Does anyone know what this is?

Bonneville88

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The consensus is this is NOT a Guild - although the headstock and inlay - other than the "PRELUDE" - looks
very much like a D40 - whether it is, is highly questionable.
Did find this image googling around just now, owner stated in the original
post it's a '72 Guild D40, owned since new.
Had not seen a bell-shaped trc before - could the original trc have been one like this?

KOA056.jpg

IMG_20170621_212327.jpg

IMG_20170621_093839.jpg
 
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dreadnut

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The Chesterfield on the Guild is definitely MOP; the Prelude one looks like MOTS.
 

bobouz

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Did find this image googling around just now, owner stated in the original
post it's a '72 Guild D40, owned since new.
Had not seen a bell-shaped trc before - could the original trc have been one like this?

That's just a standard Gibson TRC. Absolutely not a Guild TRC.
 

wileypickett

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I think your suspicion it's an employee build may be the best explanation for why there's no sticker or s/n embossed in headstock, Squealy.

I have an employee-made (or employee purchased?) Westerly DV6 in mint condition. (All I know for certain about it is that it was a gift from a former Guild employee to his son, who never took to guitar -- man, it looks like it was barely ever out of its case!)

It has a serial number stamped on the back of headstock, but it was made without a pickguard, and there's no evidence of it ever having had a label inside.

Was not putting labels inside typical of employee made / employee purchased guitars in the Westerly era?
 

dreadnut

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When I was stationed in the Philippines my buddy came back to the ship one day with a guitar in hand, "I got a Martin guitar for $45!"

It did say "CF Martin and Co., Nazareth, PA" Except this guitar had never spent any time in the U.S.

"We don't need no stinking copyright laws," lol.
 

adorshki

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That's just a standard Gibson TRC. Absolutely not a Guild TRC.
Right, and we've seen it before on vintage Gulds. I assume it's just because it's so much easier to find a Gibson TRC than a Guild TRC and probably cheaper for that reason, too.
It has a serial number stamped on the back of headstock, but it was made without a pickguard, and there's no evidence of it ever having had a label inside.
A "pickguard delete" could have been a "Special order" whether for a "retail customer" or an employee.
BUT certainly uncommon.

Was not putting labels inside typical of employee made / employee purchased guitars in the Westerly era?
I don't think there's actually a "hard and fast" rule about it.
I seem to recall that recently, like within the last 3 months, Hans even explained that an "Employee build" could have received an s/n prior to being rejected and thus available for an employee to "salvage" IIRC?
And similarly, if an employee had access to label blanks then they could conceivably write their own label.
I'd bet Hans could confirm if your DV-6 was "regular production A stock" by the s/n.
I don't think "Employee builds" were supposed to have the same warranty rights as a regular production guitar, and I think they must have had some method of identifying 'em for that purpose, either no s/n on headstock or a list of s/n's which were excluded from warranty, or the "Z" or "2" marking on the label.
But I'm just guessing.
 
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Just to clarify... The "Prelude" inlay is MOP, same material as my other guilds.
 

Bonneville88

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The Chesterfield on the Guild is definitely MOP; the Prelude one looks like MOTS.

Squealy, I may be wrong, but all the inlays on all the headstocks pictured look more like pearloid than real mother-of-pearl to me!
 

bobouz

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The overwhelming majority of Westerly Guilds with a Chesterfield headstock used pearloid for the inlays.

MOP would be a rare and unusual occurrence. Not saying it didn't ever happen, but if you have a Westerly w/Chesterfield, the odds are extremely high that it's pearloid.
 

fronobulax

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When I was stationed in the Philippines my buddy came back to the ship one day with a guitar in hand, "I got a Martin guitar for $45!"

It did say "CF Martin and Co., Nazareth, PA" Except this guitar had never spent any time in the U.S.

"We don't need no stinking copyright laws," lol.

When CF Martin and Co. tried to register various copyrights in/with China they found out that some other company had already done so. So these copies are legal under Chinese law. I'm pretty sure US Martin could make a stink if someone tried to import one into the US.

P.S. - Uncle Google reminded me of this article with both explains things better than I did and notes that US Martin is very close to regaining control of its brand and intellectual property in China.
 

Bonneville88

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Frono - interesting article, encouraging. Questions in my mind are... will the Chinese authorities actually take action against
clear infringers? Is there any history of their doing so in recent times? Will the various sales channels for fake
Martins be shut down? Guess we'll find out...

bobouz - thanks for that info!
 
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adorshki

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The overwhelming majority of Westerly Guilds with a Chesterfield headstock used pearloid for the inlays.

MOP would be a rare and unusual occurrence. Not saying it didn't ever happen, but if you have a Westerly w/Chesterfield, the odds are extremely high that it's pearloid.

Right. For a long time I was under the mistaken impression that all the fretboard inlays were real MOP too, but it turns out that was only the case in the highest-end models, only ones with "G-shields", I think. And maybe Nashville Custom shop pieces even if they did't have shields.
They did use a very nice looking pearloid in the D-40 shown here, but the rooftop logo on my D25 and the logos on my D40 are "whiter" but still pearlescent in person, although they might photograph "whiter".
I could see how somebody could be fooled.
In any case I think the headstock inlays on Squealy's guitar are genuine factory pieces, they just look too perfect to be fakes or even tracings of genuine inlays.
If they are"copies" they're by far the best work I've seen on a non-Guild instrument I can ever recall seeing.
Even the Japanese copies didn't use the "rooftop logo", but I'll allow the chesterfield might be copy of a genuine Guild inlay.
Otherwise I think somebody got hold of a genuine Guild headstock overlay and added the inscription in memory of their beloved Honda.
:biggrin-new:
 
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Bonneville88

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How and when that neck ended up on that body, we'll never know.

Adorshki - I'm thinking pretty much the same, except for one thing - anybody good enough to do that
"PRELUDE" inlay (assuming it really is an inlay), that's some tight, clean work.
Would that same individual be able to replicate the GUILD & Chesterfield as well?
I'm with you, my eyes tell me no - they look too GUILD-ish - but that bit of doubt remains. :unsure:
 

adorshki

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How and when that neck ended up on that body, we'll never know.

Adorshki - I'm thinking pretty much the same, except for one thing - anybody good enough to do that
"PRELUDE" inlay (assuming it really is an inlay), that's some tight, clean work.
I think it's actually engraved using one the types of machines that have templates for the letters in a given font.
You set an pin in the template and use that to guide the engraving tip.
To me the tell is the identical "E" 's but that's all I can guess from photos.
Obviously if it was in hand it would be much easier to verify whether it was actual engraving.

Would that same individual be able to replicate the GUILD & Chesterfield as well?
I'm with you, my eyes tell me no - they look too GUILD-ish - but that bit of doubt remains. :unsure:

Yep. I think this is destined to be one of those "We'll never know for sure" items.
 

dreadnut

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But damn, I thought my DV-52 headstock inlays were MOP. The TRC is ebony and abalone, that was a gift from my wife.





 
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