guild D-40 TRADITIONAL

kbob2

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I have been intrigued with this guitar however just hearing one sound clip and that's all available. Production started about 6 mos. ago. and not many on the market yet! Has anyone experienced this guitar! D 40 Traditional.. Not the regular D40..... I feel it might be comparable to the martin D 18... Thoughts!
 

poser

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I think there was a conversation about the D40 Traditional a few weeks ago. It was a veer in one of the threads. Not sure if it would be very easy to find. I think someone said that there was a New Hartford-made D-40 with a red spruce top and scalloped red spruce bracing.

There was some discussion of D-40's in this thread, but it was mostly about the price:

http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...-s-are-Over-Priced&highlight=D-40+Traditional
 
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Kitarkus

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I recall a recent discussion about the D-40 Traditional guitar and its price. Some believed it to be over-priced as I recall. I'm certain that it is a very fine guitar. I must suggest...whether all agree or not...that the D-18 is the yard-stick that all hog dreads are measured against in some form or another. Among non boutique dreads....I would be hard pressed to purchase a D-40 traditional for $2400 when I can obtain a D-18 for $2100 shipped. Alas you may also purchase other very fine forms of the D-40 at extremely tempting used prices...also likely very fine guitars.

I recently purchased a 2012 New Hartford D-40 standard used from Guitar Center for $799...nearly mint...plastic still on the pick guard....it was barely played. I really like this D-40 standard and it is a light build. Spruce top (not adirondack)....but bone in all the right places....no extra bling....red spruce bracing...nice case. It took a string change or two for me to bond with it...but I have bonded indeed.

In my city....a substantial metropolitan area....I can't get my hands on new Guilds whatsoever. No dealers. I'd opine that even if we did have a dealer....the inventory would be hit/miss. Given the quickly plummeting used prices that I often witness among Guilds....and given the somewhat buoyant used Martin prices among used....again....$2400 for a D-40 Traditional just seems unreasonable. Perhaps if I saw one at a dealer and it was 'the one' then yes...otherwise nope. I never want to talk anyone out of paying any amount for any particular guitar....particularly Guild.....but I can't reason with the new pricing. Martin has its retail pricing, MAP pricing, then the deep discount dealers that ship at 60% off retail. Guild really needs to do something similar imo.

I also can't reason with a 1 3/4 nut, Missouri basketball fans, or the clerk at my grocery store....so your mileage may vary.
 
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adorshki

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I have been intrigued with this guitar however just hearing one sound clip and that's all available. Production started about 6 mos. ago. and not many on the market yet! Has anyone experienced this guitar! D 40 Traditional.. Not the regular D40..... I feel it might be comparable to the martin D 18... Thoughts!

Post #109 in the thread poser linked to has a member review of n Oxnard D40, but based on the price he mentioned ($1499.00 vs $3000.00 MSRP for the TRADITIONAL model) I'm pretty darn sure it must have ben the "plain D40"
Still, it was a pretty glowing review so one would guess the D40 Traditional would have a slight edge due to having a real dovetail neckjoint and NCL finish..
If you really wanted to nail it down I'm guessing Bonneville88 would be happy to tell you who the shop was and you could call 'em to ask what they had (or still have).
 

kbob2

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The new style D40 TRADITIONAL has been out since 6 mos. ago. adi bracing, mahog back and sides and sitka spruce top!
 

Kitarkus

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It is 1 11/16" nut. It is Sitka. Again...pricing?.......the Standard series which had been available prior at its VERY similar specifications and at a good retail price point vs. this at $3K list and $2400 street price? Aside from the 'prettier' head stock....what about this guitar differs from the New Hartford Standard series that had been available previously? Obviously Guild is trying to find its place in the market.....but you cannot deny your own history....your own pricing history....nor can you deny Martin's presence and pricing within this market. Just my 2 cents. Don't get me wrong here...I am on the Guild team...I want them to succeed.
 
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merlin6666

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My luthier in addition to building his own lines of guitars and mandolins is also a Guild (and Martin) dealer. He has a quite small store but when I was there last week noticed that he had almost 10 new Guilds both US and overseas models. He definitely did not have a D55 though he has one on order, but unfortunately did not keep my eye open for the D40 Traditional. Will have a closer look next time I go there.
 

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Also note that the new D-40 Traditional does not actually use true mahogany (Swietenia).

The specs list the back and sides as made of "African Mahogany" (Khaya).

Martin is using "genuine mahogany" on the D-18 Standard, which I presume is Swietenia.

Not sure if this was covered in the previous thread. If so, my apologies.
 

chazmo

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That is actually very interesting, Neal. Thanks for posting it. I am not at all sure what New Hartford was using toward the end, but I know they were experimenting with non-standard mahogany because of European sanctions on imports. I don't know if NH did this on the any specific series of guitars, even Traditional, but it's interesting information and possibly yet another change in Traditional series specifications.
 

