Fraternal twin D25M's (and 2 Questions....)

[so_ber]

Hi y'all! i got my 2nd D25M today!! i must confess, my title was a little misleading though, because my new one is a 76, while my first one is a 77. (maybe one was completed new years eve and the other new years day??) i have to say, it is really nice, exactly the shade i was hoping for. the top is lighter, and you can see the pickguard and rosette. and i like the yellowing of the 'racing stripe' that runs around the edge of the top. vintage vibe radiation.... they both sound very similar, though they have different types of strings now, and gauges (77-Martin PB med/76-D'Addario EXP coated 80/20 lights, though i'll probably use PB lights when i replace them...).

anyway, here's a pic:


76er is on the right... it's interesting how these are both "M" of practically the same vintage, but look totally different.... even the color of the fingerboards is different.

overall, it's in really nice condition, but (of course there's a 'but'), there's a slight crack on the back of the headstock (that i suspect happened during shipping). i'll post a pic and see what you guys think of it, and any recommendations about what i might want to do....


Oh, and one other thing. Anyone ever reattached the 'guild' plate to the hard case? if so, what did you use? contact cement? super glue? i'm proud of my guild! thanks!!!

 

[killdeer43]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again....
be still my heart!!
Great looking "twins" you have there!

Especially like the one on the left!
Joe

 

[Bikerdoc]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

Very nice!!!


Peace

 

[dreadnut]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

the '76 on the right looks exactly like mine, my serial # is 146147

 

[twocorgis]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

That's a fine looking pair you have there so_ber. Play them in good health!

 

[dane]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

Sweet! Congrats on the twins! :mrgreen:

 

[so_ber]

Re: Fraternal twin D25M's

Thanks for all the kind words! you make me feel like a proud father--whatever that feels like.... hehe.

btw, the s/n on my 76 is 132922...

anyone have any feedback on the crack and how to glue the guild label? thanks!

 

[southernGuild]

Very nice pair of guitars there..and they look great together. How about the sound? with same strings on each.....any noticeable differences?
As for the glue for the case tag, just check the label that it is a glue made to adhere metal ( or plastics) to vinyl, Pretty standard , all around available stuff. no 'wood' glue obviously, or 'super' glues needed. then just use sparingly.
Sounds like those 2 D25's are in the right home. :wink:

 

[dapmdave]

A nice brace of D-25s. I think it's great that there are significant differences between them. This just illustrates the hand-crafted aspects of these great guitars. Probably no two exactly alike, in spite of the D25 being the most commonly available model.

Dave

 

[geoguy]

Nice . . . the one on the left looks like mine; it has a spruce top that is stained a dark burgundy.

Color-wise, the one on the right looks more like the ones that actually have mahogany tops.

My understanding is that almost any wood crack can be repaired, but you should probably have a luthier inspect that headstock to tell you how best to proceed.

 

[GardMan]

That headstock crack looks like it started from the screw hole for the tuners... Don't know how that might have happened in shipping, unless it took a blow on the tuning machines. It almost looks like the screw was too large for the pilot hole, and it split the wood when the screw was put in (I wonder if that is an original screw?).

I'd be tempted to unstring it and remove the tuners and see if it is just from the screw hole, or if it extends up into the peg holes as well (if so, it would be more important to get it glued). If it's just from the screw hole, I don't think it would be something prone to catastrophic failure from string tension. On the other hand, it'd be best to get it sealed up so it doesn't migrate.

My first advice would be to take it to a luthier, and see what they say... or if you are a do-it-yourself type, ask the folks over at frets.net (a BBS run by Frank Ford).

With a hairline like that, it might by hard to work in any kind of wood glue (tight bond or hide glue)... I wouldn't be surprised if the advice was to run some water-thin super glue (available from Stew Mac for $10) into the crack to bond it. If the crack extends all the way to the screw hole (I'll bet it does), it could be wicked in to the crack from the screwhole itself and/or from the region of the crack hidden by the tuners, without doing any additional damage to the visible finish. If you decide to do it yourself, mask off everything but the tiny region your working on... you don't want to accidently drip superglue anywhere!

It wouldn't be an invisible repair, but should be sufficient to keep the crack from spreading further. The cosmetic damage is so slight, I wouldn't think any finish work would be cost effective.

