What Guild acoustic is lightly contructed?

[YamaYairi]

Recently I played a Guild at Guitar Center that was lightly constructed, much lighter weight than any other Guild I've played. I am pretty sure it was made in 1968 and I thought it was a D40. I wish I had written the year and model down. Just a sweet guitar but someone else was already looking at it and he bought it. Now I'd like to find one. Does anyone know which guitars Guild built with lighter construction and what years? This guitar was a sunburst, which I would prefer but a natural finish would be ok.

[YamaYairi]

I went to Guitar Center and asked them what it was. It was a 1967 D40. Does anyone know what years Guild built them light like that?

[merlin666]

I have a 2013 Guild Orpheum Jumbo which is extremely light.

[Gardman]

I've owned 11 Guild dreads built in the Westerly factory between 1971 and 1995 (down to 5 right now)... My two earliest (a '71 D-44 and '72 D-35) weighed in around 4.25 lbs. Everything I have owned built between 1974 and 1995 weighed in between 5.25 and 6 lbs.

So if I was looking for a more "vintage" Guild dread with a light build, I would probably look for something from '72 or earlier (maybe as late as '73).

I have also heard that Guilds built in New Hartford, CT were more lightly built than those from the Westerly era...

OTOH, my 3 heaviest Guilds are my favorites... they are built like tanks and sound great!

[YamaYairi]

A friend of mine has a D50 from 1968 that is heavy. I find this very confusing. It makes me wonder if only the D40, D44 and D35 were lightly built.

[Richgj3]

I have a 1966 Guild D40 from Hoboken. It's built like a brick ****house and sounds about the same. I've owned it since new and when I bought I didn't know any better. I'm thinking of keeping it in the trunk of my car to use as self defense in a road rage incident. :-)

Seriously, I've played others from that era that sounded much better. So, like everything else, your mileage may vary.

Rich

[KenL]

The light-weight Guilds that I know of are the ones with the arched back. The back is a molded laminate. The other clue is that there is no center seam and no strip of wood on the inside reinforcing a center seam.

The D-25 is one example that I know for sure. There might be a D-15, and I think the D-35 is another example. These were all mahogany b/s, I believe.

[Gardman]

The D-15 had an arched laminated back, and is all mahogany (top, back, and sides).

The D-25 was all solid mahogany (flat braced back) thru 1972. They were (mostly) spruce topped with arched laminated mahogany back from 1974 on. During the transition there were a limited number of mahogany-topped/arched mahogany back D-25s made.

The D-35 had a spruce top with solid, flat mahogany back and mahogany sides.

I owned two arched back models, a spruce-topped arched back 1974 D-25 and a spruce-topped, arched maple back 1974 G-37. They weighed in between 5.25 and 5.5 lbs.

[rwmct]

Originally Posted by Gardman

I have also heard that Guilds built in New Hartford, CT were more lightly built than those from the Westerly era...

Certainly the New Hartford models are not over built.

[JohnW63]

If you want to tap into the deep Guild knowledge base....www.letstalkguild.com

I believe my Guild D-55, from very early New Hartford ( 2008 ) is 5.5 lbs.

[srick]

Originally Posted by JohnW63

If you want to tap into the deep Guild knowledge base....www.letstalkguild.com

definitely the place you need to start. When Mark Dronge (owns DR Strings,son of Guild founder Al Dronge and deeply involved in the company's earlier years) spoke to the LMGIV gathering several years ago, he implied that depending on who was working on a guitar, you would have variable results, depending on the day of the week and the time of year! He also implied that a few of the workers on the line were stars - and many were not.

Best,

Rick

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by YamaYairi

I went to Guitar Center and asked them what it was. It was a 1967 D40. Does anyone know what years Guild built them light like that?

Hi YY
As a teacher for 40 years, I've played light to heavy guitars which are the same model and wood (students guitars). Light or Heavy (when talking weight) in manufactured guitars is different than lightly built which refers to a guitar built with lighter bracing, and thinner wood.

Guitars are not sold by the pound, and a lightly built quality guitar can weigh more than a guitar which is overbuilt but doesn't weigh as much. This is why I believe in play-before-pay (try-before-buy).

I like the old D-4 models because of the arched back. It's a nice instrument with solid top and sides, and the back is a piece of laminated wood arched outward which helps throw sound into the room nicely.

I've played more of D-4 which were light than D-40 which are kind of a Martin D-18 copy. That said at least some of the current crop of D-40 have scalloped bracing which is a step in the right direction of lighter built.

[YamaYairi]

Originally Posted by rwmct

Certainly the New Hartford models are not over built.

I am aware of the new models, but I really want a vintage one with some mojo. At 60, I can't wait for a new guitar to get good and broken in.