97 D30 question

PTC Bernie

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Hi All!

There's a 97 D30 for sale locally and I was wondering if there are any issues I should watch for?

It has a Westerly label and the SN confirms it's a 97 build.

I'm not overly familiar with those years and wanted to see if there were any major problems that I should avoid.

Thanks for any and all input.

Bernie
 

Bonneville88

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Have owned 3, all excellent guitars, still have one and no plans
to part with it. Crack at sound hole just above top edge pick guard is
something I've seen on a number of D30s, an example of which
can be seen here. No neck angle issues on any of the ones I've owned.
 
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bobouz

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Excellent build quality on my '92 D6nt-hg, '94 JF-30, and '97 Starfire III.

Neck angles remain ideal, fine wood selection throughout, and very satisfying tone.
 

PTC Bernie

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As this was after FMIC bought them I was curious if there were any changes or other issues to worry about.

I'm going to look at it later today and will let you know how she looks.

Thanks for the input folks.


Thanks.
 

fronobulax

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As this was after FMIC bought them I was curious if there were any changes or other issues to worry about.

It is generally considered an urban myth that there were negative changes to production and product quality when FMIC operated Guild. There were changes in specs and models were introduced and retired but there is no evidence that they started using lower grade woods or cut corners or made and implemented decisions based on cost that negatively effected the product.
 

Cougar

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It is generally considered an urban myth that there were negative changes to production and product quality when FMIC operated Guild....

I'll attest to that. My (Corona-built) JF30-12 has a Fender decal on the back of the headstock. It is an awesome, AWESOME Guild in every way!
 

PTC Bernie

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And this was a Westerly build, before they moved that factory, so I'm pretty comfortable with it.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

B
 

PTC Bernie

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I feel like Charlie Brown.............

You know how Lucy talks him into kicking the football then pulls it away at the last second? Yep, that's me.

At the last second the seller texts me and said that he has had a change of heart and is going to hang onto the D-30. Can't say as I blame him, but.....DANG! :-{
 

tarheelguild

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Go for it, Bernie! I own a '98 D30 AB and absolutely love it! No issues except some feedback here and there when plugged in. I got a Lutehole sound hole cover and it helped greatly with this issue. One thing that I do notice about my D30 (and I've mentioned it before on LTG) is that the depth of the guitar seems to be deeper than my other dreads. In other words, it's a very BIG bodied dread! Good luck!
Tony
'84 D40 NT
'87 D50 NT
'96 D4 NT
'98 D25 12 string
'98 D30 AB
'00 Taylor 414ce
 

adorshki

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Go for it, Bernie! I own a '98 D30 AB and absolutely love it! No issues except some feedback here and there when plugged in.
Suspect that's largely due to they're known capacity to sustain "for days".
For Bernie's insight:
I have a buddy who has a '74 G-37, the "original" model of the D-30, same basic maple arched back formula.
Single best acoustic I ever heard in person in my life.
When plugged in, with a sound hole pickup, he could literally make that a note or body resonance voice sustain continuously by carefully positioning himself in relation to the amp and adjusting position slightly as feedback started creeping in.
In a thread about D30's I think every single owner acknowledge that sustain capacity.
For further insight re Westerly under Fender, we had a member here, Hideglue I think it was, who was there at the time.
He mentioned once that Guild QC under Fender was the highest it ever got, in terms of percentage of instruments passing initial QC, because Fender implemented a checklist system to ensure no QC steps were missed during construction from start to finish.
 

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tarheelguild

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Suspect that's largely due to they're known capacity to sustain "for days".
For Bernie's insight:
I have a buddy who has a '74 G-37, the "original" model of the D-30, same basic maple arched back formula.
Single best acoustic I ever heard in person in my life.
When plugged in, with a sound hole pickup, he could literally make that a note or body resonance voice sustain continuously by carefully positioning himself in relation to the amp and adjusting position slightly as feedback started creeping in.
In a thread about D30's I think every single owner acknowledge that sustain capacity.
For further insight re Westerly under Fender, we had a member here, Hideglue I think it was, who was there at the time.
He mentioned once that Guild QC under Fender was the highest it ever got, in terms of percentage of instruments passing initial QC, because Fender implemented a checklist system to ensure no QC steps were missed during construction from start to finish.

