Corona D25

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I’d like to hear various opinions on corona D25’s.
 

Bonneville88

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Timmy, welcome to LTG!

You may get a muted response to your question - AFAIK not many here have tried, much less owned a
Corona D25. There are not that many of them out there relative to Westerly-built D25s,
as Guild didn't operate in Corona very long.
I've had 5, still own 3. Great volume, bright tone, fast necks, excellent built quality on all.
Volume and projection are not necessarily what I would typically associate
with all-hog dreads, but the Corona 25s seem to have both. Ime they do not manifest the
rich overtones the way the the arch-back Westerly-era spruce top D25s do.
The only nitpick I have is the finish on all is low gloss and has a noticeable fine orange-peel texture
- imo these excellent instruments would have been more attractive with a high-gloss finish.

In the 1st photo, 2, 3 and 7 are Corona D25s, the rest are Westerly.
2nd photo is closer look at the Crimson Transparent finish, which
can appear nearly black or very saturated, depending on the light source.
Have seen more Corona D25s finished this color than the others.


QNRSKeZ.jpg

IbfDlhxh.jpg
 
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The arch-back is the bomb.The corona I have,has the first four digits burned out and says “USED” on the back of the headstock-must have been one of the last out of corona.
 

Bonneville88

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Not sure how the Corona serial #s work, there are those here that do, perhaps we'll
hear from someone. What you're describing sounds like a MIRC instrument.
From Chazmo, one of our moderators:

MIRC = http://mircweb.com/ Reclamation company that sold Guilds. Factory reject guitars that came without warranty. Usually accompanied by sticker overlaid on label and "USED" stamped on back of headstock.

Have read various accounts here of MIRC instruments, which, other than the identifiers described above, appear and play as well
as non-MIRCed instruments. Here is one:


Looking forward to seeing some photos of your Corona D25.
 
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Cougar

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...The corona I have,has the first four digits burned out and says “USED” on the back of the headstock...

I believe that means there is some small reason, possibly minor, that the guitar was initially sold to a refurbish company, who fixed it as best they could, if necessary, and resold it without warranty at a reduced price. Is there an extra sticker on the label?

[Ah, beat me to it, Bonn.]
 

Bonneville88

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Timmy - ad from the 2003 Guild catalog, sourced by GAD, owner / operator of LTG.
Be sure to check out his incomparable collection of Guild reviews and resources!

Guild-2003-Catalog-pg12_1600.jpeg
 
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richardp69

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Timmy, welcome to LTG!

You may get a muted response to your question - AFAIK not many here have tried, much less owned a
Corona D25. There are not that many of them out there relative to Westerly-built D25s,
as Guild didn't operate in Corona very long.
I've had 5, still own 3. Great volume, bright tone, fast necks, excellent built quality on all.
Volume and projection are not necessarily what I would typically associate
with all-hog dreads, but the Corona 25s seem to have both. Ime they do not manifest the
rich overtones the way the the arch-back Westerly-era spruce top D25s do.
The only nitpick I have is the finish on all is low gloss and has a noticeable fine orange-peel texture
- imo these excellent instruments would have been more attractive with a high-gloss finish.

In the 1st photo, 2, 3 and 7 are Corona D25s, the rest are Westerly.
2nd photo is closer look at the Crimson Transparent finish, which
can appear nearly black or very saturated, depending on the light source.
Have seen more Corona D25s finished this color than the others.


QNRSKeZ.jpg

IbfDlhxh.jpg
I get the idea you kinda like D 25's.
 

davismanLV

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When Corona Guild production moved to Tacoma, they liquidated any stock of guitars through MIRC and stamped them "Used" which they were not, but they lowered the prices and were sold with no warranty and blacked out serial numbers, rather than move the whole inventory up to Tacoma. The market having all these Corona guitars marked as "used" and being sold without a warranty is what gave Corona Guilds some bad press and made people think they weren't as well made as others. They are mostly high quality and impressive instruments just trying to overcome something the company did to save money. I personally like the Corona D25's for their all mahogany, flat back design and they came in fun party colors. If you can get a deal on one, go for it!!

p.s. - if i found one in the Transparent Blue for a good price, I'd even overlook my "no more dreads" policy and buy it because as everyone here knows, I love BLUE guitars!!
 

