NGD - D40 Hoboken label 1967

[hearth_man]

Wiley's Soapbox:

For the best sound on an acoustic guitar, a good mic beats any pickup you can put in a guitar, no matter what your playing style is.

Most pickups are little synthesizers that are programmed to sound (sort of) like a guitar -- but not neccessarily your guitar. A good mic captures the actual sound quality of your guitar, which pickups do not -- and I bet that D40 sounds fantastic.

This is my opinion, but it's based on four decades of listening to guitars in live settings with miserable sounding pickups. I've never heard one yet that sounds like an actual guitar sounds, which is strings moving wood moving air. Pickups also tend to flatten nuance -- dynamics are less dynamic.

The only drawback: if you like to hop around while you play, it's hard to do that AND stay on mic.

I agree 100% !
The truest acoustic guitar sound is achieved with external mics. Undersaddle pickups are always artificial sounding no matter how they are processed.

 

[Br1ck]

Send it to someone like Mr. Fixit, who has rest many and won't be intimidated. I had mine done by a guy that was an authorized Guild service center for about 30 years.

 

[catan]

Send it to someone like Mr. Fixit, who has rest many and won't be intimidated. I had mine done by a guy that was an authorized Guild service center for about 30 years.

Thank you all. The Guild is currently with Mike trietsch in long island NY, who has been very professional and fair. He recommended slotting the bridge eyelet holes since the saddle is bottomed out and he's going to do a small removal and replacement of the wood in the truss rod pocket in the headstock to get the truss rod sitting back securely in the neck again. And he will install endpin jack so I can put my lrbaggs soundhole pickup. Will report back once I get it back

I'll let you know when I get it back next week.

 

[catan]

Yes, a D-40--and the looks (paper label, headstock, bridge, and pickguard in particular) make it a cousin of my '65 (AJ-299). I don't know what to make of that label--there are a lot of numbers and a lot more written on the "Model" line than I see on my guitar--or have seen on any Guild.

I suspect it could use a neck reset--mine's been reset twice--but my very experienced repair guy called my D-40 the hardest he's ever done, not because of the heel (which is indeed slim on these) but because of the non-standard geometry of Guild neck joints. My friend Tom Crandall (of TR Crandall Guitars in NYC--plug, plug) agrees that old Guilds are gnarly to reset. But in my opinion the mid-1960s is the great period of Guild acoustics, and they're worth every bit of restoration you can throw at them. (I've been playing mine since buying new in '67.)

What do the tuners look like on your d-40. I probably will replace these sometime in the future, they just look so huge

 

[Br1ck]

I love the patina on this guitar. I might put some Waverly style open back tuners on it, as those Grovers are clunky looking. Slotting the bridge is ok. That can be filled in if you got a reset later. Please don't have it shaved. You could even put three on a plate tuners like is on my 70 D 35, but I don't think the D 40 ever got those. Would love to know what caused the side patch to be put in. If only guitars could talk.

 

[Russell Letson]

My D-40 still has the original tuners. They're actually open rather than sealed, and the teardrop covers are just that--covers.

 

[Westerly Wood]

One of the coolest D40s I have ever seen. Congrats!

 

[Br1ck]

I've never seen those tuners before!

 

[wileypickett]

I've never seen those tuners before!

And you're a Zappa fan?! These are the same tuners (Van Ghent I believe they're called) that Hagstrom used on their electrics, which Zappa endorsed in a number of ads in the early '60s. I wrote to the "Mother People" ad in printed in the original pressing of *Absolutely Free* (if I remember correctly) as a teenager and got a postcard back advertising Hagstrom guitars. I still have it.

My band Cul de Sac was touring Sweden in the '90s and passed through Alvdalen, where Hagstroms were made. (I was touring with a Hagstrom III and one of their 12-strings.) Quite by accident I ran into Karl Erik Hagstrom, who gave me "tour" of the abandoned Hagstrom factory, and the Hagstrom Museum in town. He also loaded me up with old catalogs and other ephemera. Very memorable experience.

 

[catan]

So...my tech reported bad news - the truss rod is broken. Based on his assessment the guitar needs about 700-800 in total (truss rod, fret job, neck reset). He suggests contacting the seller for a refund. I just spoke to the seller yesterday about the guitar letting him know my tech was checking it out because he wanted to hear some sound clips - today the seller has not answered his phone.

what would you do?

 

[Westerly Wood]

So...my tech reported bad news - the truss rod is broken. Based on his assessment the guitar needs about 700-800 in total (truss rod, fret job, neck reset). He suggests contacting the seller for a refund. I just spoke to the seller yesterday about the guitar letting him know my tech was checking it out because he wanted to hear some sound clips - today the seller has not answered his phone.

what would you do?

