A Few Guild Questions

[savvy710]

Hi,

I have a question re: Guild necks. The 1st Guild I played in a shop was a D50 and it seemed to have quite a substantial neck and I found it to accommodate my fingers really well. Then I came across the D40 (Richie Havens model?) and other GAD models and found that their necks were significantly thinner. Can anyone explain the different neck profiles in this brand and tell me which other Guild guitars have the chunky neck like the D50?

Also, I may be considering getting a GAD instead of the higher end "traditional" series models. Is there a significant difference between both guitar lines e.g. sound-wise, wood, bracing, neck profiles, or is it just fancier appointments etc.?


thanks


Bryan

 

[southernGuild]

HELLO, and welcome Savvy, Cant help you much re the necks, but soon enough there will be folks that CAN! Cheers.

 

[Donal]

Welcome Brian. I have a 1987 D50 and it has a thin neck. So it would seem neck profiles change from year to year and from model to model. I find the neck on my D50 to be very easy and comfortable. As southernGuild says, there'll likely be many more
responses.
Don.

 

[cuthbert]

The neck of my '81 is very thick and large, while my CV-2C have large (44mm) but relatively thin necks. Both of them are confortable, their way, but every time I switch guitar I need some minutes to get used.

I recall that in general people who worked at Guild (WIW first) remarked that all the necks were hand finished therefore there's a huge variety in the neck profile of old Guilds, while Tacoma and Ovation production seemed to be more standardised.

 

[Ridgemont]

Hi Bryan,

Welcome aboard. While I have not played very many old Guilds, the new ones from Tacoma and New Hartford seem to be pretty uniform and chunkier than the GADs. For the import GAD line, the neck is low profile but the width of the neck varies form 1 11/16 to 1 3/4 inches based on model. If you are interested in a dread, you will always get 1 11/16.

There are many differences between the traditional line and the GAD line. Personally I am a fan of both. The traditional line is build in the US and the GADs are imports from China. The wood of the traditional line will be of much better quality. I also will assume that there is more attention to detail in terms of voicing of the individual guitar. American Guilds use nitrocellulose lacquer which allows for the opening up process. The GAD line uses decent wood and is still voice by Guild (according to the website). The GADs have a polyester finish which is sturdy but very stiff which makes the opening up process of the guitar take longer. One big plus for the GADs is the build quality to price ratio. You get a well built sturdy machine at a much more affordable price. Of all the GADs I have played, there are great ones and then there are duds, so be sure to play it first (I see you already did). I think the bracing is the same on both, but I could be wrong. Both have lifetime warranties, but they handle broken guitars very differently. They will repair the traditional line but replace a GAD.

A couple other things to consider. To get the best bang for your buck, you may want to consider a used American Guild. It will have already been hit by depreciation, but will have had time to open up and sound even better. No warranty though.

The nice thing about Guild is that they will outshine anything in their price range.

Good luck

 

[GardMan]

First, welcome to LTG!

I've got a good selection of Westerly-built Guild dreads dating from '71 thru '92, and I can tell you that the neck profile on each is different... which I attribute more to the "handwork" involved in shaping the neck during those years than to differences in model or year (tho' different years might have meant different individuals shaping the neck, so different profiles).

Of mine, the slimmest/"fastest" neck is my D-55. Tied for second are my '74 G-37 and '81 D-46. My '72 D-35 probably comes next, and isn't that far behind, but has a bit more play/capo wear to the finish. The '74 D-25 and '76 D-50 have somewhat chunkier necks. The '71 D-44 is a bit different... the neck feels slim front to back, but a little wider side to side, and the fretboard seems flatter. None are so different that they are uncomfortable to play... and it takes just a moment to adjust when I swap back and forth, which I do quite often while playing (I like to play the same tunes on different guitars, just to compare the tones).

I don't know if the necks on "contemporary" (meaning those built in the last few years) Guilds are more consistent... perhaps someone who has played some of the New Hartford Guilds can chime in...
Dave

 

[adorshki]

I have a question re: Guild necks. The 1st Guild I played in a shop was a D50 and it seemed to have quite a substantial neck and I found it to accommodate my fingers really well. Then I came across the D40 (Richie Havens model?) and other GAD models and found that their necks were significantly thinner.

That's funny 'cause I think it's my D40 that has the chunkiest neck out of all 3 and it's a Corona. I got some feedback from another D40 owner who actually took a plastic pin contour gauge and compared the necks of his Westerly guitars from different eras and found that from the 2nd to 12th frets they were all suprisingly consistent. Surprisingly to me the greatest variations were found from the nut to the second fret, including slight variations in the nut width from "spec". (Thanks to Dr. Spivey)
I can only make one other observation which is that it has become obvious to me that "chunky is in the hand of the beholder", if you know what I mean! :lol: Different guys will feel the same neck differently! Also the year of manufacture of the guitar in question is very relevant as there were production changes on many models, especially in Westerly.

 

[savvy710]

oh no... all this inconsistency is driving me nuts. Looks like I can't buy a Guild without testing it out first.

 

[adorshki]

oh no... all this inconsistency is driving me nuts. Looks like I can't buy a Guild without testing it out first.

Well, you could look at it this way...don't you wish you could do the same thing with girlfriends? :lol:
Seriously though the variability is probably greatest in the Westerly made guitars just because there WAS so much hand-finishing. From whast I've gathered here, each new factory (Corona and Tacoma followed Westerly) had newer machinery and techniques which should have resulted in greater consistency. Still, there's a lot of us who WOULDN'T buy a guitar without trying it out first. There's a lot of other variables that come together to make every one truly unique. That's part of the package on guitars of this quality.

 

[killdeer43]

I've been playing my D50 for 21 years and I've never given a thought to the neck being anything but comfortable. I don't find it thick or beefy or chunky. It's just right!
Same with the D25 and the recently-departed D35, and previous D35s.
Now, the F112-6 is a different matter since the width at the nut is 1 13/16, give or take a 32nd.

On the other hand, when I picked up the also recently-departed Epiphone EF500M, I found the 'deep vee' neck to be uncomfortable....so I took a belt sander to it and made it work for me.

You said it best when you alluded to testing it first. Good idea if you can. :wink:

Cheers,
Joe

 

[cuthbert]

oh no... all this inconsistency is driving me nuts. Looks like I can't buy a Guild without testing it out first.

Something that surprised me is that when I asked Hans which was the radius of the fretoboard of the '81 D-25s, he told me that there was no standard, that was very, very weird for me.

Anyway, I had to upgrade the nut, pins and saddle with bone parts, we measured the radius and it came out that it was a 16", uncommon value for an acoustic.