NGD Gad f40-p

[jnovac1]

12 fretter. pretty danged cool. this guitar has a seam separation below the (ebony) bridge, apparently, someone worked with it before, i can feel some glue squeeze out on the underside of the seam. mi worked some glue into the front side when it was tuned to pitch, then relaxed the strings to relieve pressure on the top. next day, i installed the jld bridge doctor. so far, so great. lovely rich dynamic tone, my main guitar for the last 20 or so years is an m-20, also gad, one piece neck. so this is a cool option. lovin’ it. and i’m the only one on my block.

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG! The GAD F-40P gets a lot love here. Thanks for sharing!

 

[WaltW]

Welcome! If you stick around there's alot of knowledge here about Guild guitars and lots of other stuff, too. A great group of people who have much in common. i hope you have fun with that lovely F-40P.

 

[davenumber2]

Can I ask why you added the bridge doctor?

 

[jnovac1]

Can I ask why you added the bridge doctor?

certainly! it all started with a ghost label m20 that i purchased online long ago. turned out to be a near basket case. kirk sand in laguna beach advised me to wall hang it. desperate, i installed the BD. it did indeed significantly level the top and reduce the bellying, still needs a neck set, but much more usable beyond wallhanging. fast forward many years, bought a gadm20, really nice instrument, i thought ‘might as well preserve this one’, so installed a BD again. great outcome, better projection, harmonics, low end, without any negatives for me. that has been my #1 acoustic for 20 years. so why not?
re: the f40p, it just seemed to me that relieving stress from the top would be wise, since the seam had separated in the past.

 

[davenumber2]

certainly! it all started with a ghost label m20 that i purchased online long ago. turned out to be a near basket case. kirk sand in laguna beach advised me to wall hang it. desperate, i installed the BD. it did indeed significantly level the top and reduce the bellying, still needs a neck set, but much more usable beyond wallhanging. fast forward many years, bought a gadm20, really nice instrument, i thought ‘might as well preserve this one’, so installed a BD again. great outcome, better projection, harmonics, low end, without any negatives for me. that has been my #1 acoustic for 20 years. so why not?
re: the f40p, it just seemed to me that relieving stress from the top would be wise, since the seam had separated in the past.

Interesting. I thought maybe it had some issues when you bought it but apparently not. I tend to not worry about things until they are an issue. I think it would restrict the top from vibrating but if you like the sound that’s all that matters. I’d be more likely to try something like that if the BD wasn’t so permanent having to drill into the bridge.

 

[jnovac1]

i could be wrong, my understanding is that the bd allows the top to vibrate more freely.