My wife and I were talking about Mississippi John Hurt this evening, and I mentioned that he played a Guild F-30. She knows that the "D" in my Guild D-40 and my Martin D-28 stands for "dreadnought", and asked me what the "F" in F-30 stands for. I didn't know. I'm sure somebody here will.
"F"
- Thread starter chadt
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HeyMikey
Enlightened Member
I think it stands for Folk, or at least used to.
But then there is this…
But then there is this…
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H
Huh. I don't think John Hurt's guitar was as big as a dreadnought, not as big as a jumbo. Probably in the early '60s it stood for "folk.". Thanks!I think it stands for Folk, or at least used to.
But then there is this…
Actually, I think it stood for "flattop" from the early days. I'm not sure. I call it "folk", but all F-bodies are the two rounded bout guitars. I don't think there are any exceptions in Guild from that. (i.e., they're not dreadnoughts).
The history of Guild is that there were only folk-bodied flattops originally, and the dreadnoughts didn't come in until the '60s when Al Dronge's son, Mark, pushed for them.
The history of Guild is that there were only folk-bodied flattops originally, and the dreadnoughts didn't come in until the '60s when Al Dronge's son, Mark, pushed for them.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Folk
No, I don't think so. See earlier.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
P for Parlor, O for Orchestra, D for Dreadnaught, but F for Jumbo, sorry but that makes no sense, full stop.
J for Jumbo would makes sense.
Jumbo, like "Jumbo shrimp" means big, and there's nothing big about an F20, it's the smallest of the Guild guitars.
Sticking with Folk orientation here, as opposed to Bluegrass in the Dread line.
J for Jumbo would makes sense.
Jumbo, like "Jumbo shrimp" means big, and there's nothing big about an F20, it's the smallest of the Guild guitars.
Sticking with Folk orientation here, as opposed to Bluegrass in the Dread line.
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BradHK
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I would disagree with Cordoba that there historically wasn’t an established naming pattern before 2014. If they had done some research and looked at older catalogs I think it was pretty well laid out from the start. Granted, there may have been some models later on that did not follow exactly.
I am sure I have something wrong, and I am prepared to be corrected, but my understanding (as noted above) is that F was for Flat-Top as noted in the catalog. Kind of like S meaning solid body when they introduced the S-50, S-100 and S-200 in 1963. Then the numbers represented body size and as the numbers got larger the appointments also got fancier. Replace the F with M and you get an all mahogany flat-top. I kind of liked that naming convention!
mapping it to the Cordoba diagram above:
F20 (M20) - Parlor
F30 (M30) - Concert
F40 - Orchestra
F50 - Jumbo
What needing fixing? Then when dreadnoughts were introduced it started to get a little different as D was the body shape and the number started to mean a higher price point and appointment level.
I know I have oversimplified it a lot and there are mini-dreadnoughts and such thrown in through the years but this is how I think of the Guild acoustic naming convention. My preference would be Guild embracing it’s history and returned to the original naming convention.
I am sure I have something wrong, and I am prepared to be corrected, but my understanding (as noted above) is that F was for Flat-Top as noted in the catalog. Kind of like S meaning solid body when they introduced the S-50, S-100 and S-200 in 1963. Then the numbers represented body size and as the numbers got larger the appointments also got fancier. Replace the F with M and you get an all mahogany flat-top. I kind of liked that naming convention!
mapping it to the Cordoba diagram above:
F20 (M20) - Parlor
F30 (M30) - Concert
F40 - Orchestra
F50 - Jumbo
What needing fixing? Then when dreadnoughts were introduced it started to get a little different as D was the body shape and the number started to mean a higher price point and appointment level.
I know I have oversimplified it a lot and there are mini-dreadnoughts and such thrown in through the years but this is how I think of the Guild acoustic naming convention. My preference would be Guild embracing it’s history and returned to the original naming convention.
PreacherBob
Member
I originally had thought my JF 65 and JF30s stood for “Jumbo Folk”, but then I decided it stood for “Just Fabulous!”
Cougar
Enlightened Member
I get the 'D' for dreadnoughts, but how did they come up with the 'G' for the G37?
bobouz
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Gumbo?
davenumber2
Member
They probably don’t want to use J for jumbo because that’s what Gibson does.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Yeah, but they used D for Dreads like big daddy Martin, so no shame in jumping on the bandwagon.
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I have a near-identical 1964 F30 burst. Definitely concert-sized, much smaller than a dreadnought.
According to Hans' book, the changing from D to G for dreadnaught's is one of the great mysteries of Guild history.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Good, great?
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
M for mellow?
Westerly Wood
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Early Guild board meeting....
"Hey can I get some of that beer?"
"Sure..."
"So folks, we know D is for dreadnaught, that just makes a lot of sense and Martin already did it like that etc....but what do we do re these more jumbo, shapely acoustics?"
"Why not F?"
"What the heck does F stand for"?
"Does it matter? It's not like people will be talking about this in 50 years..."
"Well, F could stand for Folk, like Yamaha does that, I think..."
"Oh gosh, Yamaha...what a joke that company is. Do we have to do everything Yamaha does? Their guitars are crap..."
"Plus, Yamaha is not going to make it..."
"Back to F please, folks..."
"Can I get some more beer?"
"Sure..."
"F could also stand for flattop, which to me, can mean anything really..."
"I like it..."
"Hey can I get some of that beer?"
"Sure..."
"So folks, we know D is for dreadnaught, that just makes a lot of sense and Martin already did it like that etc....but what do we do re these more jumbo, shapely acoustics?"
"Why not F?"
"What the heck does F stand for"?
"Does it matter? It's not like people will be talking about this in 50 years..."
"Well, F could stand for Folk, like Yamaha does that, I think..."
"Oh gosh, Yamaha...what a joke that company is. Do we have to do everything Yamaha does? Their guitars are crap..."
"Plus, Yamaha is not going to make it..."
"Back to F please, folks..."
"Can I get some more beer?"
"Sure..."
"F could also stand for flattop, which to me, can mean anything really..."
"I like it..."