F-412Spec
Member
I just took this Guild F212XL S/N 89015 1973 neck/body joint apart and thought maybe others would like to know what it looks like, and other information.
First, an observation - The Guilds I've taken apart (four from the '60s and two from the '70s) have had no dovetail shims from the factory, while all of the Martins I've taken apart (probably about 50 pre-1970 and 20 post-1969) have had dovetail shims from the factory.
The main differences between a Martin dovetail and a Guild dovetail are the angles at the tenon sides and sometimes the location of the truss rod or neck reinforcement.
The Martin dovetail tenon is cut at 10º, and the Guild dovetail is cut at 5º. For us techs, this means the reset shims will be thinner on reset-cut Guild necks than those on reset-cut Martin necks when the reset heel cut depth is held constant. It also means that the Martin joint is easier to handle during the glue process, as the greater angles tend to pull the Martin joint together more than the Guild joint while clamping.
Further, the dual-truss Guild dovetails display the exposed ends of both rods in round channels at the top of the neck, while Martins display end of the truss or the adjustable rod nut.
Please see the pictures below. One picture shows the 10º angle on a Martin blank; the rest showing the Guild joint components and the 5º angle). By the way, that is a factory-installed fretboard shim. I've seen them in rosewood (on F-212) and mahogany (on F-312).
First, an observation - The Guilds I've taken apart (four from the '60s and two from the '70s) have had no dovetail shims from the factory, while all of the Martins I've taken apart (probably about 50 pre-1970 and 20 post-1969) have had dovetail shims from the factory.
The main differences between a Martin dovetail and a Guild dovetail are the angles at the tenon sides and sometimes the location of the truss rod or neck reinforcement.
The Martin dovetail tenon is cut at 10º, and the Guild dovetail is cut at 5º. For us techs, this means the reset shims will be thinner on reset-cut Guild necks than those on reset-cut Martin necks when the reset heel cut depth is held constant. It also means that the Martin joint is easier to handle during the glue process, as the greater angles tend to pull the Martin joint together more than the Guild joint while clamping.
Further, the dual-truss Guild dovetails display the exposed ends of both rods in round channels at the top of the neck, while Martins display end of the truss or the adjustable rod nut.
Please see the pictures below. One picture shows the 10º angle on a Martin blank; the rest showing the Guild joint components and the 5º angle). By the way, that is a factory-installed fretboard shim. I've seen them in rosewood (on F-212) and mahogany (on F-312).
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