I made it 359 days... resetting the clock.

[GardMan]

I couldn't resist this when it showed up in a local shop. Went down to look at it over lunch, and brought it back to the office with me. You'd think it was brand new, if not for some faint pick marks on the guard, and a thin hairline in the bridge between the bridge pins. The bridge is solid to the deck, absolutely no belly, and the bridgeplate is fine. Action is right with my other dreads, with a ton of saddle left. My guess is someone shoved the pins in too hard. I'll have a little glue run into the crack at some point. Paid $30 over the opening bid... may not be the best deal on a mid '70s D-50, but in the ballpark for the going rate, and it isn't often you get a test drive.
Dave

 

[dreadnut]

Congrats, she looks like a beauty!

"0 days without a GAS purchase" :lol:

 

[Graham]

Beautiful looking guitar Dave, love the rosewood back!

Nice going.

 

[bluesypicky]

I've looked at that one many a time, but need to calm down on the GAS attacks for a while as I am thinking about buying a house :shock: ......
Beautiful guitar, congratulations and tell us how it sounds! 8)

 

[Scratch]

Wow. Ya done good Dave. Congratulations on that beauty. Love to add a D50 to the corral one of these days.

 

[john_kidder]

Great guitar, fine score.

 

[adorshki]

A Guild will get you through times of no houses better than a house will get you through times of no Guilds.... I know 'cause I rent!

 

[killdeer43]

Great score Dave. I, too, was drooling over that one so I'm glad that it's found a good home. I can already see it in your "music room."
So you made it 359 days? Impressive will power. :lol:

Joe

 

[cjd-player]

Congrats, Dave.

Beauitiful guitar.
That back is stunning.

 

[West R Lee]

I'm jealous! Very very nice Dave. Congratulations sir.

West

 

[Dr. Spivey]

I think 359 days is a metric year. Nice lookin' guitar.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Very nice, Dave.
Who sold it?

After reading about Brazilian vs Indian, do you know for sure what that back is?
Beautiful either way!

So now you have a year to find a 12 string.

 

[GardMan]

Thanks, gang...
I am feeling just a bit guilty. I really was trying to make it to spring w/o buying another. But how often am I going to find a mid-70s D-50 in that condition at that price in SLC? ...and it's not like it will depreciate in value (you see I am still rationalizing), and its value will probably grow faster than my retirement fund. Anne was still talking to me at dinner... a little.

Had a chance for a very quick comparison to my D-46 after dinner, before being ushered out of the basement so my 11 yr old could work on her homework and practice her violin. First report is very positive. Good volume and projection (up there with the 55 and 46), with a good deep bass (not unlike the D-55s) and sparkling trebles of the D-46. That is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Don't know whose strings are on her... they're PB lights that look pretty new. I'll probably swap them for JPs soon (I am heading to Yellowstone this weekend, so it will have to be when I get back). Eventually, she'll get bone pins and new bone nut and saddle, but those can wait for awhile. Her setup is fine (tho' might tweak the truss a smidge tonight).

TMG... she was at "House of Guitars" at 645 S 300 West in SLC. I had driven by the shop many times, but never stopped in. They are heavy on the electrics, and are authorized Fender dealers. Someone was trying out a Martin HD-28 while I was there. No other Guilds that I saw... yet. The fellow I dealt with said the Guild rep was in last week and saw the old D-50, and wondered if the back was Braz. I doubt it... but it's got a nice grain. If it was Braz, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Anyway... I'll be happily playing for awhile, now.

Just realized that my last post was #1600 for me.

Dave

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

But Dave,
If the Rep couldn't tell if it's Brazilian there is still the possibility.
Either way, it's a beauty.
We need to get together again and do some picking.
This time, we will do more playing and less comparing of guitars.
Dale

 

[BluesDan]

Gorgeous guitar, congrats! 8)

 

[Paddlefoot]

Sweet guitar Dave, I wish I still had my '73 D-50nt. I think you can safely assume that yours is indian rosewood but that's not a bad thing. My '73 was EIR sides and Braz back. Sides looked exactly like your guitar. Check on Frets.com for tips on repairing that bridge crack. If you can squeeze it closed with a clamp it might be a perfect repair for some slow cure crazy glue. Sand the glued crack as the stuff cures w/ some 400 wet or dry and she should be about as good as new, looks and all. Don't stick a bridge pin into the holes until you clean them out and all is dry. CA glue cures in the absense of air so squeeze out may not cure until you stick the pin in and limit the air in the pin hole. Then you have a real problem. You could also wax the pin heavily and that would be a good precaution.

