Sloped shoulder guilds?

[Drka]

I've looked at the Westerly Guilds site, and was wondering... Why did guild not produce sloped shoulder acoustics?
I may have missed seeing it if there is one. :?
Cheers,
Drka :lol:

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Because they would look like a Gibbon!

 

[West R Lee]

Because they would look like a Gibbon!

:lol: Sorry, don't mean to laugh, but I started to say..."Because then they'd be ugly!".....but I bit my tongue. (Sounds painful ha). Nah....J45 and J50 are great guitars.

West

 

[evenkeel]

It has always struck me as odd that virtually every guitar company out there makes a square shoulder dread. The J-45/J-50 slope shoulder dread however is a near Gibson monopoly. Recording King makes a nice vintage slope shoulder knockoff, few other boutique guys, Martin has done one or two over the years. Not much else. I've always thought it was a missed opportunity.

 

[chazmo]

One possibility could be this: In the OT, Hans mentions that dreadnoughts were not foremost in Al Dronge's intent for the company. IIRC, his son is the one who pushed them into the line, ultimately VERY successfully of course, but perhaps not to Al's liking. I'm just blowing smoke here, but it's a theory. Maybe Al just wasn't interested in pursuing a slope. Also, perhaps since they never built a 12-fret dread (that's true, right?) there wasn't a perceived market for slopes. Are the Gibby slopes 12-frets? That's what I think of in the Martin Standard series...

Again, just thinking out loud.

 

[Brad Little]

Slight veer: When I was discussing my Mesquite Custom with the builder (Vince Pawless), I brought up slope shoulders as a possibility. He would have done it, but said that he always thought the square shoulder look was much more pleasing to the eye. I saw his point.
Brad

 

[adorshki]

I've looked at the Westerly Guilds site, and was wondering... Why did guild not produce sloped shoulder acoustics?
I may have missed seeing it if there is one. :?
Cheers,
Drka :lol:

Don't know, but you should also know that Westerly GG is more a "work in progress" than a definitive listing. One of the most important things to bear in mind is that specs on some models changed during course of production so it's important to remember that the specs shown there are for the year cited in the "source". In general change wasn't frequent, it's just something to remember. Usually things like maybe a change in nut width or scale length or woods used. Sometimes something more drastic like change from a flatback to an archback.
It seems that several changes to a given model would be enough to give it a new model number, but model numbers are based primarily on body style and wood used. Thus the large number of dreadnought models.
During the late 80's early 90's there were even some new model numbers introduced for builds that were already standard and had model numbers, like JF55/65 for F50r/F50.
It's a great site for getting acquainted with Westerly's range of builds though.

 

[kdavid]

ive always loved the look of slopes. just not comfortable with the feel of gibbys necks.
my martin 12-fret slothead dread was an ace guitar, but again the low profile neck turned
out to be just way too thin for me.

(edit. *oops* i would have much rather perferred a Guild )

 

[twocorgis]

I LOVE the way slope shouldered dreads look, but have yet to play a Gibby slope that appealed to me. They're all midrange and for $3K you get a Rosewood board? OTOH, my Bourgeois slope is simply an incredible instrument. Looks a lot like this one, though mine has the plain dot inlays.

<mandatory guild content> If Guild made a slope, I would have bought theirs </mandatory guild content>

 

[RussD]

<mandatory guild content> If Guild made a slope, I would have bought theirs </mandatory guild content>

HTML humor - awesome!!!! :lol: :lol:

 

[evenkeel]

Are the Gibby slopes 12-frets?

Gibby slope shoulders, J45/50, AJ's, southern Jumbos are typically 14 fret, but short scale. Might be a few 12 frets out there, Gibson is not known for consistancy so almost anything is possible.

Twocorgis, I love your DB slope, great looking guitar. I've not played a lot of AJ's (the rosewood board you mention). Some I liked, others not so much. Again that consistancy thing. The J45/50 spruce/mahogany guitars I like a lot.

