Oxnard D40E comments, lots of good some not so...

[Rad]

I’ll start by saying it is the best playing Dreadnought I have ever played. Great full C neck carve and beautiful fret work. It is the only guitar in 50 yrs of playing that I did not need to adjust the action. It is very low action at the nut and perfect height up the neck for playability and tone.

Speaking of tone, love it. full and rich. And it is good looking.

Those reasons are is why I’m keeping it.

Issues.
Finish quality is marginal. I mentioned in a prior post about the dust particles on the top, sides and one on the neck that I had to sand out. It turned out beautiful, but I‘ve done some of this before working on my scratched and dinged guitars. You will see in the photos how poor the finish is around the neck joint. the joint is not cracked, or separated, the finish is just terrible. I’ll live with it.

I was surprised how dry the fingerboard and bridge were. The in case humidifier was bone dry. The retailer, GC, clearly gets heat for not checking that prior to shipping but for all I know it could have left the factory that way. I sanded the fingerboard down with 600 grit paper, cleaned it with Naptha and treated it with F-One. It came out beautiful, including the bridge.

A couple things I changed. Plastic bridge pins on guitar that cost close to $2,000...Come on. I bought some bone ones and did the end bevel prior to install. I did have to sand them to fit. I was careful to keep the same taper. Trust me, bone is hard...

The 20/1 ratio tuners....Terrible. It took way to much effort to turn them at times. I went with a drop in replacement I’ve used before and they also came stock on my Martin.. Grover Sta-Tites. What a difference, perfectly smooth adjustment from the low E to the High E.

I also put a strap button on the heal.

I do love the guitar and do to the finish issues I‘m not worried at all about damaging it as my travel RV travel guitar and playing in camp at get togethers. My Martin has been listed for sale because the Guild is so much fun to play.

Oxnard Guild builds a great playing and sounding D40 but they need to improve quality control.

 

[Christopher Cozad]

Good to know, Rad. Thanks for the review. I am well aware of those finish issues. They require a particular dedication to overcome.

I use Grover Sta-Tites (97-18 Series) on many of my own guitars. Excellent performance! Luthier John Greven gets credit for steering me to them years ago, as I had been paying a fortune for Waverly tuners, when the Grovers were performing perfectly fine for much less cost.

 

[dreadnut]

I hope the folks at Oxnard get your full report.

 

[geoguy]

I'm surprised at the finish issues. Last I had heard, the finish manager was a very skilled guy who previously worked at Gibson's custom shop, & at Guild's New Hartford factory, too.

 

[Rambozo96]

I

I'm surprised at the finish issues. Last I had heard, the finish manager was a very skilled guy who previously worked at Gibson's custom shop, & at Guild's New Hartford factory, too.

I thought he took flight already

 

[Aarfy]

Maybe I don’t have as keen an eye, but I thought the finish and quality on my D40e from Oxnard was great.
It sounds and plays incredibly - which is my main guide to guitars, i s’pose.

 

[Rad]

Maybe I don’t have as keen an eye, but I thought the finish and quality on my D40e from Oxnard was great.
It sounds and plays incredibly - which is my main guide to guitars, i s’pose.

I suspect mine might be the exception.

Here is another shot of the neck joint. The light is reflected in the uneven finish making it easy to spot. It makes it look like the neck has pulled away, but I don’t think that is the case......At least I hope

 

[beecee]

Just a wild guess as I have no knowledge of guitar finishing but could that white stuff on the side of the neck be dried buffing compund from the factory?

If so it still represents a lack of QC.

Any idea how old it is? Could it be an early example from the first year or so and hidden in the back room of a GC

 

[Rad]

Just a wild guess as I have no knowledge of guitar finishing but could that white stuff on the side of the neck be dried buffing compund from the factory?

No, it looks white only because of the very bright overhead bench light Is reflected in the uneven finish right there.

As I said, I love the guitar. It does not bother me much, probably should not have even posted about it.

This is what it looks like normally. Gotta say, the fingerboard is a nice piece of Rosewood and came out great with the F-One.

 

[Okko]

this is my M40E from Oxnard... guess the finish manager still worked at the production of this guitar. I think the finish looks ok? I’am not a professional guitar quality observer though ....

 

[awechsler]

Hmm, Interesting... I'm considering getting a D40 Traditional which I know has differences in the neck joint, bracing, etc. However, I'd have to believe that it goes through the same or very similar QC, etc. I had started another thread on here because I'm not finding any new D40's (i.e. 2020-21). I know that given Covid they probably have few to none and am willing to wait. That said these issues leave me a bit concerned 1) If the staff has had high turnover due to Covid and/or Mgmt then is the current product suffering? 2) If there is a shortage of supplies then would they substitute different materials that may not be as good? 3) Once manufacturing gets going will the pressure of the backlog and the time off produce a rushed product, etc? I doubt I'll get answers as some of these things are yet to be seen, but it is making me wonder if I should further at other guitars. I loved the Guild D40 Traditional I played a year ago and that is when I decided to start saving, but for 2.5K I want to make sure I'm getting the best guitar possible!

 

[Rad]

this is my M40E from Oxnard... guess the finish manager still worked at the production of this guitar. I think the finish looks ok? I’am not a professional guitar quality observer though ....

Beautiful....

 

[Cougar]

...I sanded the fingerboard down with 600 grit paper, cleaned it with Naptha and treated it with F-One. It came out beautiful, including the bridge.... A couple things I changed.

Wow, great work, Rad! And great pics. Love how that darkened up the fingerboard and bridge. Good to hear Guilds are still sonically superior!

 

[Aarfy]

I just took a close look. My 2020 D40e does not show anything like the finish where the neck meets the soundboard- it’s flush.

 

[chazmo]

Good review, Rad. I don't think Oxnard is "to blame" for your rosewood fingerboard and bridge being dry though. These have been untreated leaving the factory long preceding Oxnard. They all come that way. Gives you a good reason to do a string change and some dressing when you get your new guitar.

 

[fronobulax]

I'm surprised at the finish issues. Last I had heard, the finish manager was a very skilled guy who previously worked at Gibson's custom shop, & at Guild's New Hartford factory, too.

I love selective and fading memory.

Last I heard there was only one person who had worked at New Hartford who went to work at Oxnard. That person allegedly had worked in finishing at NH, under supervision, and the hire raised eyebrows because the former NH employee was hired to work with shaping and cutting wood.

No claims about my memory being correct, or not, but it would seem weird if I had a job making something and there were folks on the internet who were interested in my career.

 

[geoguy]

No claims about my memory being correct, or not, but it would seem weird if I had a job making something and there were folks on the internet who were interested in my career.

Agreed!

Nonetheless, at the risk of looking like a stalker, I just checked his LinkedIn profile and it still shows him at Cordoba/Guild. For what that's worth.

This guy is truly skilled at guitar construction & repair. He once told me that Ren asked him to make a Bluesbird from scratch, to estimate the number of man-hours required for the New Hartford factory to build that model. I believe the total was about 11 man-hours, starting from raw wood & ending up with a completely finished & functional guitar.

He also rebuilt Duane Eddy's Guild archtop that was badly damaged in the Nashville flood, about 12 years ago. And he made many of the numerous in-house minor repairs that were needed before many of our beloved New Hartford-built guitars left that factory.

My point is that if he is still with Guild, and supervising the finishing shop, then I'm surprised an instrument would go out with a less-than-acceptable finish.