Question about G37NT Dark Back and Sides

[Lcgtrplr]

Hi, i just purchased a guild G37NT that has a dark back and sides. I have only seen these in blonde but i do remember reading
on this forum somewhere that there were dark back and side g37 models made and dealers would order the NT thinking it was the blonde?
Thanks for your help sn 208124

 

[adorshki]

Hi, i just purchased a guild G37NT that has a dark back and sides. I have only seen these in blonde but i do remember reading
on this forum somewhere that there were dark back and side g37 models made and dealers would order the NT thinking it was the blonde?
Thanks for your help sn 208124

Got a buddy with a '74 and it has dark body.
He's original owner.
"NT" is normally used to note "Natural Top" and "Bld" for completely blonde body.
I actually can't recall seeing a G37 in blonde but that doesn't mean much.
Oh BTW, Welcome aboard!
And my buddy's G37 is the best acoustic guitar I ever heard, not that I've heard all that many up close and personal, compared to some folks around here.

 

[wileypickett]

Some Guilds were sprayed with an amber burst, which gave the tops a darker complexion.

 

[adorshki]

Some Guilds were sprayed with an amber burst, which gave the tops a darker complexion.

Yes but I can only recall ever seeing the "burst" on electrics, and acoustics were labeled "AMB".
In any case the OP's only talking about back and sides, and the difference between "NT" and "Blonde".

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

I actually can't recall seeing a G37 in blonde but that doesn't mean much.

Here's my G-37 "Blondie". (Sorry, don't have a photo of the back!)

 

[geoguy]

I think there were a few flavors of the G37. Mine looks like Grot's, with a flamey light-amber colored maple neck & back. (sorry, no pics at hand)

Didn't some also have necks constructed from mahogany? I seem to recall seeing a few that had dark-colored necks.

edit: just saw your other post, & the one you purchased indeed has a darker neck, but maybe that's just the same finish that was also applied to the back & sides.

Welcome to LTG, Lcgtrplr!

 

[crank]

They had one stained blue where I bought my blonde.

 

[Bonneville88]

Congrats lcgtrplr on scoring the G37, beautiful guitar!

Only one I think I've seen recently with the dark reddish-brown mahogany-esque
finish on the back on sides, really like how the maple peeks through the finish.

Posting some pics from the ebay auction, hope that's ok. Also posted a couple
of pics of my 1980 burst G37 - not as clean as yours but quite the player,
and as has been mentioned in LTG by other G37 owners, has remarkable note sustain.
Also the heaviest dread 6-string Guild I've ever owned at +/- 6 lbs 12 Oz

Last photo is a G37 currently for sale on CL Austin TX, I'm observing
how different the burst looks from mine - if the listing states
the correct year, 1979, that's about a year earlier than mine.
Can't quite see if the sides of the CL guitar are dark or burst.
Oval label on my G37 is written G37 SB ANT, that may also explain
the difference in the burst color and pattern.

 

[bobouz]

My '74 F-40nt has a natural top, combined with a very red-stained maple back & sides, so the nomenclature is consistent with your guitar.

My '76 G-37bld, has a fully blonde body combined with a one-piece mahogany neck (lightly stained natural). The G-37's transition to a maple neck occurred midstream during 1976.

 

[taabru45]

I have a G37 with natural top and the dark sides, back and neck..it has superb tone from high to low and as much or more sustain as any guitar I've ever played..I think. I doubt I'll ever get rid of it...

 

[adorshki]

I have a G37 with natural top and the dark sides, back and neck..it has superb tone from high to low and as much or more sustain as any guitar I've ever played..I think. I doubt I'll ever get rid of it...

My buddy's has the longest sustain of any guitar I've ever heard.
When he's plugged in with soundhole pickup he can make that thing sustain continuously without going into feedback when he's in just the right position relative to the amp.
Like when he's fingerpicking and just wants to dictate exactly which notes are gonna continue ringing until he changes the fretting.

 

[Bonneville88]

Anybody reading who owns or has owned or played a G37... did the guitar
seem heavy to you? Have to wonder if something in the construction of
the G is different enough from other Guild dreads to make it noticeably heavier and
also contributes to the preternatural sustain often described.

