Anyone own a CO1?

[JohnW63]

I think the neck hump was possibly due to the bolt holes in the heel being drilled maybe a mm off. Push the neck down firmly and thread in the bolts, then the bolts for the fretboard extension and you end up with a deflection of the fretboard. I think I played around with the order of tightening the bolts and found a compromise. Ray basically thinned the fretboard extension or sanded the top that is under the fretboard extension to make up for the difference.

 

[HeyMikey]

I think the neck hump was possibly due to the bolt holes in the heel being drilled maybe a mm off. Push the neck down firmly and thread in the bolts, then the bolts for the fretboard extension and you end up with a deflection of the fretboard. I think I played around with the order of tightening the bolts and found a compromise. Ray basically thinned the fretboard extension or sanded the top that is under the fretboard extension to make up for the difference.

So if I understand, you are saying on some guitars the bolts could potentially be tightened too far into the neck and cause a hump? If so would shortening the length of the bolts or putting thin plugs into the neck end of the holes solve that issue?

 

[JohnW63]

Here is a picture of the neck attachment from inside:

All the dark parts are the new system. You can see they would do a very good job of addressing the neck shifting or the neck block from cracking and all the issues with ever needing a neck reset. The two fingers at the top are part of the neck and the small bolt under the curved green line is that one holds the fretboard extension down on the top. The bolt at the very back pulls the heal against the body. The two bolts at the top hold the part of the neck that covers the "dovetail " slot area down onto the guitar.

If you were to slide the neck down onto the guitar, and first attach the fretboard extension, to small one in the middle of the top, then tighten the two on the fingers on the top my theory is that if you could check to see if the threaded hole in the neck that the last bolt go into is slightly not centered in the back hole of the brace. As the back bolt really gets tight, it will want to center the hole in the brace with the hole in the neck heel and pull it down by a mm. That makes the neck pull down and the fretboard make a mm hump, because it's the only thing that can flex. I just didn't tighten the back allen bolt a bunch.

This is my theory. I had no way to see if the back holes were dead on aligned or not. But something was allowing the neck to want to sit a tiny amount deeper in the " dovetail " than it should or it needed to sit deeper to align those holes for the back bolt. Perhaps there would be a way to very slightly oval the hole in the fancy mounting block so it would move up and down then have shims that slide under the fingers, ( see the little metal horizontal bits under the fingers ) to make all the contact points in full contact with all the other parts and not leave a mm sized gap.

 

[Doc Hanson]

I've owned 3 contemporary series guitars. I still have a CV2 and a CD1. I sold the CV1-C. The CV2 and CD1 are MIRC guitars, The CV1-C was not. Of the 3, only the CV1-C required some actual woodwork to set the neck correctly. The heel had not been properly adjusted at the factory.

The neck on the CV2 was not correctly attached. I removed the neck and messed around with reattaching it using different sequences of adjusting the bolts until I got the angle correct. What I found was it's possible to over tighten the back two extension bolts. Once I figured this out the angle and string height are great. I did not have to do any adjustments on the CD1.

I bought the CV2 first in spite of all of the horror stories about the Contemporary Series neck issues. I knew it was a MIRC, but I was looking for an F40 size spruce maple guitar and the price was too good to pass up. All I can say is it's one of the best guitar buying decisions I've ever made. The top and bracing is Adirondack spruce, with beautiful, flamed maple back and sides. Best sounding guitar I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot of guitars. I put a K&K pure mini in it and it's my main gigging acoustic. I have people come up to me all of the time saying how much they like the way is sounds. And it has a great overall burst. Guild does the best bursts! I'll add a photo below.

The CD1 is a spruce Indian rosewood dread that just rings and is great to play. While I was not really looking for a guitar like it, the price was too good to pass up. And I'm glad I didn't.

Once I corrected the heel angle on the CV1-C it played great and the next owner got a good deal.

I've owned about 20 Guilds over the years, from Hoboken to Oxnard. The 3 contemporary series guitars are among the best playing and sounding of any. The CV2 is my favorite Guild ever, however I just got an F20 Standard built at New Hartford that is amazing.

