- Joined
- Feb 6, 2011
- Messages
- 4,212
- Reaction score
- 2,474
- Location
- Gloucester County, NJ
- Guild Total
- 13
Hey everyone, first post here.
Welcome! Stick around - nice bunch of folks around here.
Hey everyone, first post here.
Thanks, don't worry I will. Something about this D-20 is rreally speaking to me. Hope I can find a smaller body one I love just as well!Welcome! Stick around - nice bunch of folks around here.
Hey everyone, first post here. So glad I came across the forum! I have a Guild D-20 that I love the sound of, but I am also finding that the body depth and size is a little much for me when sitting on the couch or just picking up for a quick play. Consequently, I've also been investigating the F-20/F-30 shapes to see if I can find a guitar that suits me better. I know I prefer the smaller nut-width of typical dreads, so unfortunately that puts the new M-20/M-40s out of contention. I see that some of you mentioned the F-30s varied in depth throughout the years - which years had the slimmer body depth? I've found that to be a huge factor in comfort for me.
Thanks!
1. I would rule out the so called "mini jumbo" body from the early 1970s through the early 1980s as those have the deeper bodies.
2. I would also rule out the New Hartford F30 Standard and F30R Standard, as these models have the larger 1 3/4" nut and wider 2 5/32" string spacing at the bridge. Some (but not all) of the New Hartford limited / special editions fall into this category. New Hartford also made a F30 "Traditional" model which came with a 1 11/16" nut and 2 1/8" string spacing at the bridge, which might be more along the lines of what you are looking for.
3. GF25 and GF30 have a larger 16" deep lower bout.
How tall are you?Have owned four F30s and a couple of F20s.
Personally found the F20s make my right shoulder uncomfortable
due to the small body size - I sit when I play, and tend to hunch over playing it, and
my right arm is positioned higher and closer to my shoulder at a more acute angle
than with a dread. Can start to feel it within a few minutes of playing, so
my remaining Westerly F20 is a goner, up for sale soon.
Better with F30s, but neither body style is as comfortable to me as a dread.
Hey everyone, first post here. So glad I came across the forum! I have a Guild D-20 that I love the sound of, but I am also finding that the body depth and size is a little much for me when sitting on the couch or just picking up for a quick play. Consequently, I've also been investigating the F-20/F-30 shapes to see if I can find a guitar that suits me better. I know I prefer the smaller nut-width of typical dreads, so unfortunately that puts the new M-20/M-40s out of contention. I see that some of you mentioned the F-30s varied in depth throughout the years - which years had the slimmer body depth? I've found that to be a huge factor in comfort for me.
Like, "always" with only a few intervals during which it wasn't, notably Corona '01-/04 and least once in early to mid '90's Westerly, and now Oxnard.So to put it another way, what years of the F30 SHOULD I be looking at? I'm not sure how long this model ran for.
If I had my druthers I'd want something more recent rather than more vintage, just to avoid a neck reset in my immediate future.
Is nut width and string spacing at the bridge critical to you? ....... The narrower nut and string spacing is no longer comfortable for the aging finger joints and wrists.
Tommy
Hey Americanelli, a belated Welcome Aboard! The body depth only varied by fractions of an inch no more than 1/2" between extremes, I think, so suspect that'll be a lesser issue than nut width as you mention. Got small hands myself, so I can relate.
Now my F65ce for example, based on the traditional F40 outline, is only 3-1/8" deep (just measured it at the side of the upper bout, to be sure) and it's become my go-to for comfort over the last 4 years or so.
Took me a while to learn how to play it after years of dreadnoughts., it's as thin and almost as delicate as an electric!!
Only a few others I know with true acoustic flattop construction, and all on the 16" lower bout jumbo shape.Thanks! Funnily enough, my hands are pretty big, but I've got long slim fingers so I guess the slimmer nut never bothered me much. Plus it's what I've gotten used to over the years as I'm primarily an electric player.
That super shallow depth is definitely interesting to me. Were there many Guilds with this depth other than the F65ce?
Songbird, but those have bodies routed from solid chunk of 'hog with a traditional acoustic flattop. Not real loud unplugged, primarily intended for plugged-in or unplugged practice use:If I could find something 15" or less wide at the lower bout with a nice thin body depth I'd be in heaven!
Unless it's a fake - Corona-built the S4CE (Songbird).
Have considered the possibility that this guitar may have been heavily modified or re-done,
but it looks legit. Sure is pretty.
Guild S4CE/0909 | Reverb
Songbird was produced at the Conona plant under the Fender umbrella.This model was designed by Dr. Ghuhn in the late 1980s.Matching the mahogany body of the hollow to spruce Top, cherry sunburst finish of satin is a beautiful model.The specifications of the pickup vary depending on the time of ye...reverb.com