txbumper57
Enlightened Member
The Mysterious Case and Whereabouts of The Missing D55 Anniversary #10 of 50
So my journey starts a month ago when I took possession of my Guild GSR D50 Cocobolo 1 of 20 Acoustic Guitar. The sound that came out of it was so amazing that it got me to thinking about what other Exotic Guilds may be out there in the world that I would like. I had thought that an Orpheum Jumbo might be the ticket but after playing a Mahogany 14 fret Slope Dread Orpheum I came to the realization that it was not as playable to me as I thought it would be. You see, I have had more shoulder surgeries than I care to remember after having my left shoulder crushed by 300lbs. of pipe. Throughout all of them the only guitar neck that still feels comfortable enough for me to play without cramping up is the Guild Acoustic and some Electrics due to their full shape. With the Orpheum out of the picture I located several other GSR acoustics that were for sale in the USA and The UK. None of them really caught my fancy. Then I was searching through the archives here at LTG and found a post referring to a 2003 Anniversary D55 that may have never sold new and still could be in a dealer’s inventory. I’ve always wanted a D55, but to own a 1 of 50 with Brazilian rosewood would be the end all, especially at a reasonable price.
I started my search by trying to contact the Original posters of the Threads referring to the #10 guitar of 50 made that was offered to them as NOS. I received no response from either whether it was contacting them through email or PM on the forum. The first poster referred to the guitar as being “somewhere in the corn belt” which I had serious reservations about to start with. The second poster did not divulge anything regarding the location in their post. Also mentioned in both posts was that this guitar was stored in the basement of the guitar store. After much consideration I decided that I wanted to find this guitar no matter what it took. My first order of business was to contact Guild in Oxnard, Ca. to see if Fender transferred manufacturing documents to Cordoba with the sale of Guild. After a few days Guild returned my request and stated they had no records of Guild prior to the Purchase. I then contacted the home office of Fender in Arizona with only the information of #10 of 50 to see if they new the name of the dealer that the guitar was originally shipped to for retail sale. Fender’s return email stated that they didn’t keep records by #10 of 50 but by serial numbers. After an extensive cross reference they told me they Might have the location of the original dealer nailed down to one of two places. Chuck Levin’s Washington Music World in Maryland or Music Gallery in Chicago.
I phoned Music Gallery in Chicago first only to find, No guitar and No Basement. I then contacted Chuck Levin’s in Maryland to discover Yes, they have a basement. The sales person took my number and information on the guitar and said he was off to the basement to check things out, even though he had never heard of them having one. Low and behold 30 minutes later I received a phone call stating that he had found the guitar and it was in his words “Amazing”. Even with 13 year old strings he said it reminded him of a Baby Grand piano. After 2 days of receiving pictures and haggling over price, I am the proud New Owner of #10 out of 50! Not to mention the folks at Chuck Levin’s are so nice that they went the extra mile to make sure that Cordoba even Honored the Full Factory Warranty on the 13 year old guitar as it had never sold new. Full setup with new strings and an Extra set as well as a 7 day trial period if for some out of this universe reason I don’t like it, I can return it. I know this is a Long post and I thank you for reading it all. I just wanted to say that if you see something you want, There is always a way. You just have to find that way to make it happen. The guitar will arrive sometime early next week and I will post photos then. It has some Very Dark Brazilian Grain in it. Not perfectly bookmatched on the back but I don’t care about that. It’s the tone I am after. #10 of 50 is coming home to me.:adoration:
Special Thanks to Daniel Rivera with Guild and Kevin Castaneda with Fender Customer relations for their research and Correspondence on this matter.
So my journey starts a month ago when I took possession of my Guild GSR D50 Cocobolo 1 of 20 Acoustic Guitar. The sound that came out of it was so amazing that it got me to thinking about what other Exotic Guilds may be out there in the world that I would like. I had thought that an Orpheum Jumbo might be the ticket but after playing a Mahogany 14 fret Slope Dread Orpheum I came to the realization that it was not as playable to me as I thought it would be. You see, I have had more shoulder surgeries than I care to remember after having my left shoulder crushed by 300lbs. of pipe. Throughout all of them the only guitar neck that still feels comfortable enough for me to play without cramping up is the Guild Acoustic and some Electrics due to their full shape. With the Orpheum out of the picture I located several other GSR acoustics that were for sale in the USA and The UK. None of them really caught my fancy. Then I was searching through the archives here at LTG and found a post referring to a 2003 Anniversary D55 that may have never sold new and still could be in a dealer’s inventory. I’ve always wanted a D55, but to own a 1 of 50 with Brazilian rosewood would be the end all, especially at a reasonable price.
I started my search by trying to contact the Original posters of the Threads referring to the #10 guitar of 50 made that was offered to them as NOS. I received no response from either whether it was contacting them through email or PM on the forum. The first poster referred to the guitar as being “somewhere in the corn belt” which I had serious reservations about to start with. The second poster did not divulge anything regarding the location in their post. Also mentioned in both posts was that this guitar was stored in the basement of the guitar store. After much consideration I decided that I wanted to find this guitar no matter what it took. My first order of business was to contact Guild in Oxnard, Ca. to see if Fender transferred manufacturing documents to Cordoba with the sale of Guild. After a few days Guild returned my request and stated they had no records of Guild prior to the Purchase. I then contacted the home office of Fender in Arizona with only the information of #10 of 50 to see if they new the name of the dealer that the guitar was originally shipped to for retail sale. Fender’s return email stated that they didn’t keep records by #10 of 50 but by serial numbers. After an extensive cross reference they told me they Might have the location of the original dealer nailed down to one of two places. Chuck Levin’s Washington Music World in Maryland or Music Gallery in Chicago.
I phoned Music Gallery in Chicago first only to find, No guitar and No Basement. I then contacted Chuck Levin’s in Maryland to discover Yes, they have a basement. The sales person took my number and information on the guitar and said he was off to the basement to check things out, even though he had never heard of them having one. Low and behold 30 minutes later I received a phone call stating that he had found the guitar and it was in his words “Amazing”. Even with 13 year old strings he said it reminded him of a Baby Grand piano. After 2 days of receiving pictures and haggling over price, I am the proud New Owner of #10 out of 50! Not to mention the folks at Chuck Levin’s are so nice that they went the extra mile to make sure that Cordoba even Honored the Full Factory Warranty on the 13 year old guitar as it had never sold new. Full setup with new strings and an Extra set as well as a 7 day trial period if for some out of this universe reason I don’t like it, I can return it. I know this is a Long post and I thank you for reading it all. I just wanted to say that if you see something you want, There is always a way. You just have to find that way to make it happen. The guitar will arrive sometime early next week and I will post photos then. It has some Very Dark Brazilian Grain in it. Not perfectly bookmatched on the back but I don’t care about that. It’s the tone I am after. #10 of 50 is coming home to me.:adoration:
Special Thanks to Daniel Rivera with Guild and Kevin Castaneda with Fender Customer relations for their research and Correspondence on this matter.
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