adorshki
Reverential Member
(copied and amended from another thread)Moved from other thread...
I’m looking into hog backed F30s with a 1-3/4 nut. Not interested in the F30R or 1-11/16 Aragon at this point. My questions center on “general” differences in 1) sound, 2) playability and 3) quality/consistency from the different time periods or factories.
For example, did the dimensions, bracing, necks, wood sub species or other key materials change over the years that make a noticeable difference?
Are there generally recognized periods or factories to seek out or be wary of?
Bracing is a very cloudy issue here, even Hans makes no mentions in his book, I could only guess at reasons why, but I can just about guarantee there's going to be a bracing difference between the short and long scale versions because of different bridge placement if nothing else.
Another issue is that unless you know for sure an instrument is "as built", how can you tell if those shaved or even scalloped braces you see with an inspection mirror are actually unmodified?
A note on 1-3/4 nut, corroborrating Acornhouse's input:
You're going to have to ask every seller specifically because during Westerly at least, we know Guild put off-spec nuts on models virtually on a whim. Or maybe to fill a special order, and not all of those were labeled as such.
There's been many reports of that although I don't recall one about F30's specifically. It's most commonly reported on dreadnoughts.
Best advice? You want a 1-3/4" nut with a 'hog back?
Get a New Hartford F30 Standard and don't look back.
They've got virtual unanimous owner approval, with possible exception of maybe one guy who decided the F30 tone just wasn't his cup of tea?
Oh yes, nut widths could even have been 1-5/8 on a shortscale neck in Hoboken build era.
And neck profiles have also been reported to vary over time, but as a broad generalization I seem to recall a greater percentage of ""thicker" profiles from earlier production (Hoboken and early Westerly) than later.
My personal belief is that variation in profiles from year to year was intentional simply to ensure they were "covering all the possibilities" for potential buyers.
Another reason for slighter variations from a generally thicker or thinner "target" profile is that in Westerly at least, every single neck was given final shaping by hand, on a belt or cone sander.
So no 2 are actually identical except by chance.
Final note:
Avoid Corona F30's at all costs.
They'd be counterfeits.
Corona didn't make F30's.
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