1970's Guild D55

1976GuildD55

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Anyone else playing a 1970's Guild D55? Mine is a Rhode Island built 1976 that I bought new the same year from the original Guitar Center in Hollywood (when it was a guitar store for musicians and not a discount mart). It still plays and sounds great. I have owned both a Martin D35 (1970) and Martin D28 (1997) and neither has the resonance, balance between treble and bass, or the overall sustain and projection. My all time favorite guitar!

I appreciated the welcome and figured out how to post photos. You can see that these braces are scaloped -- there was quite a discussion about that question! :lol: Also, see the well-worn neck from years of playing in old California!

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twocorgis

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Welcome 1976GuildD55! Well, I don't have a D55 but I am the original owner of a '73 D50 that I bought "new" in 1976. Grand old guitar it is too, battle scars and all. 8)
 

dapmdave

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Welcome to LTG! Sit back, grab a cold one, and enjoy the ride. If you love a D-55 you're going to like it here.

Dave :D
 

dreadnut

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Welcome! Still playing my '76 D-25M that I bought new in'76. :D Just gigged with it tonight in fact.
 

GardMan

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Welcome to LTG! My D-55 is from '92, but I've got a '72 D-35 that I bought new in Jan '73, as well as a few other '70s D's I have picked up int he last few years...
 

bluesypicky

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I don't own one, but welcome all the same! :D (And I know what a great guitar it is, had a chance to try a New Hartford one)
 

Ridgemont

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1976GuildD55 said:
I have owned both a Martin D35 (1970) and Martin D28 (1997) and neither has the resonance, balance between treble and bass, or the overall sustain and projection.
I would hope not. The D55 has always had scalloped braces making it much more responsive in addition to giving an additional kick in fullness. I am a big Martin fan, but come on, lets compare apples to apples. The D55 is definitely the winner here.

Oh and welcome to the forum!
 

Ian

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Ridgemont said:
1976GuildD55 said:
I have owned both a Martin D35 (1970) and Martin D28 (1997) and neither has the resonance, balance between treble and bass, or the overall sustain and projection.
I would hope not. The D55 has always had scalloped braces making it much more responsive in addition to giving an additional kick in fullness. I am a big Martin fan, but come on, lets compare apples to apples. The D55 is definitely the winner here.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

Hi Ridge,

Actually didn't the scalloped braces come along later on ? I thought they introduced them during the Gruhn Walker era, then Fender reinroduced them after '96 ???

Welcome along 1976D55. Fine guitar you have there, how about some photo's ?

Cheers, Ian
 

Ridgemont

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Ian said:
Ridgemont said:
1976GuildD55 said:
I have owned both a Martin D35 (1970) and Martin D28 (1997) and neither has the resonance, balance between treble and bass, or the overall sustain and projection.
I would hope not. The D55 has always had scalloped braces making it much more responsive in addition to giving an additional kick in fullness. I am a big Martin fan, but come on, lets compare apples to apples. The D55 is definitely the winner here.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

Hi Ridge,

Actually didn't the scalloped braces come along later on ? I thought they introduced them during the Gruhn Walker era, then Fender reinroduced them after '96 ???

Welcome along 1976D55. Fine guitar you have there, how about some photo's ?

Cheers, Ian
I never really thought about that Ian. My only source of knowledge on it is over at WesterlyGuildGuitars.com, but of course that spans several decades. I just assumed that they were always scalloped. I am sure Han's book would say, but of course, I do not own it.
 

