Guild Headstocks (Logos)

I'm curious as to the history and or significance of the Guild headstocks on their acoustics. Here's a pic of my D50 headstock and I was told last night that it represented a "standard". I don't know what the heck that means . BTW, I always thought the headstocks were pretty clean until I took these pics; gotta be the flash but you can well guess what I'm going to be doing this afternoon. And I may even turn the TRC the right way while I'm at it.



The next pics are of my D15 and my D25. Do the headstocks here represent anything particular?

My understanding is that there are three basic SHAPES for acoustic flat top headstocks: (A) A "Gibson-like" shape some refer to as the "lips" or "open book" headstock, found in the 50s and early 60s; (B) the (what I consider classic) Guild "center raised" or "domed" headstock from the early/mid-60s on, as found on your D-25 (and 50, as far as I can tell from the limited view); and (C) the "snake-head" or "tapered" version of the center-raised headstock (like your D-15) found on many models from ~1987 onward (I believe this shape may have been influenced by George Gruhn). There were a few flat tops with Artist Award-style headstocks (these might have all been special order... John Denver had one or more).

From there, there are also many variants of the logos and inlay, ranging from the simple silk-screened GUILD on your D-25, to the black overlay/pearloid-inlaid Chesterfield on many mid-range models like the D-40 and D-50, to the Pearloid G-shield and GUILD logos on the D-55s. The Chesterfield itself went thru several modifications, from a three-lined column to a single piece column as well. A lot of these changes that are found up to 1977 are covered in Hans' book. The "snakehead" or "tapered" headstock is post vol I. There were even periods of variation and experimentation on these themes (some brief periods with inlaid GUILD but no Chesterfield, a period with rosewood overlays instead of black plastic, etc.

Today's "traditional" and "standard" series headstocks do differ in their overlay... with the "traditional" models having the black overlay and pearloid inlay found in previous years. However, there were no "traditional" and "standard" series prior to New Hartford. A D-50 or D-40 from Westerly is just that... a Westerly D-50 or D-40.

Hans certainly is the expert... and I would guess he will include the variants since '77 in vol II of the "Good Book."

Here are some more examples of the "classic Guild" "center-raised" or "domed" headstock:

1972 D-35 (the fading comes from leaving it in front of a west-facing window for years).


1971 D-44 with older, lined Chesterfield


1981 D-46 with solid Chesterfield


1992 D-55 with G-shield


(I was also including my DV-73... but there is a 4 image limit)

That '71 has an interesting little "tail" on the Chesterfield!

walrus

Great question, Doc: thanks! & Thanks for your insights, Dave!

Good catch, Walrus!

All the best,
B.

Thanks guys. Great stuff. There is one question that wasn't answered however; if I can impose again. The dude said the logo and inlay made my guitar a "standard". I don't know where he got that info as I thought a "standard" wouldn't have the Chesterfield inlay, which makes my new D50 a "traditional". Yes?

Peace

Bikerdoc said:

The dude said the logo and inlay made my guitar a "standard". I don't know where he got that info as I thought a "standard" wouldn't have the Chesterfield inlay, which makes my new D50 a "traditional". Yes?

Peace

Click to expand...

Just looking at Guild's website, the "Traditional series" D-50 from New Hartford has black overlay and the Chesterfield. The "Standard" D-50 has wood veneer (or no veneer?) and just GUILD... no Chesterfield. However, these model names ONLY apply to New Hartford models. When/where was your D-50 made? If it's from Westerly or Corona, it's just a D-50 (I assume it's not a Hoboken). It might have been called a "Bluegrass special," but this designation does not really distinguish anything, as there was only one model. If it is from Tacoma, it could be a "Bluegrass special" with Red/Adirondack spruce top, or a "Bluegrass Jubilee," which I believe is a Sitka spruce top.

I love these headstock pics!! And Doc, the flash is BRUTAL but I think your headstocks are a LOT cleaner than mine. I've gotta go out and start dusting.... not one of my favorite things..... and NOT tonight.

Bikerdoc, as far as Guild goes from back in the 70's and 80's, they did not designate the headstock inlays. I would assume the guy was calling the Chesterfield "Standard" because it's what the mid-priced guitars had, and they we made in the greatest numbers. The high end guitars like a D-55 had the "G-Shield" and the low end guitars just had a peaked inlaid or silk-screened Guild Logo.

Mine is the one I just bought here on the forum...a 2002 D50.

walrus said:

That '71 has an interesting little "tail" on the Chesterfield!

walrus

Click to expand...

I have a 1970 D-44 (Pearwood) with a very similar "spade" type detail.
T

Bikerdoc, the TRC on a Guild has the wider part at the top.

Bikerdoc said:

Mine is the one I just bought here on the forum...a 2002 D50.

Click to expand...

I remembered you just bought it but I didn't remember what year.
It does say Corona on the label, right? 2002 would be the first "official" or "model year" of Corona production.
What Gardman said is how I remember it also: Only one model of "D50" from Corona. Never saw any Adirondack (red spruce) components mentioned in official catalog or price list (not to imply that I have seen all of 'em) until Tacoma when they revived the "Bluegrass" designation to identify it (the red spruce braced version).
We've also called it the "paddle-style" headstock, just to differentiate the shape from the "snakehead".

here's my 2001 JF65

Dave,
I believe that the Jubilee and Special both have Adirondack tops.
One has Mahogany B&S while the other is Rosewood.
To make things even more confusing, both the D-40 and the D-50 from Tacoma are available with either a Sitka or Adirondack top.
The Standard model is Sitka and the Bluegrass models are Adirondack.
At least that's the way I understand it.

Well.... I don't know anything about the history of headstock logos, but I do recognize a good picture when I see it. I'm going to polish up my guitars, take some pictures and hang them on the wall. Thanks for the idea!

valleyguy said:

Bikerdoc, the TRC on a Guild has the wider part at the top.

Click to expand...

Yep Fred, I'm aware of that. I just like to keep at least one rogue around. :>)

Peace

It's funny, But when I read that the Chesterfield was refered to a "standard", I didn't think of the 'Standard series' at all. I thought of something like a 'Roman Standard' or that image that used to be on the back of a US Dime. The Chesterfield kinda looks like that to me.
If you google image that, you'll see what I mean.
But, In the old term, a standard is a "flag or other conspicuous object to serve as a rallying point for a military force,"
"The Roman standard could be either a flag or another type of mobile, visual object that was carried by the bearer in order to act as a warning or demonstration of the Empire, the military unit, or the province".
Just looking at things in a different way I suppose.:subdued:

^^^

Hi John,

There is a little issue with your links... I can't use them: All I get is "Error 404" page.

All the best,
B.