NGD.....Almost and a question

PTC Bernie

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I found a D-30 Blonde at a GC in Knoxville and decided to give it a try. I had it shipped to a local store where I picked it up.

I was very impressed, great sound, a little road rash but in great shape over all. Good action with lots of saddle left.

My only issue was that it was Guild's normal 1 11/16" nut width. I find that as I get older my fingers, like my waist, seem to be needing more room. My other guitars are 1 3/4" nut width and wider string spacing, more so on my 000-12 Fret. I find myself fumbling around with the narrower width. I know that there are tons of posts about whether that 1/16" really makes a difference, but it does, at least for me.

My first good guitar was an old D-25 Arch back and I have a special place in my heart for those era Guilds and would love to have one in my stable.

Unfortunately I ended up returning the D-30.

So, I have the following question for the experts...

Did Guild make something similar to the D-30, Spruce over Maple, Arch Back, Westerly build, with 1 3/4" nut width and slightly wider bridge spacing?

Thanks!

B
 
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gjmalcyon

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I don't know their neck widths, but other arched-back maple options include the G-37 dreadnought and F-40B (for "blonde") jumbo.
 

adorshki

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So, I have the following question for the experts...

Did Guild make something similar to the D-30, Spruce over Maple, Arch Back, Westerly build, with 1 3/4" nut width and slightly wider bridge spacing?

Thanks!

B
Oh Bernie, sorry to hear it , those G37s/D30's are amazing!!
Can only recall hearing about a couple of cases of wider than 1-11/16 in a dread, very rare from Westerly:
A run of early D40's that Hans said were built with 1-3/4 nuts and a very flat fretboard radius; and some DV's clustered around the late '93-94 period that also appear to have been built that way on purpose even thought catalog spec was 1-11/16.
Davisman's D65 Special from '94 has one as well, but I think they're all flatbacks.
Only others I can think of with 1-3/4 spec'd aren't dread or maple or arched (M20, A25, A50)
There is a report of getting a nut cut a tiny bit wider with a little wider string spacing, (Marcellis did it to his F65ce which started as 1-5/8") but that might bring the strings a little too close to the edges of the fretboard.
With Westerly necks one has to remember that every single one got final shaping by hand on a belt or spindle sander, so no 2 are exactly like and that in itself leads to slight variations in nut width, actually neck/fretboard width at the nut.
The actual fretboard width is the real limitation, and it could even be that a nut got cut with slightly narrower than optimum string spacing, for you, at least.
Best suggestion: keep looking for a D30 with slightly over-spec neck.
Also G37's, being from a period when I recall hearing of a high percentage of "chunky" necks.
 

bluesypicky

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As observed on a realtively recent thread, where a bunch of DV-72 owners compared their nut size (I know it sounds funny, but we really did just that), our beloved brand is a case of hit or miss when it comes to specs.... except for the more recent ones coming out of NH of course, thanks to computerized machinery. Our measurements were all over the place ranging from 1.5/8 to just under 1.3/4....
Sorry you had to let her go for that, but I know the feeling. (I let a 1.3/4 nut equipped guitar go once because I couldn't get comfortable with all this space between strings).
 

GardMan

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Bernie,
If you haven't yet sent the D-30 back, you might take it to good tech and see if they have room to widen the string spacing at the nut a little. I doubt that you could gain a 16th, but you might gain half of that...

IIRC, Davisman's D-65S "special" is an arched back maple... It's basically a D-55 neck on a D-30 (or probably G-45 Hank Williams) body. But, I would guess it's wider neck (if it has one), is just a matter of happenstance, not design. Again, I think your only option there is to keep trying til you find one that your hand approves of.

As for maple arched backs to consider, the one's I know of are the F-40 (at least for part of it's existence), F-50, G-37, D-30, G-45/Hank Williams Jr (like this one), mid-80s D-65, late '90s D-60 (like this one...), and mid-90s D-65S (like Davisman's). (I think there also were some very early F-20s with ached maple backs, but they may have 1-5/8" nuts? I am not as schooled in the nuances of the F-series history)

Good hunting!
 
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davismanLV

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Just for clarification, yes, the D65S is as Dave says, a G45 (Hank Williams) arched back with the neck of a D55, with some special tuners and a signature on the label. Run of 20. It's identical in nut width to the DV72. And since they both spec'ed at 1 11/16ths, that's what I thought I had. My Taylor is a 1 3/4 nut. When the last discussion started, I got curious and got out both sets of calipers and checked it out. I was shocked that they (both Guilds) were 1 3/4!! Come to find out, the difference in the Taylor is in the string spacing. I noticed when I first got it I was occasionally pushing the outer strings off the fretboard because they're closer to the edge.

Therefore, as Al says, you MAY be able to increase the string spacing a bit, and that might help. If you gain a whole 1/16th of an inch, you may have trouble keeping the outer strings on the fretboard. It just depends. If you like the guitar, it might be worth a look see, right?
 

PTC Bernie

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Thanks to all for your input.

I've tried cutting the slots wider on other guitars so I knew what to look for there, fret ramp angle, fingerboard width, etcetera. It just wasn't there on this one.

Thanks also to all for the list of possibles to watch for.

I'll keep looking and hope to find one I can call a keeper.
 
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