Let's talk maple dreads...

[philr]

I've owned a '74 G-37 for a couple of months now and I've got to say that I absolutely love this guitar. I've always liked maple guitars. I know that some people find them too bright, but I really love the crispness of the sound.

The only bad thing about my G-37 is that it makes me very curious about other maple guitars. I can feel the GAS building already. Has anyone here had the opportunity to compare various Guild maple dreadnoughts? The G-37 has a laminated arched back. I'm wondering if a D-44M with a solid back sounds much different. Also, my G-37 has a mahogany neck but I know that many of them were built with maple necks, which are probably stiffer and make the guitar project a little differently.

Have any of you guys had the good fortune to play or even own more than one variety of these guitars?

Phil

 

[Guildmark]

Howdy, Phil!

Look for answers from california who has a D-44, and ce blues who has a D-30. There are a few others out there, but I know those guys have what you're asking about and are usually quite willing to share what they know.

Those G-37's are some kinda gorgeous!

Gm

 

[Jeff]

I've owned a '74 G-37 for a couple of months now .........I absolutely love this guitar..... always liked maple guitars. I know that some people find them too bright, but I really love the crispness of the sound.

The only bad thing about my G-37 is that it makes me very curious about other maple guitars. I can feel the GAS building already. Has anyone here had the opportunity to compare various Guild maple dreadnoughts? The G-37 has a laminated arched back. I'm wondering if a D-44M with a solid back sounds much different. Also, my G-37 has a mahogany neck but I know that many of them were built with maple necks, which are probably stiffer and make the guitar project a little differently.

Have any of you guys had the good fortune to play or even own more than one variety of these guitars?

Phil

Ditto on praise of G 37's, I'm enjoying mine a great deal as well.

Can't recall ever playing a different Guild maple but I have A + B'd my G 37 in the local shop against a couple Maple Taylors in the $2500+ range & I'm very happy with my $600 G 37, very happy indeed.

I've only played two G37's, The first one was offered to me for $650 & I fell in love, the Wife was with me & told me to buy it, I thought it over for a couple days & the seller changed his mind causing me deep, dark depression. Months & months later she found this one Cragslist in Bend, Oregon & I (she) bought it sight unseen. She's a keeper, (the wife too )

 

[GardMan]

Phil, I have been curious about the same... A number of individuals have commented on the volume/projection of their G-37s, which isn't one of the stronger points of mine (it's the quietest of my dreads). It's strong point is it's mellow tone. Invariably, the volume comments were from members with later G-37s or D-30s with the maple 3- or 5-piece necks. I have wondered if the mahogany neck (being more flexible?) doesn't transfer energy to the body as efficiently (on the other hand, I love the look of the mahogany juxtaposed with the maple... to the point that I haven't been able to bring myself to drill the neck for the custom strap button I had made).

I have also wondered about the arched maple laminate vs. flat, braced maple backs of the D-44M, and would love to hear them side-by-side someday. So, a D-44M is definitely on my list of guitars to find, but it's behind a couple others. Given the current state of my economy, it might be a while (had to sit by and watch a beautiful burst D-44M sell on eBay last month... torture!).
Dave

Jeff, Every time I see that burst G-37 of yours, I start drooling... D

 

[Scratch]

I've owned a '74 G-37 for a couple of months now .........I absolutely love this guitar..... always liked maple guitars. I know that some people find them too bright, but I really love the crispness of the sound.

The only bad thing about my G-37 is that it makes me very curious about other maple guitars. I can feel the GAS building already. Has anyone here had the opportunity to compare various Guild maple dreadnoughts? The G-37 has a laminated arched back. I'm wondering if a D-44M with a solid back sounds much different. Also, my G-37 has a mahogany neck but I know that many of them were built with maple necks, which are probably stiffer and make the guitar project a little differently.

Have any of you guys had the good fortune to play or even own more than one variety of these guitars?

Phil

Ditto on praise of G 37's, I'm enjoying mine a great deal as well.

