Hello fellow guild lovers!
I am in need of your expertise and help to solve some mysteries I have with a 1973 Guild D55.
I will post pictures to illustrate where my confusion lies and hope that someone can help me figure this out.
My 2 main questions are
1- Why does this D55 have a D50 top?
2- Does anyone have any idea what kind of wood is on this sides? It does not look like the Indian Rosewood on the back in grain or in color, I have had people tell me that it is everything from Koa to mahogany to Brazilian Rosewood... and I have no idea what to make of it.
Between these two mysteries I am not really sure what to make of this D55 : ) But one thing is certain, it sounds amazing!
Any help would be appreciated.
HI Sakura, welcome aboard!, somehow I missed this yesterday.
First, don't worry if your first few posts are delayed showing up.
New member posts are checked by moderators to be sure they're "real People", then they'll show up and all your posts will post in real time.
NOW, to business:
It's important to understand that D55's were originally D50's with the very fancy F50 type neck, special ordered by well-known folk musician Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers.
They were actually labeled as "D50 Specials".
So it makes sense it has a "D50" top, although I'm not sure why you're making that distinction.
Is it because you've seen the abalone rosette on later D55's?
That didn't happen until the early '90's "if I recall correctly".
They started getting attention when Smothers used 'em on the Smothers Brothers television show and in '68 Guild gave them their own model name, the "D55 Television" model.
If your guitar looks like this you'll probably be the envy of some folks here:
It was only made by special order until 1974 when it finally became a regular production model.
So yours is from the last year of their "special order only" status, assuming it's dated correctly.
We have a member who can confirm that, Hans Moust, author of "the Guild Guitar Book".
Let us know if you want contact info, there's a couple of ways to reach him.
In fact, now that I think about it, he might be very interested in getting that D55 into his s/n database if he doesn't already have it.
There might also be a date written on the inside of the top or one of the braces, during that period.
Your back and sides are absolutely rosewood although in '73 it's possible there's at least some Brazilian in it.
Although Guild had some stocks of Brazilian lasting into the early '70's, and we've even seen it used as late as '73 on some D50's, by then it was usually combined with EIR as they ran out of slabs big enough for backs or sides.
So it's possible and as a D55 maybe even probable it's combined wood on yours, but I'd be a little surprised if it's 100% Brazilian.
We've even had members here question rosewood bodies as looking like mahogany, so I understand why some people might think that.
The quality of all the woods was much better back then so the figuring can fool some people, especially under a dark finish stain..
So yes, please show us your pics as soon as you can!
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