Just my $0.02. Dave

 

[so_ber]

thank you all so much for the responses and detailed information as to what i should do. i'll have to find a good luther here in tokyo....

the seller's wife, who deals with shipping things a lot, said possibly cold temperatures during shipment caused the crack. do you think it could be responsible for this?

@southernguild: i haven't restrung my newest one yet, so i can't do a good comparison at the moment. even when i do put on new strings, i'll use d'addario pb lights, whereas my other one has martin pb mediums, so it might still be difficult to do a good a/b check.... but i'll let you all know what happens.....

oh, and gardman, the screw looks to be original. i'll take off the tuners when i get around to changing the strings. thanks so much for your help!!

thanks again!!!

 

[evenkeel]

Very sweet pair of D-25's. Nice score :!: :!:

I'd suggest not removing any screws, or fussing with the peg head crack. Let a luthier look at it. My guess is the repair will be to massage some very thin, slow curing glue into the crack. Could be hide, thinned epoxy. Then clamped and left alone to set up. Maybe a little touch up finish and you should be good to go.

 

[capnjuan]

Hi so_ber: I used short bolts but getting the nuts on depends on how the liner is attached. I considered glue but was worried that if I couldn't get the corners and edges dead flat, they'd stick out where stuff (skin for example) could get caught them. Anyway, the bolts worked well ... glue might work ok too.

 

[adorshki]

the seller's wife, who deals with shipping things a lot, said possibly cold temperatures during shipment caused the crack. do you think it could be responsible for this?

Sounds like she thinks it could be a crack in the finish commonly called "checking". Or she's trying to shift the blame for something she already knew about. But let's go with assuming she's sincere for now. Usually happens when a too cold guitar is suddenly exposed to warmth, or vice versa, because the wood and the lacquer finish expand/contract at different rates. So any exposures of your guitars to large temperature changes should be done gradually. Basically don't drive around with it in your car trunk in sub-40's temps for 4 hours and then take it into a nice heated 78 degree house and pop the case open. Personally I don't transport guitars in the trunk of may car. And I don't leave 'em IN the car. But I'm sure you get the point.
The picture's too dark for me to see, but if it WAS finish checking I'd think you'd see more evidence of it elsewhere on the guitar, ESPECIALLY the top. That's usually where it's most noticable, maybe because it's the most vulnerable to the sudden changes, I'm guessing. IN any case, glad to see you've got one you like better aesthetically! Congrats!

 

[evenkeel]

the seller's wife, who deals with shipping things a lot, said possibly cold temperatures during shipment caused the crack. do you think it could be responsible for this?

In a word. NO. That just does not look like cold wx. finish checking. I'd be very surprised if that crack is not into the wood, which is not cold wx related.

Re: my earlier comment on not removing any screws. My concern is IF the crack is running from the screw hole and you remove the screw/tuners you may have a hard time getting the tuner back on. You remove the tuner, the crack widens a bit, the hole enlarges just enough so the screw cannot get a bite into the wood. Likely?? Hard to tell, but I'd rather have the guitar in the hands of a good luthier if that scenario plays out.

 

[capnjuan]

the seller's wife, who deals with shipping things a lot, said possibly cold temperatures during shipment caused the crack. do you think it could be responsible for this?

In a word. NO.

+1 (or ... if the response is echoing a negative ... would that be -1?)

Do-over: I don't think that crack is a function of thermal stress either.

 

[so_ber]

thanks to all for the advice! i won't remove the tuners, and will wait until i take it to a luthier....

though it doesn't look too deep, the crack is definitely into the wood, and not just a finish crack. and there are no other finish cracks or checking on the guitar. (thanks for the advice about storage/extreme temp precautions, etc!)

one thing i didn't mention was when i first opened the case, the neck support piece had tipped over so MAYBE that had something to do with it. but when i tried placing the guitar in the case last night (after tipping the neck support over again for a 'reenactment'), it still doesn't seem like there'd be a way for the head stock to crack where it did....

as for the label, i like the screw idea. however, since i don't have access to a drill, i just bought some glue at the 100 yen store (like the dollar store here) that works for metal, etc, and it seems like it's on there pretty good now.

arigatou!!!