Can't recall ever playing a different Guild maple but I have A + B'd my G 37 in the local shop against a couple Maple Taylors in the $2500+ range & I'm very happy with my $600 G 37, very happy indeed.

I've only played two G37's, The first one was offered to me for $650 & I fell in love, the Wife was with me & told me to buy it, I thought it over for a couple days & the seller changed his mind causing me deep, dark depression. Months & months later she found this one Cragslist in Bend, Oregon & I (she) bought it sight unseen. She's a keeper, (the wife too )

Dang it Jeff... That is one beautiful hunk of wood... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: GAS'n bigtime...

 

[FNG]

I would like to try one of those Hank Williams models...the G45, I think.

 

[walrus]

Hi philr - here's a link to photos (and subsequent thread) of my maple 1984 D-64. This guitar is quite astounding - loud, with a great tone. Maple is a great wood for a guitar, in my opinion.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6542&hilit=64+photos


walrus

 

[DocNE]

Philr

Have been curious about the G37. Currently own a DCE3, which is the maple version of the arched back DCE (Dreadnought, Cutaway, Electric) series Guild produced from about 1992 through 2001, or thereabouts (in addition to the DCE3; the DCE1 is Hog, the DCE5 is Rosewood). The DCE3 appears to have a maple neck.

Unpluggled it is not a particularly loud guitar but rather mellow in volume (plugged, of course, is a different story). While it has that maple brightness to it, it's not harsh at all. In fact it's very very smooth, with the most complex tone of any of my Guild 6 strings, with quite a bit of overtone. It is also utterly balanced, with what I'd call the "prototypical" Guild string-to-string balance. I'd describe the tone as "shimmery" and "pretty". I do wish it had a tad more volume unplugged, though. And a tad more bass presence (mids and highs are great).

I kind always thought that maybe the G37 served as the basis for the DCE3, but maybe that's not the case with the Hog neck on the G37 vs maple on the DCE3 (?). Anyway, I do like the maple tone, too. "GASing" for another one, in fact....:-0

DocNE

DCE3 sunburst ('96)
GAD JF48 ATB ('07)
DV52 NT ('94)
F212XL sunburst ('81)

 

[West R Lee]

Hey Doc,

I've got a JF30 12 and a D30, love them both. Obviously totally different guitars, but they do share that crissp sound. The D30 is a standard dread, with the JF30 being a jumbo. It's difficult for me to compare sound in that the JF is just a big guitar with 12 stings and just booms. The D30 is a bit more subtle, but still has plenty of punch....I've been experimenting with different strings on it, and it sure makes a difference. The D30 is based on the G37 if I'm not mistaken.

All great guitars, and I've love to have an F65 or a JF65 one of these days.

West

 

[chazmo]

Phil,

Don't own any maple Guilds yet, but the two solid maples I have are Taylors. My 1984 quilted maple 655 (jumbo 12) and my 2006 GS-MS (grand symphony -- near jumbo -- 6) are wonderful. The GS-MS is my favorite 6, and the 655 is much loved though perhaps not the top of the heap.

The one maple dread I do have, a 1982 Ibanez M-310, is a laminate guitar and frankly doesn't measure up. But it's my go to axe if I'm going amplified...

I'm a big maple fan. Best of luck on your choices.

 

[tjmangum]

Hi Phil,
I've got the same two as West (D30 and JF3012) plus a F65ce. They all have great, distinctive tone to them, all Westerlys. Have also played a F50 from Tacoma that was great too. I have tried many Taylor maple b&s guitars and have never found one that grabbed me, so to speak.
Good luck, I think they are really special.
tj

 

[FNG]

Hi philr - here's a link to photos (and subsequent thread) of my maple 1984 D-64. This guitar is quite astounding - loud, with a great tone. Maple is a great wood for a guitar, in my opinion.

http://www.letstalkguild.com/phpBB2/vie ... =64+photos


walrus

One of those too, along with a F-44.

