NGD – Silky 2011 F30CE

HeyMikey

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5,417
Reaction score
4,725
Location
MA
Guild Total
9
NGD – Silky 2011 F30CE

I wasn’t planning on buying another guitar so soon after the A-50, but I had decided that I needed a cutaway for certain songs, so it was on my short list. A terrific opportunity presented itself that was exactly what I was looking for and just too good to pass up, so I pulled the trigger.

Compared to my 2012 F30, the F30CE does not play as easily or sound nearly as good. It is bright and tight and needs a set up desperately. I took an initial swipe at the nut slots and that helped so I’ll continue to teak things until it feels right. It is also extremely closed up tight right now because I doubt it has been played much. It looks almost new. This was the same issue I had when I received the F30, but with the requisite 200 hours of play time it is now rich, resonant and an absolute joy to play. Given NH build consistency and the significant evolution the F30 went through I fully expect the F30CE to open up similarly in about 6-12 months. Fingers crossed. My hope is that the F30CE actually remains a little more on the bright side, giving me added diversity in tone compared to my F30R, as well has having the diversity of the cutaway.

The top silking on this one is really, really nice. It reminds me very much of Walrus's sexy 2011 F30RCE. That was my first thought when I saw it. They could be siblings. The pics below were taken tonight with crappy lighting. I'll get one in the daylight to show of its silky self. So that is that... an unexpected NGD and a very reluctant GFS Guitar for Sale (only because Da Boss says so).









 
Last edited:

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,956
Reaction score
8,019
Location
Massachusetts
Oh yeah! Except for the rosewood vs. mahogany, it does look like mine! I love how mine plays and sounds, I hope you are happy with yours once you tweak it to your liking.

Congratulations!

BTW, I PM'd you yesterday!

walrus
 

beecee

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
3,569
Reaction score
2,410
... an unexpected NGD and a very reluctant GFS Guitar for Sale (only because Da Boss says so).
.

You're gonna regret selling that F-30...dump out of that inferior A-50 intead...it is 1 for 1 after all.

I'm here to help!
 

HeyMikey

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5,417
Reaction score
4,725
Location
MA
Guild Total
9
Hmmm. You may have a point there Bill. I'll pack up the A50 and send it right to you. And if when you open the box you discover a really sweet MFA70 instead (by mistake of course) I'm sure you'll be totally good with it, right?
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
Nice score, that top sure is pretty! I hope it opens up to meet your expectations, just give it some love and it probably will.
 

beecee

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
3,569
Reaction score
2,410
Hmmm. You may have a point there Bill. I'll pack up the A50 and send it right to you. And if when you open the box you discover a really sweet MFA70 instead (by mistake of course) I'm sure you'll be totally good with it, right?

Funny....Just stay away from sharp chain saws for the next few days!

I was actually just telling someone about the D-40/F-30 mix up. He thought it was incredible.
 

HeyMikey

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5,417
Reaction score
4,725
Location
MA
Guild Total
9
Thanks all. I did a little more tweaking and it is playing much easier. The nut slots were high and inconsistent. I’ll work it little more and it should be fine.

This one does have the nicest looking spruce top of the ones I own, but the least impressive sound. Its ok, nothing wrong, but is so closed and doesn’t have the “it” factor like my others... yet. I seriously doubt this was played much at all. Only time will tell. Very much like a nice wine that needs time to breath before hopefully opening up to show its true glory.
 

Rayk

Enlightened Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2015
Messages
5,769
Reaction score
1,172
Ok I'm brain dead totally forgot about this post Ador , and I commented on it. 2+2=5 .

Cut a ways Rule , and that top makes me jealous . 😊
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,790
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
Ok I'm brain dead totally forgot about this post Ador , and I commented on it. 2+2=5 .

Cut a ways Rule , and that top makes me jealous . ��

As it turns out there's yet another one he hasn't disclosed yet, he did confirm it over in his F30 FS thread but Frono repeated that mods request minimal veering in FS/FT threads so didn't answer over there.
 

HeyMikey

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5,417
Reaction score
4,725
Location
MA
Guild Total
9
No Al, all ngd’s have been disclosed - the A50 and F30CE. I’m shut off ! :)

I sanded down the F30CE saddle last night, put on heavier medium exp pb strings, and tuned it to open G. It’s playing easier and sounds nice in this tuning for Wild Horses and Myles Kennedy’s Watch Over You. I think it still has a little more saddle and relief to tweak but I’m going slow with the adjustments so I don’t overdo it.
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,790
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
No Al, all ngd’s have been disclosed - the A50 and F30CE. I’m shut off ! :)
Ha, lost track myself amongst all the new members and stuff!
I sanded down the F30CE saddle last night, put on heavier medium exp pb strings, and tuned it to open G. It’s playing easier and sounds nice in this tuning for Wild Horses and Myles Kennedy’s Watch Over You. I think it still has a little more saddle and relief to tweak but I’m going slow with the adjustments so I don’t overdo it.

'AT's the way to do it, but one thing does occur to me: will that tuning lower total set tension enough to justify the heavier gauge?
Looks to me like D-G-B still stay at standard pitch right?
So suspect heavier strings will actually increase total tension on top, may not be too good for neckset life over the long haul.
Did some calculating myself recently when seeking to re-voice the F65ce, and saw that in some cases using heavier gauge still resulted in higher total tension even when dropped a whole step.
Would probably work if you were only upping the E and maybe the A, though.
And suspect you might be even more pleasantly surprised at how the top speaks at lower tension, counter-intuitive as it may seem.
In my case sustain got louder but lost a little duration, but surprisingly the "louder" makes it seem longer compared to how it spoke before, with lower sustain volume.
Granted this is a different guitar, my F65ce, and I was attempting to tame the "maple jangle", but here's an example with silk'n'steels in D standard, resulting in significantly lower top tension than the spec pb .010's:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?200201-quot-The-Warmup-quot
GHS's site has a wonderful set tension calculator for each string alloy family to which shows of tension of individual strings at non-standard pitch, allowing one to calculate total set tension for non-standard tunings.
Didn't see such a thorough breakdown anywhere else, but for same alloys all makers were within a couple of pounds of each other which I'll attribute to construction variations:
http://www.ghsrep.net/uploads/2/2/2/5/22258814/ghs_acoustic_guitar_string_guide.pdf
 
Last edited:
Top