I have a 97 Guild D4-NT HR that I bought new and recently I purchased two more D4's on eBay. They're in perfect condition. All three of these guitars are built in Westerly, RI. Arch Back. I was surprised at how different the two guitars I just bought sound. One was built in Oct 98 and the other in Nov 98, but they feel and sound like very different guitars. One has a thin neck and feels lighter. It is much brighter sounding. Also, the pickguard is more of a marble than the tortoise I'm used to seeing on Guilds. The other guitar has "True American" on the truss rod cover like my first guitar does and it feels and sounds the same. Most people seem to like the true american one better. Anyway, I was wondering if the true american had anything to do with the difference or was that just how they labeled the guitars for a few years and didn't really mean anything. I expect a little variablity but this is quite a difference. Anyone notice something like this before?
Two Westerly Guild D4's
- Thread starter Cuda
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I have nothing to add to that, but welcome to the forum!
Darryl Hattenhauer
Venerated Member
Barry,
That's an interesting situation. I hope you get an answer from somebody who knows more about that than I do (which would be the whole dang forum). It might be a good example of how very small differences make a big difference in sound. Did you put a new set of identical strings on them?
hf
That's an interesting situation. I hope you get an answer from somebody who knows more about that than I do (which would be the whole dang forum). It might be a good example of how very small differences make a big difference in sound. Did you put a new set of identical strings on them?
hf
Thanks for the replies. I should post a sound clip if I get around to it. I haven't been playing much lately. The pickguard doesn't have all the yellow specks in it like usual. It's hard to see how different the pickguard color is in the picture. Besides the sound, the thickness of the neck, (not the width) is much thinner than any guild dreadnaught I've played. Sorry, I'll have to post a pic later.
fungusyoung
Senior Member
I could be completely wrong... no, I likely am wrong.... but, could the lighter one possibly be a DV4 instead of a D4? If you posted detailed photos I'm think somebody here could help out a bit more.
jciampa
Member
Welcome to the forum!
As a recall, the "True American" tag was added to truss rod covers of the D-4 and D-25 in the late-nineties, but I don't believe any structural changes were made at that time to those models.
More of marketing thing, I'd say.
Also, in response to fungusyoung's post, the DV-4 is a flat-backed guitar, and you had stated that all three of yours have arched backs. I'd say that you just have a nice stable of D-4's, each with a distinct personality and tone.
D-4's are nice, underrated guitars. I'm glad you're enjoying them.
--John
As a recall, the "True American" tag was added to truss rod covers of the D-4 and D-25 in the late-nineties, but I don't believe any structural changes were made at that time to those models.
More of marketing thing, I'd say.
Also, in response to fungusyoung's post, the DV-4 is a flat-backed guitar, and you had stated that all three of yours have arched backs. I'd say that you just have a nice stable of D-4's, each with a distinct personality and tone.
D-4's are nice, underrated guitars. I'm glad you're enjoying them.
--John
jciampa
Member
It also just occurred to me that the D-4's also used sapele mahogany, as opposed to the Honduran mahogany that I believe was generally used higher up the line (D-25's, 40's, etc.). This would probably be a question better directed at Hans or another forum member with more insight than me, but perhaps one of your D-4's may have been made with a different kind of mahogany?
I don't know if this parallels with guitar building but the same thing happened to me with golf clubs.
I had two identical Ping drivers that were built identically according to the build tags. However when I put them on my own weight and swing scales they were nowhere near the same.
Quality control is sometimes not exactly the best in even the best of companies.
I've never compared my F50R with another because I've never seen one built at the same general time.
I had two identical Ping drivers that were built identically according to the build tags. However when I put them on my own weight and swing scales they were nowhere near the same.
Quality control is sometimes not exactly the best in even the best of companies.
I've never compared my F50R with another because I've never seen one built at the same general time.