F30R has become my favorite...

[Westerly Wood]

It took a while. Remember, I bought this from Bonneville 2+ years ago due to right shoulder issues, and it's slimmer depth (4 inches vs 5 of my dread) really moved the shoulder closer to the body and thus solved the issue. It was completely ergonomic. I was even able to return to the BR (dread) after about 6 months of playing the F30r...

However, over the last couple months of playing the F30R, I have come to appreciate other things of this guitar:

The Ebony fretboard, which is very smooth and slick and easy on the pads. As most Guilds I have owned, the fretboard is rosewood. Ebony is a harder wood, and provides a nice surface for soloing and fingerpicking.

The Tone of Rosewood. The R of course stands for rosewood, and while I have gravitated to hog for a while now, decades even, I been really liking the depth and sustain of indian rosewood.

It's slender, couch playing fame. I keep reaping the benefit of the 4 inch depth. For a while, I wished it was 4.5 inches, as that would have produced a larger sound, but now I am appreciating the full 1 inch thinness. It's just so darn comfy. On Passover, we had a bunch of people at the house to celebrate the feast. One friend is a gigging musician around town. Towards the end of the night, he asked if he could check out the Guilds, which I was only happy to do. I handed him the BR and then the F30R. He kept playing the F30R...

It's just a better built, adorned Guild acoustic. It's really no comparison, certainly not a fair one, the D25BR is base model acoustic. The F30R has gold hardware, chesterfield etc, it's a nice touch.

Pretty cool!

 

[KCGuildPicker]

That is awesome - glad that you took the time to get to know your guitar . . . I suppose there is no schedule for how and when we bond with our guitars. It sounds like you got some of that thing called patience - something I'm sorely missing out on!

 

[Westerly Wood]

That is awesome - glad that you took the time to get to know your guitar . . . I suppose there is no schedule for how and when we bond with our guitars. It sounds like you got some of that thing called patience - something I'm sorely missing out on!

thanks GE Guy!

 

[plaidseason]

So . . . years back, when the late 90s F30/F30rs were still in production, I was semi-obsessed with picking one up. Then I stumbled upon a deal on a Nashville Custom Shop F30r-ls and jumped on it. The F30r-ls was an exquisite guitar. It had everything I loved about a SCGC OMPW. But it was never quite different enough from my F44.

When it came time to buy our second house, I wanted to pay off some debts and decided to unload the F30r-ls and keep my (still) much beloved F44.
For the past eight-ish years, my main gigging guitar has a been a Simon & Patrick songsmith folk, which is sort of "poor man's" Epiphone Cortez/Gibson LG2. It's an oddly overachieving guitar. But . . . it's the guitar that reminds that I passed on an sunburst F30 in favor of that F30r-ls. Comfortable playing standing up or sitting down. Short-scale! Great for fingerpicking and strumming. So now I regular scour the internet for a used late Westerly F30s (and F30r).

So . . . belated congratulations!

 

[Westerly Wood]

So . . . years back, when the late 90s F30/F30rs were still in production, I was semi-obsessed with picking one up. Then I stumbled upon a deal on a Nashville Custom Shop F30r-ls and jumped on it. The F30r-ls was an exquisite guitar. It had everything I loved about a SCGC OMPW. But it was never quite different enough from my F44.

When it came time to buy our second house, I wanted to pay off some debts and decided to unload the F30r-ls and keep my (still) much beloved F44.
For the past eight-ish years, my main gigging guitar has a been a Simon & Patrick songsmith folk, which is sort of "poor man's" Epiphone Cortez/Gibson LG2. It's an oddly overachieving guitar. But . . . it's the guitar that reminds that I passed on an sunburst F30 in favor of that F30r-ls. Comfortable playing standing up or sitting down. Short-scale! Great for fingerpicking and strumming. So now I regular scour the internet for a used late Westerly F30s (and F30r).

So . . . belated congratulations!

hey plaid, good stuff. do you recall the body depth of your F30r? I think the 4 inch is rare. I think most were 4.5 or 5, like a regular F30.

 

[Bonneville88]

Enjoyed reading this update Woody!

Posting a photo of this guitar -
shallow depth yet still delivers remarkable volume,
tone, & articulation.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Enjoyed reading this update Woody!

Posting a photo of this guitar - imo Guild found a well-wrought
balance of narrow depth without sacrificing remarkable volume,
tone, & articulation.

