1971 Artist Award Model Fretboard Radius??

[DaveDee]

Hey all. New to the site as I recently inherited a 1971 Artist Award Model in Sunburst and was wondering if anyone knew what the fretboard radius of these models is??
Here's a pic:

 

[kitniyatran]

I have no idea but welcome to LTG and happy New Year
Artist Awards are very much loved around here, beautiful guitars, this one included

 

[JohnW63]

That guitar has the kind of burst I really like. I'm sorry someone had to pass away for you to own it, but that is a really nice inheritance.

I checked the Guild Book and Hans didn't list the fretboard radius for it.

 

[BradHK]

Welcome and that is a beautiful Artist Award! No idea on fretboard radius, but given the variances in vintage Guild specs, the only way to really know is to measure your fretboard.

 

[DaveDee]

Thanks for the responses. I measured the nut, it was 1 10/16" and the fretboard is pretty flat, so I'm guessing its like 12" or more.

 

[Teleguy61]

Welcome, and wait for the experts to chime in.

 

[adorshki]

Thanks for the responses. I measured the nut, it was 1 10/16" and the fretboard is pretty flat, so I'm guessing its like 12" or more.

That 1-5/8 nut was a very common spec for Guild's jazz guitars, wasn't sure if the fingerboard was going to be "flat" in '71 though.

It doesn't surprise me since they used a "flat" board occasionally: a special run of first year D40's and D50's and first year F212/312's.
Never have seen the fret radius spec'd though, and because at the time Guild would toss out variations on the fly, measuring's probably the only way to know how they built "that one" (yours).

 

[DjangoLang19]

hey Dave,
I have a 77 Artist Award with a 1 5/8" nut width. I had my luthier do a setup on it recently and he told me the fingerboard radius was somewhere between 9" and 10". The radius on the bridge was not matching so he measured the neck and corrected the bridge. I'd say they are meant to be 9.5".

 

[JohnW63]

That's less than I would have guessed. So many Guilds are around 12"

 

[GAD]

It doesn't help much but my '88 Artist Award is 12".

You can download and print radius gauges if you don't want to buy a metal set:

http://pickguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pickguardian-Neck-Radius-Gauges.pdf

Fair warning - using those convinced me to buy a metal set.

If you have a 3D printer you can print your own:

Printables

www.printables.com