I would keep it. I would have the luthier fix the Truss and try to get the action to as playable as possible, and then save up for the eventual neck reset but put that off for 2-3 years, so long as the D40 is playable enuff for you. Playability is very subjective. I just think the D40 you got is a really great dread, and if you dont need the money, well, I would hang on to it.

 

[Br1ck]

How much did you pay for the guitar? In my neck of the woods, that is an outstanding quote. I know, money is relative to how much you have.

What would I do? Well, since I've done a few fret jobs already, built a mandolin where I've installed a truss rod, and since the fretboard would be off already, I'd do my first neck reset since the joint would be visible. Since the guitar is rough in the first place . I wouldn't worry about finish damage because nitro lacquer is pretty easy to blend.

I am a Zappa fan, but what can I say, it was the sixties.

Edit: with the fret board off and the neck joint exposed, now would be the time IMHO. The real issue I see is the neck angle. The neck relief adjustment is not going to yield satisfaction. I agree that $700-800 will not be money you get back on a resale unless the cost was under $400, and maybe not then. Take all this in consideration of my previously stated view of preservation. This should probably make sence going to an amateur fixer cheap.

Edit#2: The more I look at it, the more I like it. My kind of orphan lost cause.

 

[Westerly Wood]

i am also interested how much you paid for it. i mean if you want to share, if not, totally get it.

 

[catan]

I don't mind - i paid $600 for it. as long as i'm not SUPER far off in value, I'm willing to pay a little on top of the resale value to get it to a gigging condition since i gig with it every week.

I do a lot of work myself, but mostly on cheap instruments to practice. I do a lot of amp work, and minor woodworking projects and restorations. I'm not squeamish for diy.

I don't like to collect instruments this would be my first and likely only 'good' acoustic guitar - I tried around 10 old and new guitars before really liking this one (D-35, D-55, Martin 000-18, Gibson J-45, L-00). The only guitar i liked more was an LG-2 (i know, different sizes and such, but this d-40 feels like the way the lg-2 does).

I might do it, i'm currently attempting to rebuild a motor head so i hate to add another big project.

Br1ck, that's what my tech said. Halfway to a neck reset, might as well do it if you cant return it.

I'm a patient man, I'm willing to return it and keep hunting for the guitar that speaks to me, but if not maybe I'll have to add another diy project.
I like my tech, he's very pragmatic.

 

[Westerly Wood]

well, i think 600 is fair for the condition it was in, and if you invest even the full 700 or 800, that is 1400 for a '60s D40. with all that mojo and in total working condition that would last another 40 years, so IMHO you did well. but i get it, you would have to want to invest and you could just get a full refund and then wait for another D40 in way better shape.

 

[catan]

I don't disagree, I think $600 is fair for the guitar that is playable but needs a neck reset, but the broken truss rod i think should have been disclosed, as the tech said - it was epoxied into the neck so you feel resistance when you turn it.
he also said the pinholes in the bridge were too big and someone glued wedges of wood onto the bridge pins to make them fit.

that, in addition to slopped on glue inside the guitar for a few fixes. I know how techs are - they hate seeing bad work and fake fixes. a little bellying and high action is what you may expect from a 60's guitar, but i think he really didn't like how some one gerry rigged the truss rod to appear like it was working.

"the bridge pins have slivers of wood glued to them because the bridge pin holes were drilled out over-size, and the truss rod had a tuning machine bushing epoxied around it to lock it in place. Once freed from the epoxy, I found the truss rod just spins freely - it is cracked somewhere along its path"

 

[mavuser]

Mike T. is my local luthier, he is well capable of a neck reset on a Guild. Has done at least 2 that I know of. good luck with your guitar. i'll look for it next time i'm there

 

[catan]

Mike T. is my local luthier, he is well capable of a neck reset on a Guild. Has done at least 2 that I know of. good luck with your guitar. i'll look for it next time i'm there

Yes i really like him, this is my 3rd guitar with him. which is why i completely trust his judgement in saying i was sold a bad guitar, someone attempted to hide the truss rod issue.

unfortunately the seller is dodging my calls now

 

[Westerly Wood]

sellers dodging calls is the worst part of all this. so shady. i believe you could resell the D40 here for what you paid.

 

[Br1ck]

Worst case $1400. It would be doubtful you could find a guitar you'd like better for $1400. That's close to what I have in my 70 D 35, and I can't say I regretted it one bit. Larrevee makes a nice dread you could buy for that, but you're going to be gigging it, and you'd have no street cred. Why worry about dinging up a gigging guitar? I go out of my way to buy these.

If you used PayPal or Reverb, take up the issue with them, but you can waste a lot of emotional energy trying to get yourself justice. The reality is you didn't know about the truss rod, but lumped into the totality of the needed repairs to end with a very satisfying guitar, the truss rod is not so very much of it. I'd chalk it up to experience and move on with the repairs if I could. Then I'd play it for twenty years.

I once tried to get someone to admit to shady dealing. Know what? They don't care.