Maybe it's the maple that produces a stronger vibration, hence the strong sustain and propensity to feedback. I guess maple is a harder wood than mahogany or rosewood, correct?? Thanks for posting the above info!
 

bluesypicky

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I guess maple is a harder wood than mahogany or rosewood, correct??
In terms of density, it's actually the lesser of the 3.
Rosewood is the denser wood, and Mahogany is slightly denser than Maple, but density measures vary across different origins and therefore not always meaning much when referring to a specific guitar.... (for instance Cuban mahogany is less dense than Spanish mahogany by a good measure) same goes with different rosewood and mahogany species.
 

adorshki

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Maybe it's the maple that produces a stronger vibration, hence the strong sustain and propensity to feedback. I guess maple is a harder wood than mahogany or rosewood, correct?? Thanks for posting the above info!

While acknowledging Pascal's input about density, I think maybe it's more about maple being recognized for having the "truest" frequency range reflection.
Backs are reflectors more than anything else, but how they reflect is what gives 'em their characteristic "tone".
Mahogany and rosewood are known for emphasizing certain frequencies ('hog for midranghe and rosewood for bass) and related overtone chracteristics
Maybe maple's optimum reflection range is also well-matched to the optimum range of a dreadnought bodied guitar, and finally, that the arched back is known to enhance sustain and overtones.
Member Marcellis once said he believes maple records "the truest", and I think he meant the recorded sound is the truest to the sound of the actual instrument.
If that's due to minimal overtones and flat frequency response from the back, then building up a clean resonant frequency would be very easy, resulting in very good sustain due to absence of phase cancellation issues when various frequencies interfere with each other.
It's actually the drawback to an arched back, they can muddy up under 'hog at least, because the enhanced sustain tendencies of the arched back create more opportunity for interference frequencies.
Try to visualize the sound waves as a moire pattern, that might help.
I'm taking a wild guess maple would look something like this and thus be very stable and capable of long clean sustain:
1200px-Moir%C3%A9_pattern.svg.png

'Hog probably looks something like this in an arched back body:
op-art-moire-pattern-relaxing-hypnotic-background-vector-5208984.jpg

The whiter areas represent frequency interference/phase cancellation; the curved areas represent 'hog's ranges of frequency emphasis and overtones on top of the strings' output.
 
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Bonneville88

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Fwiw... I have a G37 that has the built-in concealed sustain module, and sustain
it does, but it's a completely different feeling and sounding guitar than the D30.
 

PTC Bernie

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Well, good things come to those who wait.

The seller had another change of heart and decided to let her go, and she's a beauty. A few very minor marks here and there, I have to wonder how much she actually got played.....?

The seller was only the second owner. The fella he bought it from bought it at a local shop that's still in business, although they've moved a couple of times in the last 20 years and don't sell Guild anymore.

Very clean, inside and out, but I'm curious about the wood used for the fingerboard and bridge. It's lighter and more brown than reddish, so I'm thinking it's not rosewood, definitely not ebony. Anyone know what other woods they might have used?

Sorry, no pictures. I've stopped using photo hosting sites because everyone I've ever used has either gone away or started charging, and I just don't do enough to justify that. I'll take another look at hosting sites and see if I can find one.

I'm very happy to have a Guild back in my stable. :-D
 

bobouz

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Very clean, inside and out, but I'm curious about the wood used for the fingerboard and bridge. It's lighter and more brown than reddish, so I'm thinking it's not rosewood, definitely not ebony. Anyone know what other woods they might have used?
In all likelihood, it's rosewood. Indian tends to typically lean more towards brown than Brazilian, but there's a ton of overlap in color variation within IR.

In '97, your D30 would have been speced as rosewood, and therefore the highest probability is that that's exactly what it is. My '97 Starfire III has a rosewood fingerboard that gets pretty close to black, but it's still just good old IR.
 

D30Man

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That stinks the seller is holding onto it..
I owned a ‘94 D30 SB for a few years.. one of the best sounding acoustics I have ever owned.. super warm with tons of resonance and just an all around great guitar.. I sold it over a year ago in a time of need and I regret it..
 
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