My D25M is officially 46 years old! Still going strong and has aged well. We have become like one.
It's not getting out of the house much lately, but neither am I.
It's not getting out of the house much lately, but neither am I.
My D25M
- Thread starter dreadnut
- Start date
Andrew79
Member
You love your D25 as much as I love mine, Dreadnut. I got mine out of it's case after a month of not playing it (which is a long time for me - I recently bought an Eastman E10SS I've been very much obsessed with) and was taken aback how much it rings! It is my one true "keeper". The others are replaceable to some degree. Mine is an '81 so fairly close to yours.Why are they so special? Don't ask me - I'm nowhere near gifted enough with vocabulary to explain why.
My theory has always been that the unbraced arched back projects a kind of tonal parabolic mirror to the sound hole.
That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!
That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I had a '78, what a cannon, with a beautiful voice to boot. It was silly to let it go, but it was too much competition for my other acoustics, my D35 didn't care for it one bit.
Andrew79
Member
I think you're right Dread. Slight veer but are there other makers who made guitars with unbraced arched backs?
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Yes, but they don't matter ;]
wileypickett
Senior Member
Framus (“built in the heart of Bavaria”) made a number of unbraced archback models.
The ones I’ve run across don’t compare well to Guilds.
Can’t think of any other brands that did this off the top of my head.
The ones I’ve run across don’t compare well to Guilds.
Can’t think of any other brands that did this off the top of my head.
hansmoust
Enlightened Member
Yes, that one was called the Gospel and I believe that was the only one they did in quantity!
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
Yes but Ovation backs are made of a fiberglass composite so not really comparable.
Sal
Senior Member
My '78 D25M was my first real guitar and I bought it new with paper route earnings. Still going strong and also aged / relic'd well.
Br1ck
Senior Member
I have no experience with D 25s beyond playing one or two. But they always struck me as the perfect gig machine. Rugged as all get out and not a Taylor.
I don't even know what that means but I do agree, 100%
You can get one on amazon:
6" Acrylic PARABOLIC Solar Mirror Professionally Made: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
6" Acrylic PARABOLIC Solar Mirror Professionally Made: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
www.amazon.com
But I'm not sure it will fit in the soundhole!
walrus
So, we are splitting hairs over a fiberglass/composite and a laminated wood back? The principle is the same, the arched back seems to focus sound and improves projection. It is the shape of the back that is the key principle, not the material. Argument can be made that a fiberglass/composite back may be a better reflector than a laminated or even solid wood arched back (although, as far as I know, all of Guild's arched backs were laminated).
Not splitting hairs at all - totally different materials; wood vs. fiberglass, how can they realistically be compared?
Guildguy1965
Junior Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2020
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- 84
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- 82
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- 3
Congrats on the D-25 birthday dreadnut,
Awhile back I posted about the 97’ DV-52AB I purchased for my son from funds made by selling my 1987 D-25 that never really bonded with. I have posted a couple picks of my new to me 1978 D-25C I recently purchased alongside of my 92’ D-4NT in one photo. It sounds so good but what really sold me was the neck. It is very beefy, unlike my other guilds. Happy new year and hope all is well Dread.
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fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
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- 24,730
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- Central Virginia, USA
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Because the physical principals that make an archback project are determined by the shape and not the material. The mathematics of an arched shape do not depend (directly) on the material. The math assumes a perfect reflector and that's it.
They can be trivially compared because people smarter that we are decided that the guitars were worth designing and building. If you want to say a D-25 shouldn't be compared to a bowl backed Ovation then you probably need to add some qualifiers to eliminate one.
Since for similar shapes, the performance is going to be driven by reflectivity it makes perfect sense, to me, to compare how wood and fiberglass reflect.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
The fiberglass back never did a thing for me except make it hard to hold the guitar, but they do have their devotees, it's like a cult, I tell ya ;]
I was at the pawnshop one day ages ago, and this kid tells me the Ovation on the wall for $250 is worth like $1500 so I bought it, and it was worth dang near that, people fighting to get it, some fancy Anniversary thing, lost on the casual guitar shopper.
That was my first inkling of how rabid Ovation fans are, and then they came out with a guitar shaped like an ax, way to go, it's great at quieting complaints ;]
I was at the pawnshop one day ages ago, and this kid tells me the Ovation on the wall for $250 is worth like $1500 so I bought it, and it was worth dang near that, people fighting to get it, some fancy Anniversary thing, lost on the casual guitar shopper.
That was my first inkling of how rabid Ovation fans are, and then they came out with a guitar shaped like an ax, way to go, it's great at quieting complaints ;]