What's wood is my Guild D4-NT top made of?

really hard to be positive by looking at the picture. looks like cedar; dark, even tight grain.
some spruce looks like that. the spruce on my Martin has a few bearclaws. typical of sitka spruce.
classical guitars typically have cedar. regular acoustics typically have spruce.that is too general however.
cedar emits a softer tone than spruce.

The color of spruce is pretty variable, and it'll vary even more with the shade of the lacquer over it.

The color of spruce is pretty variable, and it'll vary even more with the shade of the lacquer over it.

Hmm..that's what I was wondering. Like dogbite said, I thought it looks like Cedar, but all the references I have seen mention Spruce for the Guild D4. I don't have enough experience to tell from the tone, since this is the only acoustic I own. Clearly sounds different from the newer spruce top guitars I've tried at the store, but they have so much variability there also. It sounds more mellow (less shimmer, and little more bass) than couple of OM sized sitka spruce top guitars I tried at the store, but then those have a different body as well.

If you can read the serial number which I assume is on the paper inside the sound hole perhaps you could contact Guild and have them track the specifics for you. They even may have the serial number ranges online on their web site. I know that Martin provides this service so maybe Guild does as well.

BTW nice looking guitar and I bet it plays nicely as well!

Harmony central says it's a two-piece spruce top with mahogany back and sides.

I could only find the D40 on the guild website so maybe your axe is out of production now.

A :-)

My guitar was made by the original Guild company before Fender bought it, in their US factory in Rhode Island. So it's definitely out of production, and getting information from Guild is unlikely because it's now just another Fender brand, mostly made in China. I've looked through all the online data on serial numbers, which was collected by some original Guild employee. It's not complete, and has some gaps. As best as I can tell, my guitar was made in 1999 or 2000 based on the serial number. I have not found any reference online about the D4 ever being made with a Cedar top; but my guitar just seems different from the other pictures I've seen.

It is a nice playing guitar .. has a very nice, full, round sound. A little big to be a great fingerstyle guitar, I suspect, but right now I am not limited by my gear :-)

Thanks!

Surely there's a Guild discussion forum full of obsessive Guild freaks who know all the trivial production variations there may have been and their specifications?

I'd bet it's just a slightly darker than usual spruce top.

I found this discussion which confirms what Alan had found - spruce with mahogany

http://www.epinions.com/review/Guild_D4/content_42773810820

my guitar was made in 1999 or 2000 based on the serial number.

That would make it a Fender-Guild (1995), but pre-Corona (2001.)

I'm waiting for the moderator to allow my registration in the "obsessive guild owners" forum :lol:
Searching through that forum has not shed that much light.

Thanks for all the pointers .. the "darker than normal spruce" theory seems to be the most plausible. That's a good thing, except that it took away my excuse to get another acoustic :wink:

Got one with a mahogany top? :D

Got one with a mahogany top? :D

Yeah, I don't have that .. nor do I have a Koa top :twisted:

Surely there's a Guild discussion forum full of obsessive Guild freaks who know all the trivial production variations there may have been and their specifications?

I'd bet it's just a slightly darker than usual spruce top.

There is a fabulous site for Guild lovers. Let's Talk Guild.

If you're interested in the guitars or the company take a look.

Oh and the DV4 is spruce top, mahogany back and sides! :mrgreen: