Unlike the catalog description, my 1995 Guild D4 NT s/n AD042567 has a flat black painted peghead overlay and it has no binding on the back of the body of the guitar. What have I bought?
Unlike the catalog description, my 1995 Guild D4 NT s/n AD042567 has a flat black painted peghead overlay and it has no binding on the back of the body of the guitar. What have I bought?
Hi Bob: Welcome aboard!
You have just discovered one of the things that we've become used to over the years, that Guild's catalog specs were more like suggestions than rules, and sometimes had outright errors.
D4's were originally designed without back binding and a couple of other details like Hand-rubbed finish and no case, and no pearloid headstock logo, all of which eventually became available.
They also got a lot of unusual finishes, kind of becoming Guild's experimental model for that kind of thing in the '90's.
And as Hans mentioned in that link, the guitar that owner had was actually a '93 and not a '94.
I'm guessing yours might be a very late '94 which got its s/n in '95.
You should be able to see a date stamp on the heel block, on one of the beveled edges.
It can be a little tricky to get the right angle of sight through the soundhole to make it out, but it should be there.
That's when the "superstructure" was completed, before top's put on, and it usually precedes final assembly and finishing by about a couple of months.
The neck on this one (the D4) is very similar to some very good Gibson necks that I've seen in the past. It plays and sounds much better than my D-40 ever did.
Thanks again for your assistance.