70's F40 Blonde versus 80's GF30 ?

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Hi,
Cheers everyone, I hope this post finds you well. I am new here, I hope this post is not redundant, and in the right place.

I am wondering about the differences between the early 70's F-40, featuring arched maple back and solid maple sides, spruce top, mahogany neck and 16" lower bout, and the late 80's GF30, with the same features except for a maple neck. On all pictures I see, it seems to me the maple used for the GFs is generally prettier and more flamed than that used on the F40s, but that can totally be a misconception due to the angle of the pics. I own a GF30 and it is pretty nice.
Does anyone know if there is a major difference I don't see between these two models, apart from neck material and headstock shape?

Thanks!
 
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If it can help as data for anyone, the GF30 is a great instrument. Medium jumbo maple body. The highs are both very full and extremely precise all the way up the neck. It has a strong mid bark if you strum it hard, and the lows are always precise and contained, never overwhelming. I find it awesome for lead playing, fingerpicking and light strumming. For heavy strumming I find the mid bark to overpower the contained lows. Only a matter of taste, of course. It is beautifully built and has a full, loud cutting voice.
 

Stuball48

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Welcome Milo and glad to have you on a wonderful forum. You will get your answer from a knowledgeable group - much more knowledgeable than I. Noticed you just joined minutes ago so welcome to the beginning of an amazing journey in guitar knowledge.
 

richardp69

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Well, I have a '72 F 40 and a '89 GF 30. Both are superb instruments. I find myself picking up the F 40 more often but both have the full, crisp luscious sound I adore in a great Guild Maple. I do love that flamed Maple neck on my GF 30.

I'll be honest, I've never tried to figure out the differences between the two models but maybe that can be a project for me to try and take on.
 

Grassdog

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Welcome to the forum. I have a '77 F-40 and a '88 GF-30 and they're probably my two favorite Guilds. That said, I'm partial to the Guild maple arched back sound (I also have a G-37 that I love). To me, these are two very different guitars. The GF-30 has a distinctive curly maple back and sides. My F-40's maple back and sides have a mahogany stain so I can't really compare the grain. Tonewise, the GF-30 is refined, crisp with very clear note separation. It records phenomenally well. The F-40 is a veritable cannon, I don't know any other way to put it. It barks very strong mid-range with even just the slightest touch. Not as refined as the GF-30, just powerful. I dig them both, but again that's just my preference. Both of these were heavy "player condition" guitars when I bought them and I've invested time and money into getting them into optimal playing condition.

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bobouz

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Always enjoy discussions related to the F-40, one of my all-time favorite guitars. I’ve previously shared how I ordered a new sunburst F-40 back around ‘79 or ‘80 - highly anticipating a light burst as shown in the Guild catalog. Instead, it came in a very dark burst (found this old Polaroid!), and the neck profile was substantially different from the three other Guilds I’d owned before it. After spending time trying to bond with it, I eventually worked a trade for a 1970 00-18 Martin, which I ended up playing for 20+ years. Then about five years ago, I finally lucked upon a nice F-40 at Elderly. It’s the natural finished ‘74 below (& in my avatar). Very comfortable guitars to play, and imho, always worth a test drive when they come up on the market. For sure, Guild utilized some beautiful maple in the ‘80s & ‘90s - but for me, those ‘70s F-40s remain quite special.

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