Kitarkus

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The current BIG difference between current D-40 Natural vs traditional is dovetail vs. mortise and tenon....and there are other differences as well. Rightly or wrongly in my mind...I associate the new 'D-40 Natural' with the prior 'D-40 Standard'.

Does anyone have an old link to the specifications for the older New Hartford D-40 Standard? It is my recollection that the NH Standard D-40 had all bone nut/saddle/pins, dovetail neck joint, adirondack spruce bracing, sitka top, all gloss and nitro except for satin neck, and simple (non chesterfield) head-stock logo....this is the guitar that I own.

The NEW 'D-40 in Natural' being produced is not equivalent to the New Hartford produced 'standard series'....principally at neck joint (mortise and tenon now), spruce bracing (vs. previous adirondack), satin finish (vs. previous gloss), plastic pins (vs. previous bone).

The point being....that old NH standard series was a great bargain....was vastly superior to the new 'D-40 in Natural' -->http://guildguitars.com/g/d-40-in-natural/ ...and is more comparable to the new Traditional series. Traditional series = $3K retail and D-40 in Natural = $2K retail. I do not recall what the old NH Standard series retail price had been....but at the readily available used prices (low low low)....this is imo one of the best buys in the recent year Guild models at the used market.

I'd bet my bippy that nearly all of those New Hartford 'Standard" series guitars were very fine (bling free) guitars.....and the one's that had 1 11/16" nut widths had best grow eyes on the back of their headstocks....cuz I will snatch them up at bargain prices.
 
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merlin6666

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Also note that the new D-40 Traditional does not actually use true mahogany (Swietenia).

The specs list the back and sides as made of "African Mahogany" (Khaya).

Martin is using "genuine mahogany" on the D-18 Standard, which I presume is Swietenia.

Not sure if this was covered in the previous thread. If so, my apologies.

On the link above the specs state "solid mahogany". Only M40 Troubadour from the USA line has the african mahogany spec.
 

Kitarkus

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On the link above the specs state "solid mahogany". Only M40 Troubadour from the USA line has the african mahogany spec.

Yes...but if you watch the video spec detail at that link....the woman does say "African Mahogany' for the D-40 Traditional. The spec sheet, however, simply says 'solid mahogany'. Here is a direct link to the breakdown video https://youtu.be/quiBHyqpFDM
 
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adorshki

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The current BIG difference between current D-40 Natural vs traditional is dovetail vs. mortise and tenon....and there are other differences as well. Rightly or wrongly in my mind...I associate the new 'D-40 Natural' with the prior 'D-40 Standard'.
I consider NCL to be a very significant spec, and based on all those pecs, evne NH's standard is actually more akin to the Oxnard "Traditional".
Does anyone have an old link to the specifications for the older New Hartford D-40 Standard? It is my recollection that the NH Standard D-40 had all bone nut/saddle/pins, dovetail neck joint, adirondack spruce bracing, sitka top, all gloss and nitro except for satin neck, and simple (non chesterfield) head-stock logo....this is the guitar that I own.
YES to all except that later "Standards" got satin finish cross the entire back, sides, and neck, only the top was gloss.



The NEW 'D-40 in Natural' being produced is not equivalent to the New Hartford produced 'standard series'....principally at neck joint (mortise and tenon now), spruce bracing (vs. previous adirondack), satin finish (vs. previous gloss), plastic pins (vs. previous bone).
Right.
The point being....that old NH standard series was a great bargain....was vastly superior to the new 'D-40 in Natural' -->http://guildguitars.com/g/d-40-in-natural/ ...and is more comparable to the new Traditional series. Traditional series = $3K retail and D-40 in Natural = $2K retail. I do not recall what the old NH Standard series retail price had been....but at the readily available used prices (low low low)....this is imo one of the best buys in the recent year Guild models at the used market.
Except for the warranty and/or pride of ownership of being one of the first to own the first model year of production of a new factory.
(IIRC both of those figure into Kbob's list of reasons to buy.)
But I suspect he's just trying to figure out Oxnard's model variations since he's already got money down on a D55 and I don't recall him being particularly interested in 'hog before.
 
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adorshki

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Also note that the new D-40 Traditional does not actually use true mahogany (Swietenia).
The specs list the back and sides as made of "African Mahogany" (Khaya).

I'm only seeing "Solid Mahogany" for both versions when I pull up the site.
 

adorshki

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Yes...but if you watch the video spec detail at that link....the woman does say "African Mahogany' for the D-40 Traditional. The spec sheet, however, simply says 'solid mahogany'. Here is a direct link to the breakdown video https://youtu.be/quiBHyqpFDM

I'd be willing to bet that's a mistake in the video, I thought we resolved this before.
But it's possible the previous resolution was incorrect.
This bugs me.
I am one of those folks that believe that only Swietenias should be called "genuine" and that anything else should be noted with a qualifier like "African".
It also doesn't make sense to do that with one model (the M20) but not another.
 
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Nut Width 1 11/16″ (43 mm) what.............why they don't do 1 3/4 I will never understand as this gives my 64 a special MOJO!
 
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