (1980-81), I got to A/B my Mark V with several Ramirez 1A concert grade guitars and it more than held its own in playability and sound. Now that it's 35 years old, it sounds even better.
Brad
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  #9  
Old 12-11-2010, 01:53 AM
zzwerzy zzwerzy is offline
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Default Mark series scale length

I know this thread's been sleeping for a couple of months, but maybe one of you Guild Mark owners is still tuned in. Got a question...

Does anyone here know what the original scale length specification was for the Mark series? I've found three different specs in my web search: 25.5", 25.625", and 65cm.

An owner of a Mark I myself, you'd think I could just go measure the darn thing, but I can't. The bridge has been moved and the original fingerboard is gone too. I'm hoping one of you fine folks can help me figure out what Mr. Greco et al had in mind.

TIA,
zzwerzy

PS Instrument in question is a 1969, s/n CA-3192. Original owner.
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Old 12-11-2010, 01:35 PM
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cpmusic cpmusic is offline
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My measurements were taken with a Stanley tape measure that has both metric and English systems. Here are the results on my 1965 Mark I:

Metric: 33.4cm at the center of the 12th fret, making the scale 64.8cm.

English: 12.75" at the 12th fret, making the scale 25.5"

FWIW, accordig to an online conversion calculator:
64.8cm = 25.5118"
25.5" = 64.77cm
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Last edited by cpmusic; 12-11-2010 at 03:21 PM.
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  #11  
Old 12-11-2010, 02:22 PM
silverfox103 silverfox103 is offline
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1982 Guild Mark V: 25.68

1968 Guild Mark VI: 25.75


Tom C.
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Old 12-11-2010, 02:34 PM
zzwerzy zzwerzy is offline
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Default Mark series scale length

Wow! I am surprised that there is such a variance.

A Hoboken Mark VI?!?! <wiping drool off keyboard> Actually, the Marks are all droolworthy, even my bottom of the line Mark I.

Back to the Mark I: I've seen 25.5" associated with this model before. Here's the link to that record.

I'm kinda stunned that we have three instruments with three different scale lengths.

I hope others here will weigh in with more data. Thanks, everyone!
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Old 12-11-2010, 03:01 PM
silverfox103 silverfox103 is offline
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Actually my V and VI are really close in length.

Tom C.
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Old 12-11-2010, 03:07 PM
silverfox103 silverfox103 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zzwerzy View Post
A Hoboken Mark VI?!?! <wiping drool off keyboard> Actually, the Marks are all droolworthy, even my bottom of the line Mark I.
I know that drool feeling, I'm in NH and I stumbled on it on Craigslist in CO. The ad was over 2 weeks old. I thought to myself, no way does he still have that guitar. He did and he only had one other call. The rest is history, it is a beauty not a scratch.

Tom C.
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Old 12-11-2010, 04:25 PM
zzwerzy zzwerzy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverfox103 View Post
Actually my V and VI are really close in length.

Tom C.
But not so close that they would be considered as sharing the same scale, right? The numbers you report represent a 0.035" difference at the 12th fret. I would expect production tolerances for fret placement on upper end instruments like yours to be +/- 0.010" at the most, and ideally more like +/- 0.004".

Fret placement (I keep wanting to type "placemat") and other tolerances on my Mark I weren't so accurate. Witness the moved bridge. But, God, it is a sweet sounding box. Loud G - big bottom - all that. A fine design.

Steve
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