playsvintageguilds said:
I recently aquired 2 Guild D40's; '67 and '76.
How do I determine if they are "Bluegrass Jubilee", or are they all ? :?
Either way,what are the defining characteristics of the D40,compared to say, a D35 or a D50 ?
Thank you,
~ Raj
It's my impression that Guild used and re-used names for its models pretty freely. IN some cases, it's almost like the "name" was actually just an adjective for the model number, like the "Bluegrass D-25" and "Bluegrass D-35." The name "Bluegrass Jubilee" was used for both the D-40 (mahogany) and D-44 (pearwood) in the late '60s early '70s... so you can't really refer to these dreads by just their model name.
Of course, the defining charactereristic of the D-50 is its rosewood back and sides, compared to mahogany for the D-40 and D-35. The trim levels of the D-40 and D-50 were otherwise pretty comparable... white multilayer binding, dot fret markers, and the inlaid Guild + Chesterfield on the headstock (tho' the D-40 went thru a couple of headstock morphs). The D-40 had rosewood fret board and bridge. The D-50 was introduced with ebony fretboard and rosewood bridge, which was changed to an ebony bridge sometime in the mid-70s.
The D-35 similar to the D-40, but less "tricked out." It had mahogany back and sides, like the 40, but with black binding, rosewood fretboard and bridge, dot fret markers, but by the early '70s had a plain headstock with silk-screened "GUILD" logo. It initially sported imported open back 3-on-a-plate tuning machines. I would view the D-35 as a "poor mans" D-40 (that's certainly what it was for me, when I bought mine in Jan '73).
Is your '67 D-40 noticeably lighter in weight than your '76? The difference between my '72 D-35 and my wife's '78 was quite striking.
Dave
