A made in USA F4ce has just honed into view. Not a traditional Guild, thoughts please.
It may not be a
common model but I'd call it "traditional" in every sense of the word!:
The 16" lower bout F body was the second flattop Guild ever made, the F40, and I consider the whole "Fxxce" family to be derived from it, Guild even said so in their lit at one point:
**
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars/f4ce.html
Generically that outline is known as "GA" for "Grand Auditorium"
I personally love that outline for playing comfort, I have what some consider the ultimate evolution of that body in my F65ce.
At one point I was pretty sure that outline had yielded more models than any other Guild platform except dreadnoughts, but member Ralph/ SFIV1967 finally got an accurate count for dreadnoughts and they do outnumber the GA family.
Nonetheless it has provided more combinations of tonewoods in both arched and flatback styles, and neck scale lengths, than any other platform including dreadnoughts, for sure.
See the rest of Acoustic electrics on that site, down in lower right corner just for the stuff that was made from early '90's to '01:
http://www.westerlyguildguitars.com/guitars.html
The "Traditional Series" on that page are also GA bodies.
** Note that site is a private enterprise but the source material is from Guild catalogs.
Any F40's and F47's you may see are GA bodies.
Haven't commented until now because it's just such a wide-open range of possibilities, besides that issue of being in the UK with its particular market constraints, but
I absolutely recommend you need to try that one out to see if it's what you're looking for.
I humbly suggest it'll blow the similar Taylors out of the water (and Guild was there
first!), and the biggest gripe I have with Guild right now is that they don't actually offer the body anymore.
Heck you may decide you can't live with the 1-5/8 nut that was a universal spec on all of 'em, for example, and then you can cross 'em off the list.
But at least you'll know.
Oh, one other thing: Those are supposed to be strung with Extra lights (.010-.047) and might be able to handle .11's but traditional .12's might put a little too much tension on the top and actually cut down volume.
Try to take that into consideration when auditioning, people have a tendency to string 'em up with .12's because they don't know what they were designed for.
Also the extra lights were part of the formula to make those feel as close to an actual electric guitar as possible, meaning easier bends if you like that, for example.
:smile:
Oh yeah, "Welcome Aboard!" and good luck in the hunt!
If you like it and want tips on checking structural integrity, get back to us, but personally I'm off on weekends.
:smile: