F-512 neck size variations and JF-55 comparison.

[richt54]

I recently purchased Dan’s (Longnose Gar) JF-55. What a beautiful. well set up, and great sounding instrument. Just curious if Guild changed the neck size and profile after they left Westerly to go west to Corona and then Tacoma. Dan didn’t like the neck on the JF55 because it felt too big. I love it. Fits my hand great. Are there any spec sheets available that would delineate this. Thanks

 

[twocorgis]

I recently purchased Dan’s (Longnose Gar) JF-55. What a beautiful. well set up, and great sounding instrument. Just curious if Guild changed the neck size and profile after they left Westerly to go west to Corona and then Tacoma. Dan didn’t like the neck on the JF55 because it felt too big. I love it. Fits my hand great. Are there any spec sheets available that would delineate this. Thanks

As far as I know, the only change to the neck profile of Guild 12 strings occurred with the change from two truss rods (like yours) to a single one with carbon fibre stiffeners, which happened late in the Tacoma years, and continues to this day. The neck profile is slightly slimmer (but still fairly beefy) on my 2010 F512 than on my '91 JF65-12 or '96 D25-12. I have no problem playing either, but do prefer the F512 slightly.

 

[adorshki]

I recently purchased Dan’s (Longnose Gar) JF-55. What a beautiful. well set up, and great sounding instrument. Just curious if Guild changed the neck size and profile after they left Westerly to go west to Corona and then Tacoma. Dan didn’t like the neck on the JF55 because it felt too big. I love it. Fits my hand great. Are there any spec sheets available that would delineate this. Thanks

Never seen a "spec" for neck profiles except for nut width.

One reason for that might be because each and every neck up through close of Westerly was individually given final shaping by hand.
We know they had profile templates but that final pass on the belt sander made every one just a wee bit different.

In general neck profiles seem to have fluctuated much like build styles although some models like D40's seem to have always been spec'd with "baseball bat" neck profiles. Others like D25 have gone from relatively thin to "baseball bat" in late '70's and then back to THIN ("modified flat oval") in late '90's. Both my '96 and '01 Westerlys have that thin neck but the '04 D40, Corona, has a baseball bat.

Corona seems to have revived the "built like a tank" philosophy for several models, but they reportedly lightened up significantly in Tacoma and New Hartford, and neck profiles seem to have slimmed down again too.

 

[richt54]

twocorgis and Adorshki, thanks for your responses. Very informative and helpful for me. I appreciate it very much.

 

[rmoretti49]

My JF55-12 from the early 90's definitely has a "beefy", but manageable neck. I have also played a very recent F512, and the feel of the neck is definitely slimmer. The F512 was also considerably lighter than my JF55-12. The sound of the two guitars was is also different, with the JF55-12 having a deeper tone (perhaps because of the weight).

For ease of play, I use Newtone Heritage strings (11-47), which are definitely lower in tension, and easier to fret, while still sounding fine.