adorshki

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Ridgemont said:
Ian said:
Ridgemont said:
The D55 has always had scalloped braces making it much more responsive in addition to giving an additional kick in fullness. I am a big Martin fan, but come on, lets compare apples to apples. The D55 is definitely the winner here.
Oh and welcome to the forum!
Hi Ridge,
Actually didn't the scalloped braces come along later on ? I thought they introduced them during the Gruhn Walker era, then Fender reinroduced them after '96 ???
Welcome along 1976D55. Fine guitar you have there, how about some photo's ?
Cheers, Ian
I never really thought about that Ian. My only source of knowledge on it is over at WesterlyGuildGuitars.com, but of course that spans several decades. I just assumed that they were always scalloped. I am sure Han's book would say, but of course, I do not own it.
For the benefit of our new friend if he's following this, and any others who might benefit:
Those are both good questions but they bring up a couple of points I think we often forget or "gloss over":
Westerly Guild Guitars' specs are good for background info but not all specs neccessarily remained the same for all years of production of a given model. In fairness I don't think that site is attempting to be an encyclopedia, but more of a showcase with an example of as many given models as possible.
Han's book is good for learning about running changes and variations, butcha gotta remember it only covers up through '77 so far.....leaving this place as the only other good repository of post '77 Guild info that I'm aware of. We're fond of calling Han's book "the Bible" but I'm thinking maybe we need to modify that slightly to "the Old Testament". :wink: :D
As for Ian's question I don't remember reading any references to bracing changes to the D55 during or after the Gruhn era (mid-to-late '80's), although it sounds like a likely "Gruhn idea". BUT that doesn't mean the reference isn't here.
Hint for anybody really looking for an answer: got time for a search of the archives? :wink:
 

Ian

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Hi All,

Good points Al, but nothing in the old testament about braces either way. I think maybe West knows the answer to this one.....

Cheers, Ian
 

adorshki

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Ian said:
Hi All,
Good points Al, but nothing in the old testament about braces either way. I think maybe West knows the answer to this one.....
Cheers, Ian
West is a big Westerly fan but I'd be slightly surprised if he knew the answer, unless it was "yes, they were made both ways", since it seems it would only take a couple of reports of both styles to confirm the answer.
I don't keep Hans' book here at work but I seem to remember nut widths are rarely (if ever?) mentioned either. Although the fact that the D40 originally had a 3pc neck was. Someone mentioned it here recentlty and I'd forgotten about it. I can gurantee ya '04 Corona D40's didn't, for example. :wink:
We know a lot of the info in Hans' book is obtained directly from original Guild marketing materials. I'm thinking that if Hans didn't have the info available when he was compling the book, it may not even be out there anymore, except for members reporting their personal instruments here. OR it may have been simply an issue of having to decide what info to include to keep size managable.
There's also the possibility that variations on things like nut width and bracing types were actually much more common then than they typically are now, and thus weren't commonly "committed to writing".
In contrast, the winter '97-'98 catalog (the 1st "Guild Gallery") I have is pretty comprehensive about bracing types and nut widths, and even mentions that the S-100 has rosewood pickups! :eek: (true story, proving even the factory lit is subject to error! :lol: )
On a final note Chaz just mentioned another resource on a different thread, Gruhn's "Guide to Vintage Guitars" which apprently has some good info on late '80's Guilds. I think i'll look it up and maybe pick it up if the price is right.
There's also a "Beesley Book" but when I first heard of it I was content to wait for Hans' 2nd volume. Also, I wasn't all that impressed with a couple of pages I saw reproduced here a while back, along with the 'collector's item" pricing at the time, but just mentioning it for "completeness".
 

Ian

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Hi Al,

IIRC West and I had discussed bracing at one stage, and I seem to recall that the earlier ones were'nt, but later Gruhn era ones were. Whether this was then dropped post Gruhn or continued I dont know or can't remember :lol: I know that Fender reintroduced scallopped braces in '96 and continued them til westerly closed. Perhaps the OP can confirm if his has scalloped braces or not ?

Cheers, Ian

PS Shouldnt you be working ? :lol:
 

adorshki

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Ian said:
Hi Al,
Perhaps the OP can confirm if his has scalloped braces or not ?
Duhhhhh...someboy should have thought of that....oh wait...somebody did! :lol:
Ian said:
PS Shouldnt you be working ? :lol:
Since I'm on commission, I have a lot of discretion about when I actually "produce", and who's calls/emails I answer right away...if at all. :lol:
This place actually helps keep me at my desk. :lol: :wink:
 

idealassets

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I don't know about the manufacturing details, but I was very surprised to find that my 2007 Guild D55 sounded a lot nicer than all equivalent priced Martin HD28's. I bought the first one I ever demo'd since it sounded truly magnificent. The 2nd one I ever demo'd was right next to it in the rack, a new 2011. The 2011 cost a lot more. I was convinced that the 2007' sounded equally as nice for less $.

Perhaps someday I'll get a chance to play a Westerly D55, but meanwhile I am happy with the 2007' D55. Did I mention how truly nice the D55 looks? The other Guild dread models look very nice as well.

Craig
 
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