Thanks Bonn! also, I forgot to mention the nut width feels a bit wider than the typical 1 and 11/16, which is great for finger picking. I got lights on it now, but this baby can support mediums too, as the joint between the body and neck is incredibly solid. it's a surprisingly heavy guitar for its size.

 

[Cougar]

The F30R has gold hardware, chesterfield etc, it's a nice touch.

Well, where's the photo?

 

[Bonneville88]

Full body shot for Cougar

 

[Westerly Wood]

Full body shot for Cougar

Looks exactly like mine!

 

[Westerly Wood]

One more advantage: Short scale. It’s an acoustic soloing machine.

 

[richardp69]

So . . . years back, when the late 90s F30/F30rs were still in production, I was semi-obsessed with picking one up. Then I stumbled upon a deal on a Nashville Custom Shop F30r-ls and jumped on it. The F30r-ls was an exquisite guitar. It had everything I loved about a SCGC OMPW. But it was never quite different enough from my F44.

When it came time to buy our second house, I wanted to pay off some debts and decided to unload the F30r-ls and keep my (still) much beloved F44.
For the past eight-ish years, my main gigging guitar has a been a Simon & Patrick songsmith folk, which is sort of "poor man's" Epiphone Cortez/Gibson LG2. It's an oddly overachieving guitar. But . . . it's the guitar that reminds that I passed on an sunburst F30 in favor of that F30r-ls. Comfortable playing standing up or sitting down. Short-scale! Great for fingerpicking and strumming. So now I regular scour the internet for a used late Westerly F30s (and F30r).

So . . . belated congratulations!

I have a '73 F 30R and it is superb. I also have the F 30 RLS and I truly appreciate that one as well.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Video example:

 

[Bonneville88]

Man, that sounds good! - nice playing - think the tone has
gotten better since it's been with you!

 

[HeyMikey]

That is a really beautiful F30R Woody. I’m with you in that the ebony board makes a difference in playability over rosewood. It is the one thing I don’t care for with respect to my NH Standard series F30’s. Play on!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Man, that sounds good! - nice playing - think the tone has
gotten better since it's been with you!

Thanks Bonn! You were ripping some bluegrass on it in a video you sent right before I bought it. I am sure you broke it in . But I do play it several hours a week. I might throw a K&K in it one day.

 

[Westerly Wood]

That is a really beautiful F30R Woody. I’m with you in that the ebony board makes a difference in playability over rosewood. It is the one thing I don’t care for with respect to my NH Standard series F30’s. Play on!

Interestingly enough, I never cared for ebony till D30man observed that the FB was ebony and he said that is a nice touch. then it dawned on me it is probably why this guitar plays so easily on my finger pads...cause I am not the thickest plectrum in the guitar case compartment.

 

[Boneman]

I thought that was your wife’s guitar, you taking it back?lol.

Gotta admit I’ve been a dread guy through and through, but a smaller concert/OM size is intriguing to me to use for a couch guitar while watching baseball. Alas, I’ve got to fulfill my quest for another F series first, once I get the F40 Traditional jumbo out of the way, then I might be on the lookout for one of these, although the Oxnard M40 looks pretty doable for my tastes, but then their website says they are discontinued. Is Guild offering a spruce hog concert guitar at the moment?

 

[plaidseason]

hey plaid, good stuff. do you recall the body depth of your F30r? I think the 4 inch is rare. I think most were 4.5 or 5, like a regular F30.

I remember it being 4/4.25 ish. (I believe) all the 90s F30/F30r/F30RL/F30rl-ls were back to true 000/OM-ish dimensions.

And (before this site existed) I remember being flummoxed when my luthier showed me a 70s model that was closer to a mini-jumbo, and being quite confused.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I thought that was your wife’s guitar, you taking it back?lol.

Gotta admit I’ve been a dread guy through and through, but a smaller concert/OM size is intriguing to me to use for a couch guitar while watching baseball. Alas, I’ve got to fulfill my quest for another F series first, once I get the F40 Traditional jumbo out of the way, then I might be on the lookout for one of these, although the Oxnard M40 looks pretty doable for my tastes, but then their website says they are discontinued. Is Guild offering a spruce hog concert guitar at the moment?

Hey Bone. I wish she played more. I mean, she can play it anytime she likes. But I am really the only person who plays at all in my house right now. Though I have high hopes for the 9 year old...she has already asked me for the F30r LOL. So looks like in a few years I will be in the market again for another Guild acoustic. Maybe I will be in a situation where I can snag an F50.