I love the idea of adding a Guild jumbo to my stable. I tried a 2019 F-40 and it was great, but a bit large. Then I saw that Guild made some 16" wide mini-jumbos -- the early 1970s F-47 comes to mind. I then saw that early 70s F-30s that looked a lot like the F-47 size, but with less bling. But then I started seeing more F-30s (and information about them), that made it sound like the F-30 was more of a 000 style and only 15.25" wide. or did the size of the F-30 bounce around?
Hi E-type, welcome aboard!
Let's take the short answer first:
There was never a full 16" lower bout F30. IIRC they topped out at about 15-3/4 inches at one point but were most often 15-1/4 to 15-1/2" lower bout.
To further confuse me, it also seems like the 1980s GF-30 was 16" while the JF-30 was 17.25" wide.
"Yes". In that system the letters denoted body size and numbers denoted bling. "GF" equalled 16" lower bout F-body by definition and "JF" denoted 17" lower bout F-body. There was no "F30"-sized guitar at that time.
Is the F-47 the only 16" wide mini-jumbo,
No. First one was the F40 with maple arch back, from '54- '63, then F47 came in with 'hog flatback. F40 returned ca '74, then George Gruhn came in with 2 new 16" F-bodies, F-44 and F-46, which soon became the "GF" series. Any model with an "F-4x" type model number is a 16" lower bout, as well as all GF's. There are also a couple of outliers in the F30ce, F35ce, and the F65ce, all of which were introduced when the F30 was on hiatus. So an early '90's F30ce is NOT an "F30" body.
There was also the "CV" series from Tacoma, caveats apply there so don't jump on one without checking with us first, especially if it's got a funny-looking bar-code sticker over the s/n.
An early 1970s F-40 might actually be more of what I'mlookin for. So hard to sort all of this out. Sadly, the ones on Reverb are $3200 and $4700.
Up until New Hartford in 2011, F40's had arched maple backs by definition. They were relatively low production and highly desirable.
If you want 'hog, stick with the F47 family, examples of which were offered in maple and rosewood as well as 'hog, continuously from the mid '80's through close of New Hartford in 2014. They became the backbone of Guild's Acoustic
Cutaway
Electric family, thus, "F47ce". Also as mentioned, New Hartford F40's are 16" 'hog bodies.
Oxnard doesn't offer that 16" platform. Yes that's me you hear in the background blowing raspberries at 'em.