 

[Andy Hiwatt]

Congratulations Gardman, your D50 is truly great looking and from your description it delivers that sweet D50 sound as well . Beautiful wood grains everywhere on the body..
It's great you found it in a store and had the chance to play it before buying it.

One of those mid Seventies D50 is exactly what I hope to find some day, to replace my 1987 D50, so I ask you the same questions I ask every 70s D50 owner: how would you describe the neck profile of it? Slim ? Beefy? C-shaped ? Is the fretboard narrow or average wide?
Those are the only issues I have with my D50, after a couple of years and some mods I still find its thin neck a bit uncomfortable , otherwise the tone is to die for..last night I got home around midnight, took the D50 for a quick low volume gentle strumming and as a matter of fact it sounded so good that I went to bed at 3:15........

 

[GardMan]

...how would you describe the neck profile of it? Slim ? Beefy? C-shaped ? Is the fretboard narrow or average wide?

Hey Andy,
I played the D-50 a bit last night, and then during my ritual 15' of playing before leaving for work this morning I went back and forth between the D-50, D-55 and D-46. I need to (and will!) do more of that as I play her in and get to know her voice over the next few weeks. But my first impression is that the D-50 neck profile is definitely a bit beefier... particularly noticeable (but not unpleasantly so for me) compared to the D-55.

I have only ever really experienced Guild necks, which I guess I would call a "C" profile (I have played Martin "V" profile necks a couple times in stores, and don't care for them at all). I would say the fingerboard widths on all my Guilds are comparable: nut width is all the same, and string span E to E is within 0.5mm on all mine). What varies is the "fullness" of the "C:" the D-55 is very slim and shallower, the D-50, and to a greater extent the D-25, necks are "fuller, deeper" Cs. Can't draw pics, but imagine "C" vs "(" (I wonder if I could measure that with my micrometer?). Again, first impression is that the neck profile is very consistent along the length... this is unlike my wife's (now sold) D-35, which had a deeper neck to begin with, and then there was a noticeable transition point halfway up (around 7th fret) where it got even deeper... I always seemed to struggle with that neck, and never really enjoyed playing that guitar.

How much of this is model specific, year specific, or individual instrument specific, I couldn't say (my D-25 and G-37 dreads from the same year have noticeably different necks). From what I remember from Hans or one of the former Westerly workers saying, necks were shaped by hand w/o exacting design specs for shape. Anyway... good luck in your hunting.
Dave

 

[GardMan]

Sweet guitar Dave, I wish I still had my '73 D-50nt. I think you can safely assume that yours is indian rosewood but that's not a bad thing. My '73 was EIR sides and Braz back. Sides looked exactly like your guitar. Check on Frets.com for tips on repairing that bridge crack. If you can squeeze it closed with a clamp it might be a perfect repair for some slow cure crazy glue. Sand the glued crack as the stuff cures w/ some 400 wet or dry and she should be about as good as new, looks and all. Don't stick a bridge pin into the holes until you clean them out and all is dry. CA glue cures in the absense of air so squeeze out may not cure until you stick the pin in and limit the air in the pin hole. Then you have a real problem. You could also wax the pin heavily and that would be a good precaution.

Thx for the tips, Paddlefoot. I though some slow cure CA might be the ticket... but might take the job to the guy who works on my guitars for me. I don't think there is a lot of hurry... but I will probably put some smaller pins in when I swap the strings next week (the ones in there look pretty tight, and I have a set of Tusq pins I keep around as temps). Eventually, I'll have some nice bone pins made to fit. Dave

 

[Andy Hiwatt]

Hi Gardman
thank you very much for your very precise and detailed description of your D50's neck profile.
From your description I guess it's exactly the right shape for my hands( even if I find the V shape also very comfortable..), so I'm even more convinced to try and find a Seventies D50 in the future.
Like you said every guitar is a story apart,but I guess there must be some consistency and similarity in the same model built the same year maybe by the same hands, back in the good 'ole days of Westerly.
Great and instructing rteading your post!