Bracing in early 70's F212's

I believe Guild strengtened the bracing in their 12 string guitars in the mid 70's.
Did this make much difference in the sound and response of the guitars?
What year exactly did the heavier bracing come in?

I had bought a 1975 F212XL from someone in the US but it has gone missing in the USPS between Florida and Ireland. It was posted on Aug. 22nd by air freight but it hasn't been heard of since.
I'm hoping it will surface.

Not answering your question, but i wondered what happend to that guitar you wrote on UMGF, really sad to hear that it hasn't shown up Will USPS cover the cost?

Magnus

The guitar was insured ok, but I don't know if the USPS or some other organisation will pick up the tab. I'm pretty cheesed off over it ok, but maybe it'll turn up yet. Where can a big box containing a Guild go to anyway?

Addressing 2 issues, I sent a Gibson case to Ireland a while back, it took forever once it hit the postal service in Ireland to get delivered, like over 2 months.....
The weight issue:
Guild and Martin added significant weight to their acoustics during this time, bracing, etc...
Probably the single most change that affected sound was the addition of a rosewood bridge plate instead of maple used on Martins prior to 1966, and on most Guilds until around 1973. Guild used rosewood on some, I have had a 1966 F-212 with a rosewood plate, but most others are maple. Martin addresses this in some literature referring to it as the single most detrimental change they ever made. It inhibits vibration due to the mass and lack of the brittleness of maple. The reinforcement qualities are not as robust as maple if you will, and are subject to cracking along the bridgepin line, allowing the top to take the entire tension load. Guild acoustics from the early Westerly days have maple plates, but they were training new workers who on occasion just put a line of glue on the plate and stuck it on. I have pulled these out with my hand on a few. This makes them sound wicked, but brings about self destruction if not addressed later in life. Anyway, if you find one prior to the weight increase in 1973, and a properly glued in maple plate, there is absolutely no better 12 string on the planet.....

Refret,
Not sure about the postal system here...... I have had the local post office try to trace my guitar and they say it definitely hasn't landed in Ireland.
When parcels come in, they go first to Customs & Excise so they can extract their pound of flesh as it were!
I have been in touch with C & E and they were very helpful and ran checks but they say that no guitar with my name on it has come into Ireland. They have them cleared in 24 hours in any case (pardon the pun!)
I'll just have to sit and see :-(
John.

It's arrived!!!!!

Well, just after my earlier posts here about the "missing" Guild F212 XL, well, it finally arrived today! The Post Office van called at lunch-time with it. I must say I'm relieved. It was a long 6 week wait since a friend had it shipped from Florida.