Fwiw, I've also owned two D30s, often thought of as the successor to the G37,
and while both sounded good, neither had the weight or the sustain
of the G. I almost got rid of my G37 early on... had trouble dealing with the sound,
which seemed oddly out of control at times. Glad I kept it though - just had
to learn how to work with it eaceful:

 

[taabru45]

It is heavy but so is my my Takoma D55..I think many of the vintage Guilds were heavily built but my DV52 is considerably lighter, and I could probably use my 79 F512 to weight train with.. ;-)

 

[Bonneville88]

Hi, i just purchased a guild G37NT that has a dark back and sides. I have only seen these in blonde but i do remember reading
on this forum somewhere that there were dark back and side g37 models made and dealers would order the NT thinking it was the blonde?
Thanks for your help sn 208124

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123059153783

Not sure what the deal is - OP stated he bought the guitar, but as of this posting 11:38 pm CST,
still up for sale on ebay, so perhaps congrats were premature :distrust:

 

[bobouz]

Anybody reading who owns or has owned or played a G37... did the guitar
seem heavy to you? Have to wonder if something in the construction of
the G is different enough from other Guild dreads to make it noticeably heavier and
also contributes to the preternatural sustain often described.

My 1976 G-37 is a tank. The neck & tail blocks are huge - significantly larger than those on my '73 & '74 Guilds.

But even with the weight, it's tone is crisp & percussively responsive - essentially what you would expect from a maple body. I believe a key to this is that although the overall construction is stout, the top (thickness & bracing) is not overbuilt & remains very responsive.

 

[adorshki]

Anybody reading who owns or has owned or played a G37... did the guitar
seem heavy to you? Have to wonder if something in the construction of
the G is different enough from other Guild dreads to make it noticeably heavier and
also contributes to the preternatural sustain often described.

Sheer conjecture, but this could fit in with the mid-'70's period when Westerly was reported to be "building 'em like tanks", so I'm thinking of multiple places a few ounces each could add up:
Maple itself is denser than 'hog so if same thickness used for laminating backs (and sides themselves even if not laminated), it would be a heavier body to start, heelblock, neck block, neck when it was 3-pc , "paddlle" vs "snakehead" headstock (think D30's all got snakeheads?, don't remember off top of head and not taking time to look for that thread that detailed changes over time at the moment)..and finally D30's being built predominantly during the period when Guild was going back to "lighter" builds.
But given the generally agreed characteristic of almost unnatural sustain, I think the arched maple back on a dreadnought body has to be primarily responsible.
Not an apples-to-apples comparison but it demonstrates how much power arched maple can have:
my F65ce has sustain comparable to the D25 and was pretty much the volume equal to the D40 until the '40 finally started coming into its own.
But F65ce still has longer sustain than '40 even with a smaller volume sound box (only 3-1/2" deep).
Might explain why Guild used arched maple for its first 2 flattops, the flagship F50 and F40 for those who maybe didn't need quite so much power, and even the original small-bodied F20's.

Fwiw, I've also owned two D30s, often thought of as the successor to the G37,
and while both sounded good, neither had the weight or the sustain
of the G.

Now that think about it, think the F65ce's also almost as heavy as the D25.
Still haven't got around to actually weighing 'em, don't have a handy scale.

 

[adorshki]

My 1976 G-37 is a tank. The neck & tail blocks are huge - significantly larger than those on my '73 & '74 Guilds.
But even with the weight, it's tone is crisp & percussively responsive - essentially what you would expect from a maple body. I believe a key to this is that although the overall construction is stout, the top (thickness & bracing) is not overbuilt & remains very responsive.

Ok you confirm a couple of my guesses and got in there while I was still composing.
(edit: oops, no, you posted that last night and I posted before reading all, again.)
Agreed that top is probably most important for generating great sound in the first place, and I remembered another little detail that comes into play: bridge plate material.
We've seen evidence that it varied over time even in same model.

 

[Bonneville88]

I like the conjecture :happy:

Strummed and picked and listened to the G past midnight - almost seems
like there's a point immediately after a strum where the sound produced sort of hangs
there longer than it should along with what seems like a brief increase in volume.
An analogy I mentioned once before - like a small piano with the sustain pedal permanently down...