 

[twocorgis]

!!

Are the Gibby slopes 12-frets?

Gibby slope shoulders, J45/50, AJ's, southern Jumbos are typically 14 fret, but short scale. Might be a few 12 frets out there, Gibson is not known for consistancy so almost anything is possible.

I've never seen a 12 fret Gibson slope, but maybe I just haven't looked hard enough!

Twocorgis, I love your DB slope, great looking guitar. I've not played a lot of AJ's (the rosewood board you mention). Some I liked, others not so much. Again that consistancy thing. The J45/50 spruce/mahogany guitars I like a lot.

Thanks. I really love this one, and am considering one of Dana's OMs. As far as J45/50s go, I guess I just haven't played the right one yet. i've only played one vintage J45 (a '68); it had the adjustable bridge and was awful, and I know not to buy one from the '70s. All the newer AJs and J45/50s I've played left me cold. I still like my SWD, though. That might be the meat of Gibson's line right now.

 

[Ridgemont]

I LOVE the way slope shouldered dreads look, but have yet to play a Gibby slope that appealed to me. They're all midrange and for $3K you get a Rosewood board? OTOH, my Bourgeois slope is simply an incredible instrument. Looks a lot like this one, though mine has the plain dot inlays.

<mandatory guild content> If Guild made a slope, I would have bought theirs </mandatory guild content>

I stumbled on a used one in a GC a couple of weeks ago. The are truly out of this world. The action made it a little difficult to play, but the sound was amazing. Personally, I prefer the look of a slope shouldered dread to the traditional square shape.

 

[sitka_spruce]

Are the Gibby slopes 12-frets?

Gibby slope shoulders, J45/50, AJ's, southern Jumbos are typically 14 fret, but short scale. Might be a few 12 frets out there, Gibson is not known for consistancy so almost anything is possible.

Twocorgis, I love your DB slope, great looking guitar. I've not played a lot of AJ's (the rosewood board you mention). Some I liked, others not so much. Again that consistancy thing. The J45/50 spruce/mahogany guitars I like a lot.

The slope concept is pretty obscure, actually. When Martin first put out their 12-fret Dreadnought in the early 1930s these were just Dreadnoughts, since all guitars came with 12-frets at the time. Then came the OM model 000 w. 14 frets clear and at one point all 14 fret guitars were called OM at Martin.

Gibson... from certain POV never made any Dreadnought - or typical Dreadnought - they made square shoulder jumbos and slope shoulder jumbos to their parlance, both types having 14 frets clear of the body.

The 12 fret slope concept was invented by either Martin or boutique makers, like Bourgoise; "slope" in lack of a better name, most certainly, as these don't share many design features w. the Gibson Slopes. Gibby never made a 12-fret flattop that I know of, and certainly not a 12-fret slope.

 

[evenkeel]

Gibby never made a 12-fret flattop that I know of, and certainly not a 12-fret slope.

I did not mean to imply that Gibson did make a 12 fret, J45/50 style, only that Gibson was well known for inconsistant manufacturing. The F-25, HG-00 and L1 (certainly not as well known as the J45/50, or SJ-200) were 12 frets to the body. The Artist 12, another somewhat obscure model, was a 12 fret to the body, 12 strings, J 200 style body.

 

[sitka_spruce]

Gibby never made a 12-fret flattop that I know of, and certainly not a 12-fret slope.

I did not mean to imply that Gibson did make a 12 fret, J45/50 style, only that Gibson was well known for inconsistant manufacturing. The F-25, HG-00 and L1 (certainly not as well known as the J45/50, or SJ-200) were 12 frets to the body. The Artist 12, another somewhat obscure model, was a 12 fret to the body, 12 strings, J 200 style body.

That might be so. The point I was trying to make though was the distinction between 12f Dreadnoughts and Gibby slope shoulders that to my knowledge always has been 14f.