Doc

 

[Rayk]

Yes I am a contemporary pro ! lol please submit your question . Hi ! Gang hope all is well !

 

[Rayk]

I've owned 3 contemporary series guitars. I still have a CV2 and a CD1. I sold the CV1-C. The CV2 and CD1 are MIRC guitars, The CV1-C was not. Of the 3, only the CV1-C required some actual woodwork to set the neck correctly. The heel had not been properly adjusted at the factory.

The neck on the CV2 was not correctly attached. I removed the neck and messed around with reattaching it using different sequences of adjusting the bolts until I got the angle correct. What I found was it's possible to over tighten the back two extension bolts. Once I figured this out the angle and string height are great. I did not have to do any adjustments on the CD1.

I bought the CV2 first in spite of all of the horror stories about the Contemporary Series neck issues. I knew it was a MIRC, but I was looking for an F40 size spruce maple guitar and the price was too good to pass up. All I can say is it's one of the best guitar buying decisions I've ever made. The top and bracing is Adirondack spruce, with beautiful, flamed maple back and sides. Best sounding guitar I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot of guitars. I put a K&K pure mini in it and it's my main gigging acoustic. I have people come up to me all of the time saying how much they like the way is sounds. And it has a great overall burst. Guild does the best bursts! I'll add a photo below.

The CD1 is a spruce Indian rosewood dread that just rings and is great to play. While I was not really looking for a guitar like it, the price was too good to pass up. And I'm glad I didn't.

Once I corrected the heel angle on the CV1-C it played great and the next owner got a good deal.

I've owned about 20 Guilds over the years, from Hoboken to Oxnard. The 3 contemporary series guitars are among the best playing and sounding of any. The CV2 is my favorite Guild ever, however I just got an F20 Standard built at New Hartford that is amazing.

Doc

Oh Boy we could be friends ! lol

 

[Rayk]

The one my luthier was working on on not a MIRC'd example, and had a bad neck set from the factory. My guy is usually very reserved with his opinions, but he sure wasn't about the design of the neck block system!

No ! Not at all ! I good concept over all but only one that scientific study of frequencies could prove . Regardless the bolt on system is sound .

The main fault and reason I am a pro ! ( joking ) is because of the simple issues that for the most part were not corrected or identified during production which seems to me a little odd but not unexpected considering management and their um , pressures by those above to satisfy.

Anywho stories of green necks and the likes I feel are phooey and I haven’t found any facts in that regard.

So to move on the main issues are improper shims between top and neck block creating a hump in the top . The second most important issue is the graphite rails mounted under the next extension . You should realize that in production these are epoxied in .

So the rails recess into the neck heal and they where not overly done with precision so in a sense they can be warped effecting the fingerboard and * neck angle ! , AKA dreaded 14th fret hump or twist blah blah blah .

In both cases the best fix is to go outside the box . In case one , Remove the frets and reshape the fingerboard extension .
Case two , sand the top to recess the fingerboard extension over the hump area . If needed reset neck ! The Rayk way ! lol

So that’s the main issues , there are unfortunately a few more on the MRIC models as well as those that have been un-red tagged so to say lol or passed as ok for general sale by Guild .

These are finish issues , banding shrinkage and seperating from the body which is mostly what I’ve seen . A few have neck alignment issues a tad to left or right of center depending on your point of view! lol but easily fixed . Don’t drink beer and look wait till you’re sober ! Lmao

Ok so that in a nut shell is the most of them . Keep in mind not all are in need but MRIC are high on the watch list to expect issues . As good as they are many have needed more work then they wanted to put into it which could be for a various of reasons mostly to do with profit or lack there of ! lol

Over all these guitars are or can be the diamond in the rough so to say . I’m a fan and a very picky dude that loves good tone so if I have them then know it’s worth it if you find one worthy of purchase ! if you don’t agree then your ears need a cleaning and you can offer it to me at a deal of course ! .