1964 Guild M-65 Freshman! SOLD!
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If you’re a Guild fan like me, this Freshman makes for some hip eye candy. I have (and dearly love) a couple 50s Aristocrats that have found their way into my personal stash. Unfortunately, prices on original Arostocrats and Bluesbirds have been doing nothing but going up, up, and up. That is, if you can find one for sale! The only answer is the similar Freshman. Sort of a Les Paul JR to the Aristocrat’s Les Paul Standard, the M-65 Freshman offers similar appearance and construction all with Guild’s top notch build quality. Unfortunately, most Freshman were short scale. Not this one though! This is the much harder to find and desirable long necked version. Yup, this is the one you want. Fully hollow laminated mahogany body for rich deep tones. The one piece mahogany neck features a bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. The clear sounding single coil pickup (Possibly made by Dearmond but I’ll have to check the Moust book on that) delivers great tone. An art deco harp tailpiece, rosewood bridge and open geared tuners keep it rock solid. A cherry red lacquer finish gives this one an upscale look. All original with nbo repairs. This guitar has a lively acoustic tone but has nice hollowbody warmth. Great for blues, jazz, rockabilly and just about any type of music you can think of. Guilds have long been a personal favorite of mine. This little M-65 is a great example of why!
Like most Guilds of this era, this guitar is blessed with nice playability and good tone. The neck is comfortable, the action is good and the neck is straight. The frets show normal wear. This guitar shows average pick, clearcoat and belt scratches as well as some dents and dings. Par for the course on a 44 year old instrument. There’s some wear through the finish on the back of the neck and on the forearm area. No big deal, just vibe. Comes in a well worn hardshell case. Could be original but I suspect it to be a later MIJ piece.
Guilds have long been one of the best bang for the buck secrets out there. If this were a Gibson, the price would certainly be double. Guild’s quality was just as good (some would say better) in this era. A great little guitar and comparatively cheap vintage fun. A bargain Aristocrat! SOLD!
