Consider Me Impressed

I've never been a fan of cutaway guitars. I've likely never given them a fair shake but they always seemed to me to be thinner, have less tonal substance and lack the volume and depth of a full-bodied guitar. (seems to me if you add in electronics that makes that statement irrelevant). Most of my playing is limited to the 1st 5 frets or so and so I've never had much need for the benefits of a cutaway. I have a few, don't get me wrong but they've just never been my favorite.

Now, I can say I've changed my mind to a degree. I just received a '75 D 40C NT. I got it for a pretty good price and was told it played effortlessly with no issues. Of course when I received it that wasn't even close to being the case. I'm not big on returning guitars unless there's something that wasn't disclosed that's just impossible or super expensive to repair. I took it to my local Luthier and he's turned this into a real gem of a Guild. I love this guitar. The fingerboard was lifting from the neck (that was the main issue), it needed some minor fret work and a good set up. This sounds to me as deep and full as my other D 40's, all of which I really like. (although I will be letting one go). Some of it is likely its age.

So, I guess you can teach old dogs new ideas.

And, of course, we are going to get pictures soon?
Glad to hear an "experienced" guitar dog learned a new trick.
Congratulations and I think the D40CE is a beautiful guitar.

Congrats and if play all over the fingerboard you'll come appreciate the cutaway .
It's a big debate over any type of tonal change between a cutaway and standard body. I find so little difference if any and I love the cutaway .

I was never a big fan of cutaway acoustic guitars either Richard, until I got my F50ce. It does it all, and in my herd it's the Swiss Army Knife! I don't notice any tone degradation at all relative to a "regular" New hatford F50 Standard, either.

When I got my '75 D40 a couple years ago, I had to have part of the fingerboard re-glued to the neck too!

Rayk said:

Congrats and if play all over the fingerboard you'll come appreciate the cutaway .
It's a big debate over any type of tonal change between a cutaway and standard body. I find so little difference if any and I love the cutaway . ��

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Me too and I think it's actually more about how well any 2 given instruments are designed and built.
My F65ce was actually louder than my D40 for the first 4 or 5 years of the D40's life.
I was dumbfounded.
It finally caught up but the '65 still aces it for sustain, but then, it's supposed to.
Very little of a guitar's total tone/volume is generated in the upper part of the top.

adorshki said:

Very little of a guitar's total tone/volume is generated in the upper part of the top.

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Yup it's the most reinforced part of the guitar only think you could hope for is the extra sound to bounce around in there hoping there's a improvement which is a mind game of sorts . I think it's more of a battle of looks then actual tonal/volume response .

I do believe there was a more scientific test but I can't say for sure if it was a past
wish in discussion or reality . Lol

I love the cutaway on my F-30RCE! And I do sometimes play at the higher frets - it makes a huge difference!

walrus

walrus said:

I love the cutaway on my F-30RCE! And I do sometimes play at the higher frets - it makes a huge difference!

walrus

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Hey wal did you post pics I'd like to remember seeing them lol

Rayk said:

Hey wal did you post pics I'd like to remember seeing them lol

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You posted in the thread, Ray!

http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?197536-NGD!-2011-F-30CE-Natural

walrus

I wish I had MORE cutaways!! Venetian, please! But Forentine if you must..... :encouragement:

You are not alone in your cutaway opinions Richard. For years I have not really cared for them on my acoustics and then I acquired the Nashville Custom Shop JF65CE that you used to own from Rich here on the forum. I was skeptical of the cutaway at first and then after a bit of time I really have grown to love it. I feel the tone on it is not affected in any discernible way by the cutaway and the freedom to travel further up the fretboard without body interference really makes it an extremely versatile instrument. Do I wish all of my acoustics had cutaways? No, but I am glad that one does. Congrats on a really cool D40 my friend, I hope you enjoy it for a long time.

TX

Great tone from this - I do wish Guild had stuck with a Florentine cutaway though

Bonneville, your photos made me realize that the cutaway on my F-30 has a different look, even though it is similar to the cutaway in your photos. It's definitely a different design, and I think the smaller body affects the "look".

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walrus

walrus said:

Bonneville, your photos made me realize that the cutaway on my F-30 has a different look, even though it is similar to the cutaway in your photos. It's definitely a different design, and I think the smaller body affects the "look".

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walrus

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That is similar to my F50ce, but the body size does make it look a bit different.

walrus - agreed, very different. Guild wasn't afraid to mix it up.

To my eyeballs - I guess from a personal design standpoint - the sharp cutaway of the D40C looks confident / intentional -
and imo it's what makes the D40C an iconic instrument, at least in in my feverishly Guild-trippin' mind.

The soft cutaways have always looked more tentative, and the D40C wouldn't visually trip my circuits if
it had been given the same treatment as my DCE3.

Nice pair of horns :bull_head:

Bonneville88 said:

Great tone from this - I do wish Guild had stuck with a Florentine cutaway though

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What is it?

It's a Tennessee Orange DCE3 - I've referred to it in the past as more or less a D30 with a cutaway,
but with more time spent owning and playing both, I'm gonna backpedal on that -
they're actually pretty different.

Have tried various iterations of Guild cutaway acoustic / electric dreads,
but haven't pounced on a D40C - yet.

Reading Richard's post doesn't help dampen down the long-standing D40C
interest one bit :love-struck:

Aesthetics and what each of us appreciates is an interesting arena.

My cutaway favorites are visually derived mostly from 16 or 17" jumbo-shaped archtops with a gently rounded cutaway (Artist Award type) that blends softly into the figure-8 lines of jumbo styled bodies. To my eye, this type of cutaway transfers nicely to jumbo-shaped acoustics, but I've yet to see any cutaway on a dread that drew me in.

And all of that said, the only instrument I have with a sharp Florentine cutaway is one that I do find quite attractive - a '97 Guild Starfire III, with a harp tailpiece in place of the Guildsby.