weight of westerly guitars

[philr]

I recently purchased a '80 D50. It's the second Westerly made Guild dread that I've owned. The other was a '74 G37 which I no longer own. These two guitars have easily been the heaviest acoustic guitars that I've ever encountered. I assumed that the G37 was heavy because of the laminated back, but the D50 also weighs a ton.

Is this typical of all Westerly built guitars? Were they more heavily built during certain years? Are the newer Guilds from Tacoma and Connecticut also heavyweights?

My D50 is a beautiful looking and sounding guitar, so I'm not actually complaining. I'm just curious to know what others have experienced.

 

[taabru45]

Older Guilds are heavy, at least the ones I owned...couple of years ago I bought a Larrivee too, and it felt like a featherweight, as do some of the newer guilds... in comparison....Steffan

 

[yettoblaster]

Both my Westerly '93 D4-NT, and my '06 Tacoma D40, feel fairly light to me (I haven't weighed them), compared to some older versions I've hefted at local stores from the seventies.
My D4 has the laminated mahogany arched back. They feel like many contemporary guitars to me (say, Larrivee, etc), as opposed to the Guilds of earlier that felt like tanks and had giant sweeping neck joints. More open sounding too.

 

[Dr Izza Plumber]

Guild guitars in general, have been known to be "overbuilt".

 

[chazmo]

I think there's definitely some reality to this, Phil, although I don't know if it's been isolated to a specific timeframe or set of models.

My '71 (very early Westerly) F-50R is a perfectly normal-weight instrument. My other Westerlies are, well, relatively rather heavy. I think I'll break out the scale later and try to really weigh in on this subject.

Oh, and by the way, you truly haven't made the passage into manhood until you've carried a Westerly JF-30-12 inside a Custom Shop case from the '90s. Holy moly.

 

[kdavid]

tho i havent weighed them, my old Martin D-18 from 1981 wasnt all that much lighter then my 96 DV6.
or maybe just my memory

 

[jgwoods]

My New Hartford built GSR F40 is the heaviest guitar of 4 I own.
I don't like the term "overbuilt" much as it seems to imply sacrificing good sound for the sake of fewer warranty repairs like happened back in the folk boom of the 70s.
I think the large headstock is one reason. I also think Guild uses a thicker top than Martin or Gibson and that it is a part of the overall Guild tone with it's creamy bass.
My New Hartford is also very solid construction in the sense of having cloth patches on the brace intersections, tall kerfing, many rosewoods strips on the sides, a block for the strap button, and then it is ebony and rosewood- mighty dense stuff. I guess it should be heavier than Mahogany or Maple

 

[taabru45]

Oh, and by the way, you truly haven't made the passage into manhood until you've carried a Westerly JF-30-12 inside a Custom Shop case from the '90s. Holy moly.[/quote]

Especially if you have a change of clothes and a few books in the case, as sometimes happened in the 70s, by some people.... :roll: Steffan

 

[fungusyoung]

The DV series is not overbuilt.

I've owned a DV52 & DV6 (still have this one & likely will forever) and while they are not feather weights, they're lighter than the other Westerly era dreads I've owned (D15, D17 & D25)... though I didn't think any of those were uncomfortably heavy.

 

[West R Lee]

If you want to check out a heavy guitar, try my maple JF30-12, between the maple, 2 truss rods and 12 tuners, that thing weighs a ton......but my gosh at the sound that comes out of that thing. My lightest is my DV72.....and my gosh at the sound that comes out of that thing :wink: .

West

 

[playsvintageguilds]

My '73 D50 and my '67 D40 feel very lightweight
compared to my '76 D40,'76 D55 AND '81 D50.
I do not know the reason for the weight difference,however,it is quite noticable.

~ Raj

 

[dreadnut]

My '98 DV-52 is quite a bit lighter than my '76 D-25M, and the neck on the DV is thinner too. Both beautiful sounding guitars in their own right. I'm glad the D-25 is so heavy duty, as much as I dragged it around for 25 years when it was my only guitar Heavy or not, remarkable tone comes out of the old girl.

 

[twocorgis]

My Guilds are all relatively heavy, and my luthier calls them "overbuilt" too, though I don't think that's necessarily a fair assessment. In my herd the Martin D18DC and the Bourgeois Slope D are the featherweights; the D2H not far behind.

 

[fungusyoung]

Oh, and by the way, you truly haven't made the passage into manhood until you've carried a Westerly JF-30-12 inside a Custom Shop case from the '90s. Holy moly.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I had almost forgotten all about that case, Chazmo!

Who knows, maybe that's why I never installed a pickup in that guitar... subconscious fear of carting it around!

 

[Don]

I never gave much thought to weight when it was just me and my D40SB against the world. Then I got my D212M. Now I see what you all mean about "tanks" and "overbuilt" etc. I'm almost certain my D40SB has lightened slightly over the years but have nothing to back that up. Even with the bigger headstock and dual truss rods taken into account the D212M seems awfully heavy. But as good as it sounds I really could care less. If needs be I'll make my 16 year old son carry the durned thing!

 

[Brad Little]

I recently acquired a mid-70s Lo Prinzi LM-20, basically a copy of the Martin D-35. It is considerably lighter than my D-50, neither one with any electronics. I'll try to remember to weigh them tonight and see exactly what the difference is.
Brad

 

[jmac]

My X-160 weighs 7.5 lbs. Granted, its an electric, but still, its the heaviest guitar I've played. I would assume the other guild X series archtops are even heavier (more electronics).

jmac

 

[chazmo]

Oh, and by the way, you truly haven't made the passage into manhood until you've carried a Westerly JF-30-12 inside a Custom Shop case from the '90s. Holy moly.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I had almost forgotten all about that case, Chazmo!

Who knows, maybe that's why I never installed a pickup in that guitar... subconscious fear of carting it around!

It's a beautiful case and all, Fungie, but just carrying it across the parking lot at work and into the building I feel like I need a massage by the time I get to my office. And, just like Westy said, the JF-30-12 itself is I think, by far, the heaviest guitar in the arsenal, case notwithstanding.

 

[chazmo]

I recently acquired a mid-70s Lo Prinzi LM-20, basically a copy of the Martin D-35. It is considerably lighter than my D-50, neither one with any electronics. I'll try to remember to weigh them tonight and see exactly what the difference is.
Brad

Brad, you have any pictures of the LoPrinzi? Did I tell you that the soundboard on my '67 F-50R was made by Augie?

 

[valleyguy]

In general newer Martins are all lighter than Guilds. Don't know why, but if I need a weapon, I'm reaching for the Guild... :shock: