jgmaute
Member
To answer West's question about my D55s.
The first one was a gift from my husband on our son's first Christmas (1974) not only did he go the extra mile to buy me a new guitar when I was taking a year leave, but he checked with my friend to see what to buy, where to buy it, and made me a beautiful macrame strap for it. (The strap was very wide and distributed the weight of the guitar nicely. It was made of a really nice cord with a shine to it and required LOTS of little knots.) The D55 had Barcus Barry hot dots (quite an innovation at the time, which, btw didn't work very well) and I loved the guitar, it had a much bigger sound than my NewYorker and seemed to ring forever. At that time I started playing my 12 string less and would take my D55 to gigs and used the NewYorker mostly for school, the studio home playing, and writing.
In 1977 someone entered our house and stole my D55. When we did the police report an interesting scenerio evolved...our house had an atrium in the middle, we had left the sliding doors open from the atrium to the halls to get fresh air in the house. Since we had a flat roof and the previous owners had an antenna tower, the theory was that the thief/thieves climbed up the tower, went across the roof, dropped into the atrium, then went into the house. As it happens my Mom, who had a key, stopped by the house. When she walked in she heard a noise toward the back of the house and found the back sliding door open. We didn't realize the guitar was missing until after we got home. The theory is that Mom interrupted the robbery and the thief/thieves just grabbed a guitar and went out the back. (All my guitars were in the same place in their cases.) I can tell you it was a very creepy feeling that someone had been in our house, that Mom came in and fortunately scared the robber(s) away but could have been harmed, and someone knew there was more where that guitar came from. This was the final straw, something had been taken from one of our cars, something was stolen from our porch, then this. We installed more security on the house, always left it with everything locked and closed. We moved within a year. (We'd been planning on moving before our son started school, this just gave us a bit of a jump start on that move.) I bought a new D55 (without hot dots) and was amazed that it sounded just as good at the one that had been stolen. The guitar strap could not be replaced and my husband wasn't up for making another. (He'd given one to my friend for helping him get and surprise me with the guitar; she still has it and has offered to give it to me but since she is still using it I've declined the generous offer.)
Fast forward to 1983. By then I'd done my master's thesis where I wrote songs to teach about alternative energy (The Alternative Energy Suite, still available and being purchased all the time as a digital download on SongsForTeaching.com) and had added educational singer/songwriter to the many hats I wore. I had a great gig in Boston for some national ed conference. I checked my guitar but the guitar and my bag went on an earlier plane. When I got to Boston my bag was there but not my guitar. After I was over the initial shock and no longer felt like throwing up, I filed a claim and borrowed a guitar to do my presentation. I then purchased my 1983 D55 and once again the sound was wonderful...I have to say the consistency with those three guitars was amazing.
Gee Wes...aren't you glad you asked? I can tell you that every time I see a '77 or '83 D55 NT on ebay or anywhere else I try to figure out if it might be mine. If you care to join in the hunt, the serial numbers are: 162414 and DE-101208.
and now you know...no more stolen guitars...and my '83 still sounds and play great, it's been 26 years, time sure flies fast when you're playin' doesn't it? joan
The first one was a gift from my husband on our son's first Christmas (1974) not only did he go the extra mile to buy me a new guitar when I was taking a year leave, but he checked with my friend to see what to buy, where to buy it, and made me a beautiful macrame strap for it. (The strap was very wide and distributed the weight of the guitar nicely. It was made of a really nice cord with a shine to it and required LOTS of little knots.) The D55 had Barcus Barry hot dots (quite an innovation at the time, which, btw didn't work very well) and I loved the guitar, it had a much bigger sound than my NewYorker and seemed to ring forever. At that time I started playing my 12 string less and would take my D55 to gigs and used the NewYorker mostly for school, the studio home playing, and writing.
In 1977 someone entered our house and stole my D55. When we did the police report an interesting scenerio evolved...our house had an atrium in the middle, we had left the sliding doors open from the atrium to the halls to get fresh air in the house. Since we had a flat roof and the previous owners had an antenna tower, the theory was that the thief/thieves climbed up the tower, went across the roof, dropped into the atrium, then went into the house. As it happens my Mom, who had a key, stopped by the house. When she walked in she heard a noise toward the back of the house and found the back sliding door open. We didn't realize the guitar was missing until after we got home. The theory is that Mom interrupted the robbery and the thief/thieves just grabbed a guitar and went out the back. (All my guitars were in the same place in their cases.) I can tell you it was a very creepy feeling that someone had been in our house, that Mom came in and fortunately scared the robber(s) away but could have been harmed, and someone knew there was more where that guitar came from. This was the final straw, something had been taken from one of our cars, something was stolen from our porch, then this. We installed more security on the house, always left it with everything locked and closed. We moved within a year. (We'd been planning on moving before our son started school, this just gave us a bit of a jump start on that move.) I bought a new D55 (without hot dots) and was amazed that it sounded just as good at the one that had been stolen. The guitar strap could not be replaced and my husband wasn't up for making another. (He'd given one to my friend for helping him get and surprise me with the guitar; she still has it and has offered to give it to me but since she is still using it I've declined the generous offer.)
Fast forward to 1983. By then I'd done my master's thesis where I wrote songs to teach about alternative energy (The Alternative Energy Suite, still available and being purchased all the time as a digital download on SongsForTeaching.com) and had added educational singer/songwriter to the many hats I wore. I had a great gig in Boston for some national ed conference. I checked my guitar but the guitar and my bag went on an earlier plane. When I got to Boston my bag was there but not my guitar. After I was over the initial shock and no longer felt like throwing up, I filed a claim and borrowed a guitar to do my presentation. I then purchased my 1983 D55 and once again the sound was wonderful...I have to say the consistency with those three guitars was amazing.
Gee Wes...aren't you glad you asked? I can tell you that every time I see a '77 or '83 D55 NT on ebay or anywhere else I try to figure out if it might be mine. If you care to join in the hunt, the serial numbers are: 162414 and DE-101208.
and now you know...no more stolen guitars...and my '83 still sounds and play great, it's been 26 years, time sure flies fast when you're playin' doesn't it? joan