Guild F-212E 12 String Flat Top Acoustic-Electric Guitar (1967)
LOADING IMAGES
This item is currently on hold.
Item # 13350
Prices subject to change without notice.
Guild F-212E Model 12 String Flat Top Acoustic-Electric Guitar (1967), made in Hoboken, NJ, serial # AN-1076, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original black chipboard case.
The Hoboken-built Guild F-212 is generally considered to be one of the best of all postwar 12-strings, and certainly a standout of its era. This is the rare electrified model with a small magnetic pickup mounted at the base of the fingerboard and tone and volume controls on the upper treble bout. While a catalog option for several Guild flat tops in the later 1960s in practice these rarely ordered; electrified models are exponentially rarer than their purely acoustic brethren. The pickup does not really interfere with the acoustic sound, and makes for a much more versatile instrument. The label on this one reads "F-212 Special Electric" but the model is usually referred to as the F-212E.
The F-212 is built on a not-quite 16" wide mahogany body with an X-braced spruce top which produces a big, warm yet bright sound with plenty of ring. The big, wide mahogany neck with a center maple strip lamination and unbound rosewood fingerboard is quite comfortable and is built with an unusual double truss rod system that works quite well.
This is a slightly later example of the F-212 originally introduced in 1963-4. The very first F-212's have a flat radius fingerboard (like an old Stella!) but this second generation example from 1967 has a slightly radiused board most players find more comfortable. Another quirk of early Guild 12-strings is the fingerboard has no position markers; it does have small side dots. The top is multi-bound in white/black celluloid, with a large shaped rosewood bridge and a tortoise celluloid pickguard in the typically distinctive Guild shape.
The F-212 was a world standard acoustic 12-string when new in the 1960s, and still remains so today. It was one of Guild's signature instruments of the decade, associated with many artists of the era (particularly Tim Buckley) and has remained a classic ever since. This rare electric variation is in a far better state of preservation than most and plays excellently with a powerful but still transparent sound acoustically and a surprisingly good chime when plugged in, even with bronze strings.
Overall length is 43 in. (109.2 cm.), 15 13/16 in. (40.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Overall this is a very clean guitar, showing only some fairly minor wear. The neck has never been reset but the original angle is far better than many with a perfectly comfortable action for a flat-top 12 string. The finish remains original with no overspray or touchup. The lacquer has some minor scrapes and dings here and there but no major wear; really this is a generally well preserved guitar.
There is a small sealed spruce grain split just above the soundhole on the bass side below the fingerboard extension, especially common with pickup-equipped models. There is a feelable grain line around each control shaft that has not fully opened into a split, and the top center seam looks to have been neatly resealed. The original bridge does not appear to have ever lifted or been reglued, the saddle has been reworked a bit.
The instrument appears all original except possibly the small black knobs; these are Daka-Ware pieces common on some other brands (usually Valco) but not typical of Guild. It is possible they were replaced long ago; it is also possible that the Hoboken factory simply ran out of the correct knobs and used these as substitutes; this would be a fairly common situation with Guild in the 1960s. This small quibble aside Guild 12-strings simply do not come a whole lot better than this one, especially in this very rare electrified mode. This is a superb example, an excellent player residing in what appears to be the original red-lined chipboard case. Excellent - Condition.
The Hoboken-built Guild F-212 is generally considered to be one of the best of all postwar 12-strings, and certainly a standout of its era. This is the rare electrified model with a small magnetic pickup mounted at the base of the fingerboard and tone and volume controls on the upper treble bout. While a catalog option for several Guild flat tops in the later 1960s in practice these rarely ordered; electrified models are exponentially rarer than their purely acoustic brethren. The pickup does not really interfere with the acoustic sound, and makes for a much more versatile instrument. The label on this one reads "F-212 Special Electric" but the model is usually referred to as the F-212E.
The F-212 is built on a not-quite 16" wide mahogany body with an X-braced spruce top which produces a big, warm yet bright sound with plenty of ring. The big, wide mahogany neck with a center maple strip lamination and unbound rosewood fingerboard is quite comfortable and is built with an unusual double truss rod system that works quite well.
This is a slightly later example of the F-212 originally introduced in 1963-4. The very first F-212's have a flat radius fingerboard (like an old Stella!) but this second generation example from 1967 has a slightly radiused board most players find more comfortable. Another quirk of early Guild 12-strings is the fingerboard has no position markers; it does have small side dots. The top is multi-bound in white/black celluloid, with a large shaped rosewood bridge and a tortoise celluloid pickguard in the typically distinctive Guild shape.
The F-212 was a world standard acoustic 12-string when new in the 1960s, and still remains so today. It was one of Guild's signature instruments of the decade, associated with many artists of the era (particularly Tim Buckley) and has remained a classic ever since. This rare electric variation is in a far better state of preservation than most and plays excellently with a powerful but still transparent sound acoustically and a surprisingly good chime when plugged in, even with bronze strings.
Overall length is 43 in. (109.2 cm.), 15 13/16 in. (40.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Overall this is a very clean guitar, showing only some fairly minor wear. The neck has never been reset but the original angle is far better than many with a perfectly comfortable action for a flat-top 12 string. The finish remains original with no overspray or touchup. The lacquer has some minor scrapes and dings here and there but no major wear; really this is a generally well preserved guitar.
There is a small sealed spruce grain split just above the soundhole on the bass side below the fingerboard extension, especially common with pickup-equipped models. There is a feelable grain line around each control shaft that has not fully opened into a split, and the top center seam looks to have been neatly resealed. The original bridge does not appear to have ever lifted or been reglued, the saddle has been reworked a bit.
The instrument appears all original except possibly the small black knobs; these are Daka-Ware pieces common on some other brands (usually Valco) but not typical of Guild. It is possible they were replaced long ago; it is also possible that the Hoboken factory simply ran out of the correct knobs and used these as substitutes; this would be a fairly common situation with Guild in the 1960s. This small quibble aside Guild 12-strings simply do not come a whole lot better than this one, especially in this very rare electrified mode. This is a superb example, an excellent player residing in what appears to be the original red-lined chipboard case. Excellent - Condition.