"Popsicle" brace

[brian f]

Did the "70's era Guild dreads come stock with a "popsicle" or transverse brace between the neck block and the upper top brace (like Martin's of the same era?) Is this brace original or was it added later as part of a repair for fingerboard-top-crack? See link below for pic of the brace in my 1970 D40...

http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... 010057.jpg

Thanks
B

 

[GardMan]

Brian,
I checked all my dreads from '72 thru '92. The '72 D-35 and '74 G-37 have a brace very similar to the one in your pic, so I would say it is standard. In contrast, my '74 D-25, '81 D-46, and '92 D-55 don't have that brace. Instead, they have a block of wood (looks like a piece of quarter round in the D-46 and D-55), about as wide as the neck block, that spans the entire distance of the top between the neck block and the first cross brace. As I recall, my wife's '78 D-35 (now sold) had the same block between the neck block and first cross-brace. This limited sample seems to suggest a change in the design sometime in '74 (the SN on the '74 G-37 is ~9000 less than the '74 D-25, 101XXX vs 110XXX).
Dave

 

[brian f]

Gardman, limited sample or not, your info helps, although I dont know if the differences are by year or by model...My 78 D25ch has that same piece of quarter-round. the D40 has a traditional looking popsicle brace that I now continue to feel is standard. Thanks for your reply. Brian.