Vertical straps/bracing in D 35

[Jnezzy]

I’ve got a 1973 Guild D 35 that has some sort of vertical straps inside the body that seem to be made from very thin veneer. Does anyone know what these are? They seem very odd to me.
Thanks

 

[hansmoust]

I’ve got a 1973 Guild D 35 that has some sort of vertical straps inside the body that seem to be made from very thin veneer. Does anyone know what these are? They seem very odd to me.
Thanks

Hello Jnezzy,

Welcome! If you are referring to the strips on the inside of the body's sides ........ these are reinforcements that are placed at strategic places where the wood is most prone to cracking during impact.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Jnezzy]

Hello Jnezzy,

Welcome! If you are referring to the strips on the inside of the body's sides ........ these are reinforcements that are placed at strategic places where the wood is most prone to cracking during impact.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Hi Hans,
Thanks for your reply. The strips have come a little loose and flared up around the edges, and I think that would deaden the volume somewhat. Would it be a reasonable idea to trim off those loose edges?

 

[kostask]

The side reinforcements have zero impact on volume or tone.

Trim them off if they bother you. Don't do it because you expect a change in tone or volume.

 

[Jnezzy]

The side reinforcements have zero impact on volume or tone.

Trim them off if they bother you. Don't do it because you expect a change in tone or volume.

Hey Kostask,
Thanks for your input!

Cheers

 

[wileypickett]

Me, I'd leave them alone. They serve a purpose and by trying to trim the loose edges through the soundhole you may end up pulling them off.

If you have the patience, maybe try gluing the loose edges back down? Though this can be tricky through the soundhole too. Glue stick might work.

 

[adorshki]

Hey Kostask,
Thanks for your input!

Cheers

Are they not fabric? Pretty sure I recall a confirmation that fabric reinforcement strips were actually used on those and D40's at least, thought it was that same time period, mid '70's.

If so, probably much easier to re-glue than trim. But worth the effort? Dunno.

 

[wileypickett]

They are fabric.

 

[Jnezzy]

Are they not fabric? Pretty sure I recall a confirmation that fabric reinforcement strips were actually used on those and D40's at least, thought it was that same time period, mid '70's.

If so, probably much easier to re-glue than trim. But worth the effort? Dunno.

Yes, they feel like fabric.

 

[Jnezzy]

They are fabric.

Yes

 

[Jnezzy]

Are they not fabric? Pretty sure I recall a confirmation that fabric reinforcement strips were actually used on those and D40's at least, thought it was that same time period, mid '70's.

If so, probably much easier to re-glue than trim. But worth the effort? Dunno.

I don’t think they’d serve any purpose but I’m gonna leave them as they are. I don’t want to muck around in there bless necessary!!

 

[Br1ck]

My 70 D 35 has wood.

 

[donnylang]

I don’t think they’d serve any purpose but I’m gonna leave them as they are. I don’t want to muck around in there bless necessary!!

They do serve a purpose, as Hans indicated initially. If a crack occurs on the sides (which in my experience, tend to be fairly thin on some older Guilds), they can stop it from spreading across the whole side. The crack would in theory stay in the isolated area between each strip.

 

[donnylang]

‘68 D35 with fabric strips here:

 

[adorshki]

I don’t think they’d serve any purpose but I’m gonna leave them as they are. I don’t want to muck around in there bless necessary!!

Precisely, my thoughts too. Sign of a "survivor" like an old car with faded but original paint.

As Hans said, they did serve a purpose, and when I first heard of it, I thought "That kinda makes sense because cloth's a little more flexible than wood and won't crack and probably not even tear. It might give a little under a light/moderate impact to the side but still hold a crack together pretty tight if it remained undamaged itself"

So I saw at it as an elegant solution. And another one of those little quirky Guild build details.

 

[Jnezzy]

Good point about fabric vs wood

 

[Rambozo96]

I thought it was paper but I never looked at it much closer than from the sound hole. Now that I think about it I haven’t seen many old Guild guitars with terrible side cracks.

 

[Rambozo96]

But that just makes me wonder why my D-4 and D-25 didn’t have them. I’m not sure about my D-4 but my D-25 has solid mahogany sides from what I could see pulling the end pin out.

 

[adorshki]

But that just makes me wonder why my D-4 and D-25 didn’t have them. I’m not sure about my D-4 but my D-25 has solid mahogany sides from what I could see pulling the end pin out.

Yeah both solid sides, I assume your D25's also an archback, and what year? (apologies for not remembering). If also say a '73-75 then yeah I'd "expect" the fabric "braces", but I don't know.

Anyway, the D4 at least just shows how build styles evolved over 20 years at Westerly.

From member reports I recall, in early Westerly ca '67-'72 the builds still closely resembled the "light" Hoboken style. By '72 they were already starting to show signs of a gradual "beefing up" which evolved 'til early '80's when Gruhn designed a couple of new flattops and F40 variants, and builds started lightening up again from there.

So, '73, sellin' a lotta guitars (singer songwriter boom), maybe startin' to see some warranty pain even if due to owner neglect like stringing 'em up too heavy? Solution: start beefing up the builds, and Guild's "built like a tank" rep was born. Even started shipping at least some dreadnoughts with mediums, up from lights.

But by early '90's starting to lighten up again, and build for lights. And techniques have advanced, too. By D4 time ca '92, probably just deemed the fabric unnecessary anymore?

I always considered my '96 D25 a real featherweight, and in fact it's taken a couple of "moderate" knocks and is still in good geometry at...at... oh good lord she's gonna be 25 in October!

Go forth and bond with thy guitars.

 

[bobouz]

The use of those side reinforcements used to be a fairly common practice. Gibson abandoned using them decades ago, but Guild continued to use them at least into the '90s (as seen on my '94 JF-30).

Some curling on the edges of the fabric type won't negatively impact anything.