We introduced the F-30 Aragon in 1954 as the smallest of the original Guild flat-top guitars. Early versions featured a unique Orchestra body shape with a spruce top, arched maple back, and maple sides; it acquired a mahogany back and sides by 1959. During the late ’50s and early ’60s, the F-30 had become the guitar of the folk explosion, and to this day its compact body produces a full, balanced sound perfect for nearly any style.
This special limited-run version takes the F-30 to new heights by combining a solid Bearclaw Sitka spruce top with solid master-grade Indian rosewood back and sides to create a complex Orchestra-style guitar with a rich and balanced voice. You have never experienced an F-30 quite like this.
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is considered a quintessential wood for acoustic guitar tops. It has become the industry standard; revered for its strength and beauty and for its bright, crisp tone. Bearclaw Sitka spruce is a type of Sitka that exhibits a dramatic figuring effect resembling “claw marks.” This figuring can be quite random and can appear as long squiggly marks or as shorter striations. The lore associated with these marks contends that they’re the result of bears scratching their claws against the tree trunk. Whether that’s really true or not is unclear, but it sure makes for a good story, and Bearclaw Sitka spruce sure makes for a beautiful guitar.
Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) has also become an industry-standard tonewood for acoustic guitars. After taking over the reins from Brazilian rosewood several decades ago when restrictions on that wood made it scarce and difficult to get, Indian rosewood quickly proved to be a very capable and worthy substitute. With its strong, complex voice and rich coloration, it is both a beautiful-looking and beautiful-sounding tonewood. The Indian rosewood that we use for the GSR F-30 is master grade—the best of the best. This rating is only given to the finest sets, which are carefully selected for their tight, straight grain and exceptional coloration. The beauty of this wood, paired with the dramatic figuring of the Bearclaw Sitka top, results in a truly stunning instrument.
Other premium features include an ebony fingerboard and bridge; Ivoroid body, neck, and headstock binding; ebony headcap with mother-of-pearl “G-shield” logo (a first on a production F-30); mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays with abalone “G” at the 12th fret; abalone rosette; custom gold Gotoh® open-back tuners with white “G-shield” buttons, bone nut and saddle; “Parisian eye” bone bridge pins; and a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Available in Natural (821).
Each guitar includes a Guild leather strap and a Planet Waves® soundhole humidifier. Limited to 20 pieces worldwide.
