Up for sale is a 1996 Guild JF30 Jumbo Acoustic Guild Guitar. Built in Westerly, Rhode Island in 1996. This is the hard to find JF30 acoustic electric in black. Made famous by the Goo Goo Dolls and Johnny Rzeznick. This is the model and color he chose to play in the official music video for "iris" This guild is in good condition with only cosmetic flaws that I will point out in the pictures, and in my description. This is one of my favorite model guilds. You are getting a 17 inch lower bout, jumbo acoustic, with the famous maple archback design. Guild vintage F50s help put Guild on the map with some of the best musicians of the 60s and 70s. The JF30 is similar to the Guild F50 Maple, minus all the bling bling, and some high end appointments. However, at about half the price of a F50, you get to experience the sound quality, and great play ability of a real, USA built, guild jumbo. The jf30 is a great option for the buyer who is guitar shopping on a budget. Also, if you are a bigger guy, like me (6ft 3inch 250 pds) with chubby fingers, you will really appreciate the 1 3/4 nut width, and string spacing on this JF30. There is plenty of room to play fingerstyle, without accidentally muting strings and notes. I wanted to mention that because it is rare to find a guild with this large a nut width. Guild mainly uses a 1 11/16 inch nuts, that are a good size for me as well. I normally enjoy, taking guitar pictures of my guilds, and presenting them in the best way possible, to show off the potential of their beauty. But I do not like taking photos of black guitars with a high gloss/nitro finish. It is extremely hard to get clear photos without getting reflections from everything surrounding the guitar. It can be hard to tell if something is a flaw or a reflection that looks like a flaw. Imperfections are well hidden in black guitars, to the human eye. But in the photos, black makes every little flaw seem much worse than they really are. I will point out all the flaws and negatives about this guitar now, but know that overall, the guitar is beautiful, and nothing jumps out at you, when inspected. Once you get within 12 inches of the guitar with a camera and flashlight, you will start to see a number of imperfections that look pretty rough. I will let you be the judge of grading this guitar to your standards after i clearly point out the negatives. The first thing that i see when going over the guitar, is that there are 4 or 5 pencil tip size dings in the spruce top, on the lower bout. They do not show up from every angle, so i point them out with blue arrows. There are dings, dents, scratches, scuffs, smudges, and swirling throughout the guitar. There are some very minor weather checks here and there, but none jump out at you. There is a long scratch or weather check on the bass side of the upper bout, side wood. It sits right where your armpit will rest on the guitar. There is some very light belt buckle rash on the back side of the guitar that i marked with the letter "BBR" in blue. They are very hard to see and photograph. The worst flaw on the guitar is on the treble side, upper waist line, in the maple side wood. It looks like some kind dent or scratch was made that effected part of the nitro finish and the wood. I do not see any cracks, and when looking at the spot from the inside of the guitar, i can see no repair work. The previous owner thought it would be a good idea to fix this with a black magic marker or sharpie. Not a good idea, but I bet you didn't even catch it looking through the pics the first time. Check it out in the latter pics where i marked it in blue, then go back through the photos again, and try and find it. My point is, that even the worst flaw on this guild, stays well hidden in the black finish. Also this spot stays covered up 99% of the time, while the guitar rest on your thigh when playing. Overall i find this to be a really cool guild, that sounds amazing. The jumbo body size, with the archback, help balance maple guitars, and nobody can make a maple guitar sound as good as the guild company. A straight edge neck angle measurement shows the ruler resting on top of the bridge and meeting up at the base of the saddle. (Note, in between some of the different "string channels" the ruler does, ever so slightly, catch/clip the very tip top of the bridge, but then goes on to sit on top of the bridge.) The guitar has an under saddle pick up that worked perfectly when i tested it. It sounded great, and thankfully the 1990s era Fishman Matrix system was not used. That pick up system required a large square hole to be cut out of the side wood to be mounted. The case is also original and in good condition. All latches and the handle work properly, and there is no odor inside the case. There are some signs of wear on the outside of the case, but nothing major. Here is your chance to own a killer sounding guild that does not come up for sale often. The mid 1990s black finish with a non intrusive pick up system, is a winning combination in my book. These guilds are made to be played, so I hope to find this guitar a great home. Feel free to message me with any questions or request for additional pics and information. I have many other great guild acoustics for sale, and more guilds coming to market next week. Please check back with me often to see what gems I have been able to find in my daily, guild guitar hunting. I prefer to make deals privately off of reverb, so message me if you are interested or check out my website for more great guild guitars. Thanks for looking!!
