The Old Guild

Picture of the "Old Guild" taken about a year ago.  The guitar is about 55 years old.  Not sure of the exact date it was made, the inside label says the guitar was made at the old Guild shop in Hoboken New Jersey.  I acquired the guitar from a friend of mine Dale Miller, a Peace Corps buddy.  He sold it to me when we returned to the states after our service in Peru, which would have been sometime around November/December 1968.  He lived in Washington DC at the time, and I went down to visit him.  The guitar belonged to his brother who no longer wanted it, I was able to get it for $100.  Later during the visit, we went out and we bought the case, another $60 which I really didn't have, but Dale insisted we get the case.

The guitar has been back and forth across the county a few times, took it to Canada when we visited back in the early '70s.  When we lived in Rehobeth Mass I used to hang it on the wall of the small cabin we lived in, of course, it fell one day and I cracked the back.  Took it to a guitar shop in Providence RI, glued it, but I was crushed as the back has this slight split, doesn't affect the sound quality, but you can see the crack.

The guitar is pretty beat up, as is the case, lots of little nicks and scratches, but it still sounds great, and since I had a professional setup recently, it is a breeze to play. I  recently took it to the Lutherie Shop in Urbandale Iowa to replace some frets, check out the cracks, and reglue the saddle, which was starting to lift up.  I intend to take better care of this old vintage guitar and hopefully pass it on to one of the grandkids

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