HI DPC, welcome aboard!! Richie's one of my heroes, too. (see my sig)
Have never heard anybody describe any D40 neck as "slim", suspect they tended to have pretty thick necks for most if not all of their life.
Mine's got the thickest neck (and best finish) of the bunch, first year Richie Havens D40. Neck is a baseball bat compared to the 2 late Westerlys. It'd be a "U" compared the modern flat oval on this Fender chart:
Funny thing, when it was new, I literally called it "the sonic runt of the litter" more than once. Given Richie's rep, I expected it to be louder than my D25, but was surprised it wasn't. Took around 7 or 8 years to to accumulate enough playing hours and really start opening up.
Now I get that a flatback's got a different type of voice than an archback and it's almost as loud as the D25 but
cleaner, more articulate. No more sonic runt.
Love it as much as any of 'em, and it records the best, too.
There's really not much to distinguish the Corona ('03-04) Havens models from the regular D40 except the signature TRC and extra 'guard. Note also early Corona D40's got a Gruhn-inspired snakehead (narrow) headstock leftover from the '99 Westerly revival of the model, but my Havens has the traditional "paddle" style.
Whoah, almost forgot to mention: to me, my D40 must be an example of the classic Guild "built like a tank" rep of the late '70's.
But they always paid attention to getting the tops right, so even those sound very good.
@Westerly Wood: the 2nd 'guard was always shipped in the case, to be installed at owner's discretion (peel off backing, press on, probably comes off with gentle heat).
@dpc915: If you see one that doesn't have the guard installed, and it's not in the case, that's a small deduct. Also those came with 4-latch deluxe case: arched top, deep pile green lining.
In Tacoma ('05-'08) they got Adi
bracing, not to be confused with the Tacoma-revived D40 "Bluegrass Jubilee" named model, which got adi
tops.
Those are highly regarded and have led to many on-line sellers mis-identifying older sitka -topped D40's as "Bluegrass Jubilees" when in fact Guild had dropped the use of the "Bluegrass" names by the mid-to-late '70's.
Adi tops were only used in Tacoma and New Hartford ('09-'14), Tacoma always ID'd 'em as "BJ" or "Bluegrass" on the label but New Hartford didn't, sometimes one has to verify the small cosmetic details that ID the NH D40BJ.
Note the D40 was "on hiatus" for about 7 years from ca. '92-'99. During that time its niche was filled with the D6, then the DV-6, both of which are highly regarded by owners. I've suspected they paved the way for the revived D40 to get shaved bracing if they didn't get it before, not sure. Haven't see it confirmed in marketing lit it prior to '00 catalog, that I recall.
Good hunting, whatever you decide.