Differences between a DV 72, DV 73 and DV 74

I know that it all matters but would not most of the vibration of the top comes from behind the bridge at least my paint shaker blueridge does, it has the flat thin strips around the sound hole far as I can tell just above and below . Ok sorry for crashing in back to Guild talk .

Edit; just did some reading up nothing overly scientific but info kind of leads into the reinforcement side (thin top?)
But not to much in the area of it effecting tone that much . Very interesting.

Thanks to everyone who has looked at the braces in their dreads... I am compiling all and trying to see some sort of a timeline for the changes from one bracing pattern to another, so would love to hear more (not just DVs!)! IF you don't want to keep adding to the thread, just PM me...

My 1994 DV73 top has the thin plate that completely surrounds the sound hole and looks like the 94 DV72 in the comparison picture.
Ralph

F312 said:

My 1994 DV73 top has the thin plate that completely surrounds the sound hole and looks like the 94 DV72 in the comparison picture.
Ralph

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Thanks... that sort of confirms for me that it isn't specific to the models, but to the years they were built. Would you mind telling me the date on your 73s neck block?

So, in 1994, the bracing on DV-72s and DV-73 IS the same, and the only difference is the inlay (West, did you see that?)...

Nov 22 1994
Ralph

GardMan said:

Thanks... that sort of confirms for me that it isn't specific to the models, but to the years they were built. Would you mind telling me the date on your 73s neck block?

So, in 1994, the bracing on DV-72s and DV-73 IS the same, and the only difference is the inlay (West, did you see that?)...

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Yes sir.

West

F312 said:

Nov 22 1994
Ralph

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Thanks... the neck block date on my DV-73 is Jan 19 1995. Hans has said the date on the neck block corresponds to completion of the "rim assembly," which isn't really the date the top was completed, but could be "close" to the completion date. Your 73 with Nov '94 date has one bracing pattern, my 73 with Jan '95 date has the other... suggests the change occurred right around New Years 1995.

Dave, not that you asked but for the sake of completeness my two Guild dreads show as follows:

DV-72 shows Mar 19, 1994
D-65S shows Jun 2, 1994

Next string change I'll try to get my phone in there and take a photo, if that's possible. :encouragement:

It's beginning to look to be date related, doesn't it?

Now lets go for the nuts; my 94 DV73 has a 1 3/4" which I just measured and did not know that.
Ralph

F312 said:

Now lets go for the nuts; my 94 DV73 has a 1 3/4" which I just measured and did not know that.
Ralph

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I've mentioned before that BOTH my '94 DV-72 and '95 DV-73 have 1-3/4" nuts, and the 73 has the chunkiest Guild neck I have ever played. So, I guess it isn't just mine!

Okay wait. My DV72 seems the same as the other dread and it's 1 & 11/16 but.... how do you measure? Tell me how to measure the nut. Is it the width of the NUT or is it the STRING spacing?? Lemme know..... :stupid:

davismanLV said:

Okay wait. My DV72 seems the same as the other dread and it's 1 & 11/16 but.... how do you measure? Tell me how to measure the nut. Is it the width of the NUT or is it the STRING spacing?? Lemme know..... :stupid:

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Don't forget the Girth of the nut. Just like in South Park you can't measure on Length and width alone, You Have to take Girth in to consideration!:triumphant: Bwahahahaha!

Me, I just measured across, but it doesn't feel chunky. Is there another way?
Ralph

txbumper57 said:

Don't forget the Girth of the nut. Just like in South Park you can't measure on Length and width alone, You Have to take Girth in to consideration!:triumphant: Bwahahahaha!

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Laughing so hard that ... I forgot to measure. And isn't that the BEST thing?? Bigger, longer and .... oh, wait. Nevermind.....

