Number of Pearwood D-44s

readingbill

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Hello all,

For curiosity's sake, I'm trying to get a line on the number of pearwood d-44s produced. Going by the serial number chart, from 1965-1969, 470 were produced, a little fewer than 100 per year. Would that average be consistent from 1970 - 1973 to make it around maybe 850-900 total?

Thanks,
Bill
 

GardMan

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I would guess the number was lower in the last years, when the pear woods co-existed with the D-44M maple version... I wouldn't be surprised if "More than 500 but less than a thousand..." was as close an estimate as you can get.
 

readingbill

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I would guess the number was lower in the last years, when the pear woods co-existed with the D-44M maple version... I wouldn't be surprised if "More than 500 but less than a thousand..." was as close an estimate as you can get.

Thanks, GardMan. I was thinking somewhere along those lines. I also wondered whether there were shop or production records for the various models.
I enjoyed reading your reviews and posts on your D-44 when I did a search.
 

GardMan

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Thanks, GardMan. I was thinking somewhere along those lines. I also wondered whether there were shop or production records for the various models.

Hans Moust recovered many of the ledgers and records when the Westerly factory closed... it's possible that there might be production numbers recorded, and he might be able to come up with a better estimate. If he doesn't chime in, you might PM or e-mail him (his PM box is often full... you can find his e-mail address in his profile).
 

D30Man

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Pearwood??? Man that sounds interesting. I have heard of Mesquite ( Vince Pawless signature - North TX luthier ), Walnut, Cherry, but not Pearwood.. Would be curious of the tone on that..
 

GardMan

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My '71 pear wood B/S D-44 was most similar in tone to my mahogany B/S D-35 from 1972... bright with good note clarity, but also a nice warm (woody?) bass. Perhaps just a smidge more overtones than mahogany. Very folksy sounding... I preferred it more for fingerpicking than strumming. I think some of the tunes on my Soundclick page (in my signature) were recorded with the D-44...

I would also say that my '71 D-44 was my second lightest Guild dread... I think it weighed in at 4 lb 6 oz. My lightest Guild is my '72 d-35, which weighs in at 4 lb 4 oz (for comparison, my ash D-46 is heaviest at 5 lb 15 oz, and all of my DVs are upwards of 5-3/4 lbs).
 
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