txbumper57
Enlightened Member
Hello Everyone! This is a NGD post for a 2010 Guild D-55 in beautiful Burst finish made in the New Hartford, Connecticut facility. Personally out of all the Guilds I own I think that the New Hartford Acoustics are some of the finest if not The Finest Guitars that were ever made by any company at any time. This D55 is a testament to that belief in appearance, quality materials, quality craftsmanship, and tone. I would like to thank GeoTrio here on the forum for selling it to me. He is a stand up guy and a pleasure to do business with.
The first thing that you notice on this guitar is it's appearance. The Burst finish is absolutely gorgeous along with all of the Guild High end appointments. Whether you are looking at the beautiful grain of the Solid Ebony Headstock cap with it's mother of pearl Guild "G" shield logo or gazing at the figured Abalone chevron inlays on the fretboard it is very easy to get lost in the beauty of this instrument. Even through the burst finish the quality of the Sitka top is striking along with the wonderfully grained East Indian Rosewood back and sides. I have literally stared at this guitar and lost track of time just taking it all in.
After you get past the looks it is time to get down to the nitty gritty as they say. The tone of this guitar is haunting. The Adirondack Spruce bracing really adds a bit of sparkle to the wonderful overtones of the Sitka top and EIR back and sides combination. This guitar is an absolute cannon if you want it to be. Think of a Howitzer cannon and you are in the ballpark. While it excels at strumming chords and digging in it also has a sweet side to it that can deliver the most delicate of tones when played softly. There is also a wonderful percussive element to the tone that is not present on other similar guitars that I have played. The neck is closer to 1 23/32' wide at the nut than the 1 11/16" advertised width and I like the extra room. It plays extremely smooth all the way up the fretboard and gets a wonderful bell like quality to it as you play the 5th fret and higher. When strumming the guitar it sounds like an orchestra is playing behind you. Bottom line, this is everything I have come to expect and love from a New Hartford made Guild and more. I am just amazed every time I pick up one of my New Hartford models and just fall in love all over again like it is the first time I ever played one.
This D55 had sat in it's case unplayed for the 3 years Geotrio owned it and he bought it in unplayed condition from the previous owner here on the forum. When it arrived here at the house it was in need of some rehydration as the fret ends were protruding from the neck far enough to catch your fingers among other things. I am pleased to say that after a week of soaking up the lovely Texas Gulf Coast Humidity we have down here everything is falling back into place where it should be and she is coming back to life beautifully.
This New Hartford D55 Sitka top EIR back and sides completes my D55 Trio as I already have a D55-RS from New Hartford that came with an Adirondack top with EIR back and sides and a 2003 D55 Anniversary model with an Englemann Spruce top and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. All three have inherent tone characteristics of D55's but all three of them have different qualities to their tone. It is really cool to play them and see the differences in tone they bring to the table. Here are some photos of the New edition to the group with a few Group shots at the end. Any artifacts you see are from a reflection of light in the pictures, Enjoy!
TX
The first thing that you notice on this guitar is it's appearance. The Burst finish is absolutely gorgeous along with all of the Guild High end appointments. Whether you are looking at the beautiful grain of the Solid Ebony Headstock cap with it's mother of pearl Guild "G" shield logo or gazing at the figured Abalone chevron inlays on the fretboard it is very easy to get lost in the beauty of this instrument. Even through the burst finish the quality of the Sitka top is striking along with the wonderfully grained East Indian Rosewood back and sides. I have literally stared at this guitar and lost track of time just taking it all in.
After you get past the looks it is time to get down to the nitty gritty as they say. The tone of this guitar is haunting. The Adirondack Spruce bracing really adds a bit of sparkle to the wonderful overtones of the Sitka top and EIR back and sides combination. This guitar is an absolute cannon if you want it to be. Think of a Howitzer cannon and you are in the ballpark. While it excels at strumming chords and digging in it also has a sweet side to it that can deliver the most delicate of tones when played softly. There is also a wonderful percussive element to the tone that is not present on other similar guitars that I have played. The neck is closer to 1 23/32' wide at the nut than the 1 11/16" advertised width and I like the extra room. It plays extremely smooth all the way up the fretboard and gets a wonderful bell like quality to it as you play the 5th fret and higher. When strumming the guitar it sounds like an orchestra is playing behind you. Bottom line, this is everything I have come to expect and love from a New Hartford made Guild and more. I am just amazed every time I pick up one of my New Hartford models and just fall in love all over again like it is the first time I ever played one.
This D55 had sat in it's case unplayed for the 3 years Geotrio owned it and he bought it in unplayed condition from the previous owner here on the forum. When it arrived here at the house it was in need of some rehydration as the fret ends were protruding from the neck far enough to catch your fingers among other things. I am pleased to say that after a week of soaking up the lovely Texas Gulf Coast Humidity we have down here everything is falling back into place where it should be and she is coming back to life beautifully.
This New Hartford D55 Sitka top EIR back and sides completes my D55 Trio as I already have a D55-RS from New Hartford that came with an Adirondack top with EIR back and sides and a 2003 D55 Anniversary model with an Englemann Spruce top and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. All three have inherent tone characteristics of D55's but all three of them have different qualities to their tone. It is really cool to play them and see the differences in tone they bring to the table. Here are some photos of the New edition to the group with a few Group shots at the end. Any artifacts you see are from a reflection of light in the pictures, Enjoy!
TX
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