 

[fungusyoung]

I'd love to get a 6 string maple dread like the G37 or D30. I'm continually amazed by the JF30-12, especially when playing or recording alongside a 6 string mahogany or rosewood dread. What an incredible tonal complement with such a chimey, crisp and chorus like boom.

Of course, this also makes me want another 12 string too. Either an F112, G37 or D30 would likely be my next acquisition... but I hope I can restrain myself for quite a while though or I'll likely get myself into trouble!

 

[DocNE]

Hey West

The JF30 is on my list....so is the F50 (maple) or JF65. Agree that strings make a huge difference. Have been enamored of late with Dean Markley Alchemy Gold Bronze. Pretty sure I'll be gettin' the itch to try somethin' else though, next time I change strings. What strings do you like on your maple Guilds?

Doc

 

[West R Lee]

Well.......something that I did not know, but read John Kidder discussing that some strings just sound better with guitars made of a particular wood, and some don't.

Case in point was the D30 my wife now has. It came with Plectrum strings, which I had never used. I'm a huge John Pearse fan. I've got Pearse on all of mine. But when we got the D30, with the Plectrums, I loved them, so I bought some Plectrums......4 sets to be exact, at about 3 times the price of JP's. I stuck some Plectrums on a couple of my rosewoods and didn't like them at all. Then I put some JP's on the maple D30. Same result......I hated them. My conclusion is that Plectrums sound great with maple, but horrible with rosewood. On the other hand, I like JP's on my rosewoods........go figure.

I will say that as the Plectrums have aged a bit on the rosewoods, they sound better to me, not as good as JP's, but better than they did. I still can't stand the tone of the JP's on the D30, but it's all subjective.....someone else might like that sound, it's just totally different stringing each guitar with the different strings.

West

 

[6L6]

Love my '06 F-412!

6

'06 F-412
'06 D-55
'06 D=40BJ
'74 D-40

 

[ramsa]

Right before FMIC began building Guilds at the Tacoma, Washington plant, I had the good fortune to purchase a Tacoma DF-28 maple dread. (Maybe a prototype?) I have not seen or heard of any others since then. Very much like the mahogany DM-28, the maple version is an outstanding example of Tacoma's craft, and plays and sounds like a dream.

Alot of Tacomas maple dreads were built with either quilted maple, or the early versions had flamed laminate sides and backs. The DF-28 has beautiful natural solid flamed maple back and sides with a sweet Sitka spruce top. I imagine alot of the same top materials made it into the construction of the Tacoma built D-55s and D-40s...

Any word about the move Eastward with Guild acoustics?

 

[philr]

Wow! That D-64 is one beautiful guitar. The thing I'm really most curious about is the difference between solid back and arched back. I like the sound of my G-37 but I wonder if a D-44M has a more open sound or more volume.

I never thought about matching strings to tonewoods. I've been using D'Addario EJ16's on all my guitars for awhile now. What strings are other people using on their maple guitars?

 

[walrus]

I use D'Addario EXP16's on my D-64 and on my A-50. D'Addario EJ20's on my T100.

The EXP's have a feel I like, and they seem to stay brighter for longer - a little more expensive, too, of course!

walrus

 

[california]

Howdy, Phil!

Look for answers from california who has a D-44, and ce blues who has a D-30. There are a few others out there, but I know those guys have what you're asking about and are usually quite willing to share what they know.

Those G-37's are some kinda gorgeous!

Gm

Actually, my '67 D-44 is pearwood. I know that "subtle" and "dreadnaught" are words that normally don't go together, but this is one very smooth sounding guitar that projects extremely well. On the maple side, I can't say enough about my JF-65 12. Before I got it, I always thought that 12 strings should be Rosewood, but almost three years later it is still unreplacable. Last weekend at Willie's in Minneapolis I played a maple Tacoma built Willie Porter, the tone was round in the lows, bright in the highs and projected like a much larger guitar.