1979 Guild D-40 Dreadnought Guitar
Update Dec 2019: I've added a new video, new pictures, and updated this post a bit.
The D-40 is basically Guild's answer to a Martin D-18. It has a solid spruce top over solid mahogany back and sides and the back is flat and braced rather than press-arched like many other Guild products. Just like a Martin from the '70s, Guild dreadnoughts like to be picked hard to get the guts out of them, but once you're there you'll notice the great leap and drive that these guitars can have. This one punches nicely.
This guitar has definitely been around the block, but it plays well and has a good, aggressive tone.
Work included: a previous bridge reglue, previous bridge shave, fret level/dress, crack cleating and fill jobs, minor brace reglues, lots of cleaning, and a good setup. The neck is straight, the truss rod works well, and the frets still have decent life left in them. Action is bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, strung with 54w-12 gauges. The saddle has 1/16" height over the deck.
Condition notes: lots of wear-and-tear, old cracks, a low saddle and thin bridge, and an endpin jack connected to nothing. Other than the endpin jack and a couple bridge pins, it's also entirely-original.
It comes with: a nice hard case.
The D-40 is basically Guild's answer to a Martin D-18. It has a solid spruce top over solid mahogany back and sides and the back is flat and braced rather than press-arched like many other Guild products. Just like a Martin from the '70s, Guild dreadnoughts like to be picked hard to get the guts out of them, but once you're there you'll notice the great leap and drive that these guitars can have. This one punches nicely.
This guitar has definitely been around the block, but it plays well and has a good, aggressive tone.
Work included: a previous bridge reglue, previous bridge shave, fret level/dress, crack cleating and fill jobs, minor brace reglues, lots of cleaning, and a good setup. The neck is straight, the truss rod works well, and the frets still have decent life left in them. Action is bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, strung with 54w-12 gauges. The saddle has 1/16" height over the deck.
Scale length: 25 1/2"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"
String spacing at saddle: 2 1/8"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"
String spacing at saddle: 2 1/8"
Body length: 20"
Lower bout width: 15 3/4"
Upper bout width: 11 1/2"
Lower bout width: 15 3/4"
Upper bout width: 11 1/2"
Side depth at endpin: 5"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides: solid mahogany
Neck wood: mahogany
Fretboard: rosewood
Back/sides: solid mahogany
Neck wood: mahogany
Fretboard: rosewood
Neck shape: 14" radius with slim-to-medium C-shaped rear
Bridge: rosewood
Nut: synthetic
Saddle: synthetic, now compensated
Condition notes: lots of wear-and-tear, old cracks, a low saddle and thin bridge, and an endpin jack connected to nothing. Other than the endpin jack and a couple bridge pins, it's also entirely-original.
It comes with: a nice hard case.
The bridge has been thinned in the past, but the saddle has 1/16" height over the deck and the slot is deep enough to shim it up/down to adjust action height to taste.
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