taabru45 said:Ok, I had both guitars at the same time . The D25 is a Corona made white finish, all mahogany, with a flat back, excellent condition, slight paint damage from hanging on a rubber covered hanger. probably around 2003, as they weren't in Corona that long before moving to Tacoma. The D4 was a 1994 Westerly, in pristine shape, the woman who bought it new never learned to play it. It is mahogany, with spruce top. So which one did I prefer....no contest here....................I kept the D25, it has a deep full spectrum sound that frankly, this particular D4 couldn't touch, in my opinion, or preference. The D4 was brighter, maybe not broken in, but I had a chance to trade it straight across for a 72 F112. It was an older guy who liked bluegrass, so he is happy, he also had a F212 which he kept. I love the little, F112, It needs nothing and has a pickup. Corona made guitars. Whatever was going on there, maybe they used the same wood as they had at Westerly, I don't know..but this D25 is a tone monster, maybe its the flat back, its not as loud for sure, but that suits me fine...So good luck, I'm waiting till the new year to pick up an old D40. Have great hopes for it, and if it blows my D25 away....well that will be some guitar.... Regards Steffan
EddieZ said:I put identical strings on both, JP Phosphor Bronze Mediums. I was truly amazed at the difference between the two. The D4 sounds nice and full but the D25 has so much more volume and clarity. I would not have expected it. Both are Westerly built guitars.
EddieZ said:Sorry, won't be able to attend. My other hobby, flying with a kite team (http://www.austineol.com), is taking me to Grandbury, Tx for a kite festival that weekend. Maybe next year.
EddieZ,
Austin, TX
fungusyoung said:Am I crazy or are the D4's typically quite a bit lighter than D25's? Talking specifically 90's era Westerly builds. My '94 D25 was a tank, but the D4's I recall playing were much lighter construction.
I'd expect the older guitar to have better tone/volume assuming it's got a lot more playing time on it. One of the first things I noticed about my D25 was how light it is, lightest steel string I've ever hefted. I attribute that to the arch back needing no bracing but if there are better informed answers to that I'm anxious to hear them. When I was comparing to a D4 at the time of purchase the D25 somehow seemed to have a better tone even though the guitars appeared to have basically identical construction. Main difference I could figure out at the time was that the D25 had pearloid "Guild" in headstock and was gloss finish.EddieZ said:OK, the string height at the 12th fret was 5/64th of an inch on both guitars. Overall weight, very little difference that I could tell, maybe the D25 is a little heavier but not by much.
EddieZ
Austin, TX
jciampa said:I read once that 90's era D-4s used sapele mahogany, whereas the D-25 uses Honduran (i.e. traditional) mahogany.