F312 said:

Me, I just measured across, but it doesn't feel chunky. Is there another way?
Ralph

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Ralph it's about circumference (girth) and length (watch your shoulder) and longevity (I WIN!!) and .... the size of your hand. I think we're probably getting into the forbidden zone..... so I'll shut the hell up!!

davismanLV said:

Laughing so hard that ... I forgot to measure. And isn't that the BEST thing?? Bigger, longer and .... oh, wait. Nevermind.....

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For the South Park reference and to laugh until you cry youtube search South Park T.M.I episode. I believe it is season 15 episode 4.

On a more serious note the nut width is determined by the overall width of the string nut itself from outside edge to outside edge. Since the string nut is flush with the outside of the fretboard this measurement describes the width of the neck at the string nut. I am Laughing so hard right now trying to seriously type this......

There are a few measurements used to describe the neck of the guitar and Nut width is the width of the neck at the string nut.

Next is depth of the neck. Normally you will see the depth of the neck measured from the top of the first and 12th fret to the back of the neck itself. A dial caliper tool is ideal for measuring this. The 2 measurements will give you the graduated thickness of the neck as it gets closer to the body. Still Laughing my A$$ off.............

Radius of the Fretboard is the curvature of the fretboard itself. The higher the radius number in inches the flatter the fretboard profile.

Last is the shape of the neck itself. This is often described in the shape of a letter such as a "D" shaped neck or a "soft V" shape neck. This is a reference to the shape of the cross section of a neck. Finished laughing.:single_eye: I'm sure there are other ways to measure but my mind is distracted at this moment. LOL

I use a digital caliper to measure the width of the nut... but since a nut can sometimes be a smidge wider or narrower than its slot, I think it is better to (and I also measure) the width of the neck IMMEDIATELY in front of the nut.

1-11/16" = 1.6875" and 1-3/4" = 1.75".

My DV-72 and DV-73 both measure 1.75" across the nut, and 1.73" across the neck and fret board immediately in front of the nut. Both are within what I would consider measuring/manufacturing error of 1.750". For comparison, the fret board/neck measure of my D-35 is 1.68", my D-46 is 1.70", and my D-50 is 1.69". The 35 and 50 are within what I consider error of 1-11/16". The D-46 is in between, but closer to 1-11/16" than 1-3/4".

Of course, string spacing is also important... maybe even more important. For some strange reason, I measure string spacing in mm. Both DVs and the D-46 are ~37 mm from e to E (measuring from the middle of each string). My D-35 and D-50 have string spacing of ~36.5 mm. When I rec'd my D-50 a few years back, someone had over beveled the ends of the frets, allowing only 35.5mm string spacing... I had Fixit refret it and make a new nut this spring to allow the wider spring spacing, making it much easier to play. It doesn't seem like much, but it's surprising to me how much difference in feel 0.5 mm difference in string spacing makes (comparing the DVs to my D-50, for example).

davismanLV said:

Ralph it's about circumference (girth) and length (watch your shoulder) and longevity (I WIN!!) and .... the size of your hand. I think we're probably getting into the forbidden zone..... so I'll shut the hell up!!

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Y'all're fergettin' another critical spec: density and volumetric efficiency.
2 oz of water in an 8 oz balloon don't carry nearly the impact of 6 oz of water in 4 oz ballon.
In other words, harder nuts are better.
Some people even have brass.

GardMan said:

Of course, string spacing is also important... maybe even more important.

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I think it is.
Longtime ago I played a 1-3/4 nut guitar that for me was almost unplayable, so I thought that nut widfth was gonna be a no-starter for me.
Then a friend showed up with a Larrivee with a 1-3/4, and I coulda got used to that one real quick.
Not just spacing at the nut but spacing at the bridge has some effect too, keeping the strings a little closer together as I moved up the neck.

I picked up a '65 Mark I last week (haven't had time yet for a proper NGD). It has a 2" nut and an absolutely flat fret board.

What a difference! Took a few days of noodling around on it to get used to the feel. The flatness of the fret board is far more noticeable than the difference in nut width.

Neal