G-37 Skinny Neck?

Hi All - In a weak moment (not infrequent when it comes to guitars), I picked up a G-37 Bld on the bay. Price was cheap, so I knew it would need work - and it does. But the big surprise was the 1 5/8" nut width. This is a 1985 (advertised as a '74). References I've found say they have the more normal 1 11/16" nut width. This one is reallllly skinny - did they perhaps do these for electric players used to a narrow neck?

This one sounds really good, given the old dead strings and lifting bridge. It's a beast on weight at 6.2#, but that's a Westerly, eh? The seller says he'll knock off $100 for not disclosing the bridge problem, so I'll put that into tools for doing the reglue. I pick these things up to work on as a learning experience, so I got my wish, I guess. It may not stay for the long haul, though, as I'm leaning toward 1 3/4" nut these days...

Cheers, Alan

aamapes said:

Hi All - In a weak moment (not infrequent when it comes to guitars), I picked up a G-37 Bld on the bay. Price was cheap, so I knew it would need work - and it does. But the big surprise was the 1 5/8" nut width. This is a 1985 (advertised as a '74). References I've found say they have the more normal 1 11/16" nut width. This one is reallllly skinny - did they perhaps do these for electric players used to a narrow neck?

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"Maybe". :glee:
In Westerly all necks were given final shape and profile by hand so variation is the rule, but not that much variation.
We've seen all these scenarios here over the years:
There was an F30 that got a 12-string top installed because a top was needed to finish a guitar and it was available, so maybe it got a "skinny neck" just because it was available when they needed a neck to finish a run of guitars,
or maybe they decided to build a batch of 'em that way, or possibly even somebody special ordered it like that although in that case I'd expect it to have been labeled "G37 -spec" or "s".
Examples I always remember of going "off-spec" with the nut width are several models of DV's that got built with 1-3/4" nuts around the '93-'94 time frame even though it was never an "official spec", and a batch of early D40's ('64, I think) that were built with 1-3/4" nuts and very flat radiused fretboards, again when "catalog spec" was for the 1-11/16" nut.
So I suspect yours was "just built that way", and they may very well have built a whole "batch" or more of 'em that way.
We've discovered over the years Guild was just "like that".

If the 1-5/8 doesn't work for you, and it's not going to, I would return it while you have the opportunity. Guitars can take a while to sell for sure.

Alan,

If you'd rather get your money back and not screw with the G-37, ping me.

As mentioned above, I think you can chalk it up to variation in neck width and profile that results when guitars are made by hand. I have owned 11 different Guild dreads over the years (I still have five)... all with specs including 1-11/16" nut width. Most were nominally 1-1//16"nut width... with a little variation plus or minus, but four stood out. All three of my DV-7X, built between '94-'95, have nut widths much closer to 1-3/4"... within a few thou of each other. At the other end, my (former) '76 D-50 was narrower, getting down towards 1-5/8", but was thicker front to back...

That's another place I see/feel a lot of variation... in the thickness of the necks (front to back). My (former) D-55 had a very thin neck... my DV-73 has a very chunky neck. The thickness differences never really bother me that much... but it is very obvious when moving a Shubb (or other) capo from one guitar to the other. The width difference was more a problem... particularly after I got used to the extra width of my DV-7X necks. It's one reason I sold my D-50... (that and that I didn't need four different rosewood dreads).

The other thing I have noticed was differences in the taper of the neck from nut to heel. For example, my D-55 stayed very thin and tapered less from neck to heel... but my '78 D-35 started out about average width and thickness from frets 1-5, but then got dramatically chunkier at about the 7th fret. I could feel the transition as I played, and for some reason, it really bothered me... one reason I ended up selling it when I got my D-46 (ash body).

All that said... my '74 G-37 had a terrific neck... it had one of the most comfortable 1-11/16" necks I ever played. It's one of two former Guilds that I miss the most... the other is my old D-25M.

GardMan said:

As mentioned above, I think you can chalk it up to variation in neck width and profile that results when guitars are made by hand.

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Yeah I should have been a little more specific that the nut widths do always seem to be right at or at least very close to one of the 3 "standard" widths, it's profiles (thickness and taper as Dave describes) that are most subject to variation because of the hand-shaping.
They did have templates and it seems from reports that they varied from typically "skinny" to typically "chunky" profiles during different periods. Mid '80's was a "skinny" period, from my recollection of reports here.
So your G-37 does fit in with that period's "style".

My '76 G-37 has a 1-11/16" nut, with a slightly larger overall profile than either my '73 F-30R or '74 F-40. It's more of a 'C' shape, rather than the shallower 'D' shape of the '73 or '74.

I have a '92 D-6nt-hg with a profile that is a dead ringer for the '73 & '74. My '94 JF-30 feels more like my '76 G-37.

All of the above have 1-11/16" nuts.

But then like yours, I've also played a late '80s GF-50 that had a 1-5/8" nut & very narrow overall profile. Didn't buy that one as it was a bit too small to be comfortable.

Conclusion: It's rather difficult to pin down any Westerly patterns you can consistently rely on.

bobouz said:

Conclusion: It's rather difficult to pin down any Westerly patterns you can consistently rely on.

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The upside of all that is that if you find one that doesn't feel right, don't worry, the next one will be different.
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:glee:

Thanks everyone - I had no idea about the variation. This one sure feels small in my size "G" hands (gorilla).

aamapes said:

Thanks everyone - I had no idea about the variation. This one sure feels small in my size "G" hands (gorilla).

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Yes, my F65ce is spec'd with 1-5/8" nut and it did take some adjusting to after the 1-11/16" of the D25, but I have relatively small hands so it wasn't a big hardship and it doesn't take a lot of adjustment switching between 'em now...
I'd actually really like to try a shortscale model with a 1-11/16" nut, though.
And the Corona has such a chunky neck compared to the 2 Westerlys that at first I thought the action was higher than spec, but no.
Took me a couple of years before one night I realized the neck was actually a deep "C" compared to the flattened "D" of the Westerlys.
Never realized how much the profile affects the feel until then.
As I've aged, my hands (or at last my fretting hand) have come to like the Corona neck, now.

My G-37 also has a 1 5/8" wide nut.

But, glorious tone from that guitar!

geoguy said:

My G-37 also has a 1 5/8" wide nut.

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What year?

'86, if the Guild s/n chart can be believed for this model.

Also has a three-piece neck, with walnut (I think) sandwiched between two pieces of flamey maple.

geoguy said:

'86, if the Guild s/n chart can be believed for this model.

Also has a three-piece neck, with walnut (I think) sandwiched between two pieces of flamey maple.

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Pretty sure it's actually 'hog, don't think they used walnut until New Hartford. It's been mentioned in 12-string threads recently, so suspect you're recalling those references.
It was noted as a new wood for Guild when New Hartford used it, so it kind of sticks in my ever-less reliable memory. :friendly_wink:
Think the charts have been shown to be pretty good about G-37s.
What would be of further interest is if the build dates (and/or s/n's) between yours and Aamapes' guitars were found to be very close.
That would tend to confirm they intentionally built at least some of 'em with the 1-5/8 nut during a specific period.