Found a '73 D-44 at my local shop...

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Hey everybody! I was hoping to get some sage advice or information from you wonderful folks here. I recently found a well used D-44 at my local shop. The serial number dates it to 1973 and as far as I can tell the production sticker inside puts it in the time where Guild was transferring to the Westerly plant.

I wouldn't consider myself to have a great ear for tone but the guitar did sound a little "tired" with unknown age strings.

I guess my question would be, barring any real damage, (ie. cracks, splits, warping) Could I reasonably expect this guitar to sound great with some time and effort put into it, or do you guys think a guitar can be "past it's prime". The guitar looks to be structurally sound and I can't find anything more on it then some dings.

It's listed for $799 and comes with the original hardshell case. Serial number is 92137. I'll be able to post some photos later once I'm off of my phone and onto a computer. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!
 
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Hey everybody!

I was hoping to get some sage advice from you folks on this lovely forum.

I was recently hunting around town and found a D-44 in my local shop in Roseville, California. As far as I can tell with the serial number and the production sticker inside this is a 1973 D-44 that was produced in the time period when Guild was transferring their production to the Westerly plant. It doesn't seem to have any real damage, it just seems to be well used. I don't have a ton of experience with Guild guitars or acoustic guitars in general. Can I reasonably believe that with a little time and effort this guitar could sound great again? When I played in the shop it did sound a little "tired", but I couldn't tell if that was just a poor setup, old strings, or both. It's listed for $799 with the original hard case. I'm hoping that with a little tender care this guitar could be great again, specifically I'm looking for that strong but well-balanced sound you guys are always talking about. What do you guys think?
 

wileypickett

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I think these are good guitars. (I owned one.) $799.00 would be a good price if the guitar was in super shape, but it seems high if it needs anything but minor work.
 

richardp69

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Did Guild make these with two different tonewoods?? I seem to remember a Maple and a Pearwood. I had a Maple one at one time and it was a nice sounding guitar. I've never played a Pearwood guitar before and I'm curious if it has a unique sound or if it's similar to Mahogany/Maple etc.
 
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WELCOME TO LTG!

Is this the guitar you're talking about?

Thanks for the welcome! I don't believe this is the m model, but I truly can't tell because I know nothing about wood. The production sticker does not list an M but I heard that they only started denoting those later.
 

walrus

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Welcome! I waive to the knowledge of others on the model, but I like that guitar! Mojo, baby!

walrus
 

GardMan

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According to my notes, the pearwood D-44s were made from ~'65 thru ~'73. I had a '71, and found its tone to be most similar to mahogany, with perhaps a few more overtones... very "folksy."

The D-44M with maple B/S was introduced in '71. Many of the early D-44M I have seen had stained B/S... sort of a wine-reddish color. Later, mostly in the "blonde" finish (unstained).

It's hard for me to tell w/o seeing a picture of the back... but in what I see of the back thru the soundhole (particularly in the shot from distance), I think I am seeing more figuring/flame than I would expect in pearwood. So I am thinking this MIGHT be a maple D-44, even tho' it is not marked with the M (I have seen that before). But I can't be sure. Hans Moust might have that information in his records...

I wouldn't judge its tone w/o throwing on some new strings (I liked John Pearse PB bluegrass gauge on my D-44)... then I would expect a nice bright tone, with decent bass. Perhaps a little richer than mahogany or maple, but without the richness and overtones of rosewood. I preferred mine for fingerpicking (I prefered rosewood for strumming).
 
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