Where and when is my Guild from?

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I recently contacted Guild to determine the year and birthplace of my guitar, which I've owned since the early 90s (from my Uncle, who owned it through the 80s and potentially the 70s, although he passed away and I cannot be sure). The "History of your Guild" PDF they offer on their site, turned up no leads and the representative at Guild wasn't able to find out any more information based on the model and serial number (I even photographed the sticker through the soundhole to be certain I was reading the letters and numbers correctly) and she suggested I try the forum to see if anyone had any idea as to where or when my Guild acoustic might be from! Any leads are greatly appreciated. Below is the model and serial number as well as a link to the PDF we consulted to attempt to solve the mystery:

Model: D50
Serial Number: M1196

http://guildguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/history_of_your_guild.pdf

Many thanks to anyone who might know anything in advance!

Regards,
Jason
 

chazmo

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Jason, do you have any pictures of the soundhole label or a picture of the neck block from inside the guitar?
 

Neal

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Hmmm. The last year the D-50 was produced at Westerly was 1995. The prefix to the serial number would have been D50**** from 1988 to 1995, and before that DD****** from 1979 to 1987. During the rest of the '70's, there was no prefix, just 5 or 6 numbers in sequence. From '65 to '69, the prefix would have been AL***, and from '63 (first year made) to '64, no prefix and five numbers.

Are you sure that is a M and not two numbers mashed together? What is stamped on the back of the headstock?

Neal
 

chazmo

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Yup, that's why I asked, Neal. That serial numbers, as it stands, doesn't match anything in the Old Testament.
 

hansmoust

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onebluesynapse said:
I recently contacted Guild to determine the year and birthplace of my guitar, which I've owned since the early 90s (from my Uncle, who owned it through the 80s and potentially the 70s, although he passed away and I cannot be sure).

Model: D50
Serial Number: M1196

Hello Jason,

Welcome!. If I had to guess, which I would rather not, I would say it's probably serial # 171196. That would make it a D-50 from 1978.

If you show me the label I should be able to give you a definitive answer.

Update: Jason / onebluesynapse did send me a photo of the label. The serial number is 71196, which makes it a D-50 from the year 1972.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 
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adorshki

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Hello Jason,

Welcome!. If I had to guess, which I would rather not, I would say it's probably serial # 171196. That would make it a D-50 from 1978.

If you show me the label I should be able to give you a definitive answer.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Hi Jason, welcome aboard!
You may not be aware that Hans is the author of "the Guild Guitar Book" and has been documenting their history for at least 20 years now. He even rescued old records from the dumpsters at Westerly when it was shut down so he literally probably has more historical documentation for that period than Guild itself.
Notice he said he'd "rather not guess", that's why we value his input here so much.
So if you send him that info he asked about, (or the number on the back of the headstock as someone else suggested, it should be the same as the label and probably more legible), be assured you can take his "final answer" to the bank!
 
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