1973 Guild D55 Questions and Mysteries!

Taylor Martin Guild

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To my eyes, looks similar to the sides on this 1977 D55 featured on dreamguitars.com,
described in the specs there as EIR.

It does bear a striking resemblance to this guitar.

Thank you to everyone for all of the info and insight. I have a much better idea of what is going on with this guitar now!

You guys rock!

We need to have Hans answer the mahogany sides question.
There would be no reason for the D-55 to have mahogany sides unless someone ordered it that way.
Is there a way to tell if this is a custom guitar?
 

Antney

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It looks like all rosewood sides and back to me. I have seen rosewood that mimics mahogany, but the inside pics clearly look like rosewood. But then again what do I know?
 

Rooftop

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I want to say thank you once again to everyone who shared their input, knowledge and insight. You guys really are awesome!
 

Tony Burns

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This is not the first time , ive seen stuff like this .
My 1971 d-55 is a bit unusual -the one sides is definitely Brazilian and the other could be either EIR or Brazilian -
the back is probably EIR on my back , but a luthier i know wouldnt make a commitment on the wood type( could be BR )
My guitar has the tone of a BR guitar -so im happy reguardless of its heritage
Your guitar might of went threw hell at a period in its life and had those sides changed out ( maybe not maybe parts from an old
D-40 ? ) - who really knows unless you have more detail as to its history.
These things have a life of their own -remember we never own our guitars, were just caretakers .
 

adorshki

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We need to have Hans answer the mahogany sides question.
There would be no reason for the D-55 to have mahogany sides unless someone ordered it that way.
Is there a way to tell if this is a custom guitar?

Since a D55 was a "special order ONLY" from '68-'73, it could have been ordered with the 'hog sides but then I'd expect it to say "D55 Spec" on the label.
I'm with the majority here, that it's EIR and it's just not showing the grain pattern we expect from a rosewood.
Like TXbumper said, I think the slabs that they sliced the sides from were cut at an angle that happened to exaggerate the pore structure, that's why it looks so much like 'hog.
I'm wondering if maybe it was so they could bend the sides more easily or were worried about cracking during the process.
Maybe they had a batch of harder-to-work than anticipated EIR.
 

Rayk

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Has anyone contracted Hans ? 😁
 

txbumper57

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This is not the first time , ive seen stuff like this .
My 1971 d-55 is a bit unusual -the one sides is definitely Brazilian and the other could be either EIR or Brazilian -
the back is probably EIR on my back , but a luthier i know wouldnt make a commitment on the wood type( could be BR )

I have seen this as well. I know there were several guitars that left the factory in the late 60's/early 70's with the Brazilian RW sides and East Indian RW backs. The reasoning for this from what I have heard is that they were using up the existing wood stock. Al Dronge was a stickler for not wasting anything and a more prominent example of that was using Hoboken sound hole labels on Westerly Built guitars for years until they ran out. The Brazilian RW they had left in this time period was big enough to use for the sides but not big enough to use for the backs, hence the EIR back and Brazilian RW Sides. All that being said I have seen Confirmed Brazilian RW that looks like EIR and vice versa. The only way to truly verify one way or another from this period is to take a sample for testing which in my opinion is destructive to the guitar itself. I'll bet your 71 D55 sounds like a Baby Grand Piano Tony, would love to see some pics of it!

TX
 

bobouz

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Although the sides are carrying a look similar to mahogany, I'm a firm believer in probabilities - and what is supposed to be there, is almost always what's there.

As much as we tend to enjoy the unusual, being a D-55, it's most likely rosewood.
 

Rayk

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I did send him a PM asking if he could check out the thread when he has a chance.

Think some have mentioned email as being better or do I have that backwards ?
 

adorshki

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Think some have mentioned email as being better or do I have that backwards ?

He preferred it because his mailbox here would fill up all the time, but with the new larger storage we got a while back it might be ok.
If Rooftop didn't get a "Mailbox full" reply when he tried to send it, Hans'll see it sooner or later.
But knowing him he could probably answer the question with only the serial number.
 

Rooftop

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knowing him he could probably answer the question with only the serial number.

Just in case that is the case!

35izm0p.jpg


ru6zhk.jpg
 

Rayk

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Just in case that is the case!

35izm0p.jpg


ru6zhk.jpg

Is that a picture of a ......... On the label ? Ugh maybe I’m having bad flash backs from Adam Sandler’s movie the do over . Lol
 

Rooftop

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I did hear back from Hans Moust, he has the following to say about it; Hope it is ok that I post what wrote to me in the thread.

Hello Tim,

Thanks for your email and sorry for the slight delay in getting back with you; too many emails these days!

I looked at the thread and the photos that you posted and even though there is a difference in color and grain structure between the wood used for the back and the wood that was used for the sides, I believe that both are East Indian rosewood. I've seen plenty of guitars, not just Guild guitars, that had wood that looked liked the stuff that was used for the sides of your guitar.

I don't even think it looks like mahogany? The pore structure of mahogany is completely different!

Hope you like the guitar! That's the most important part!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Butch

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The back is definitely rosewood. I’m not sure why you think the top is a D50 top. I believe both the D55 and the D50 both used spruce tops, so they should be the same for both guitars.
 

adorshki

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The back is definitely rosewood. I’m not sure why you think the top is a D50 top. I believe both the D55 and the D50 both used spruce tops, so they should be the same for both guitars.

OP thought D55's always had abalone rosettes so the absence of abalone threw him off.
Also depending on when built, one or the other got scalloped braces, ie, bracing wasn't always identical.
Same issue applies to grading.
In last few years of Westerly D55's got AAA spruce while D50's replacement the DV52 got AA.
Don't think D50's ever got AAA (but not sure), and don't know if the original D50 Specials that became the D55 did either.
 

GardMan

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I’m not sure why you think the top is a D50 top.
The confusion with the D-50 was because it didn't have the abalone rosette found on current D-55s. The OP didn't realize that the D-55 didn't get its abalone rosette until ~'91-92.
 

Butch

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Sorry about that, I didn’t realize that the “newer” D55’s had an abalone rosette.
 
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