Bonneville88

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Tom, did not know Corona did that with unsold inventory!
I'm always on the lookout for a Sapphire Blue Corona D25 - have seen exactly two come up for sale over
the past several years, could not manage to land either one.
🥶🧞‍♂️👕🧤🧢🐦🦠🐟🐬🐳💧🌊
 
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Not sure how the Corona serial #s work, there are those here that do, perhaps we'll
hear from someone. What you're describing sounds like a MIRC instrument.
From Chazmo, one of our moderators:

MIRC = http://mircweb.com/ Reclamation company that sold Guilds. Factory reject guitars that came without warranty. Usually accompanied by sticker overlaid on label and "USED" stamped on back of headstock.

Have read various accounts here of MIRC instruments, which, other than the identifiers described above, appear and play as well
as non-MIRCed instruments. Here is one:


Looking forward to seeing some photos of your Corona D25.
Timmy, welcome to LTG!

You may get a muted response to your question - AFAIK not many here have tried, much less owned a
Corona D25. There are not that many of them out there relative to Westerly-built D25s,
as Guild didn't operate in Corona very long.
I've had 5, still own 3. Great volume, bright tone, fast necks, excellent built quality on all.
Volume and projection are not necessarily what I would typically associate
with all-hog dreads, but the Corona 25s seem to have both. Ime they do not manifest the
rich overtones the way the the arch-back Westerly-era spruce top D25s do.
The only nitpick I have is the finish on all is low gloss and has a noticeable fine orange-peel texture
- imo these excellent instruments would have been more attractive with a high-gloss finish.

In the 1st photo, 2, 3 and 7 are Corona D25s, the rest are Westerly.
2nd photo is closer look at the Crimson Transparent finish, which
can appear nearly black or very saturated, depending on the light source.
Have seen more Corona D25s finished this color than the others.


QNRSKeZ.jpg

IbfDlhxh.jpg
that’s my colour,as well.
 

Bonneville88

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Cool photos, thanks for posting - the D25 looks good - and that's quite a collection of guitars!
 

davismanLV

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Hey Timmy, welcome to LTG!! Thanks for sharing the photos of that beautiful Corona D25!! The color and all is exquisite!! i love those D25's from Corona in the fun colors!! So just know, that the "USED" stamp and obliterated serial number were not a sign of anything wrong with the guitar, but that it needed to be marked as "not eligible for warranty work" by Guild and was sold at a discounted price. And after all this time, that hardly means anything anymore. It's just a super nice guitar and thanks for letting us see it. Could you post a photo of the label, please? Just to satisfy my curiosity? Anyway, how much do you love this guitar?? Let us know, okay? (y)
 

chazmo

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Tom, The MIRC liquidation I am familiar with was when Fender closed down Tacoma and moved to New Hartford. "Trainwreck" necks, etc. Is that what you were referring to, Tom, or did Fender do the same thing before moving from Corona to Tacoma?
 

davismanLV

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They did it for both. First with Corona to keep from moving inventory from CA to WA and to liquidate stock and not be burdened with any warranty work. Not sure if they used MIRC for Corona but they did stamp "used" into the headstock as you see on Timmy's D25 and sell them at reduced prices with no warranty. It seemed to work well for them, so when they left Tacoma, same thing using MIRC. In Tacoma I think they got rid of more because of the whole Contemporary Series guitars (train wreck neck, indeed) and that graphite neck block system (patent probably not pending any more) to keep from having to mess with those coming back in droves. So it's happened twice to the best of my knowledge.

That's why I asked if Timmy had a photo of the label of his D25, as I'd like to see how they handled that. MIRC instruments have the serial number obliterated and a different reference number put over it.
 

Bonneville88

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Getting more interesting as we go - I believe Timmy is getting his money's worth ;)
Fwiw, here's a composite of the headstock serial #s of my Corona D25s.
CPM000097, 146, 236, 334, and 423.

Timmy, I'm interested in seeing the inside label on yours as well...

ZX7bO3A.jpg
 
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adorshki

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They did it for both. First with Corona to keep from moving inventory from CA to WA and to liquidate stock and not be burdened with any warranty work. Not sure if they used MIRC for Corona.
Oh for sure they did but I think that Fender actually stamped "Used" in-house and MIRC only obliterated s/n's and put their bar code label over the s/n on the factory label.
I could be mis-remembering but I seem to recall that "used" appeared on some guitars which were finish blems before Fender decided to shut down Corona. Note Bonneville's mention of slight orange-peel in the finish. And those D25's were finished in satin acrylic lacquer by folks who had never sprayed acoustics before and Fender had installed a brand-new spray booth, too..so there were 2 learning curves going on, between leaning how to set up for any finishing run and having 2 different finishes to set up, besides..
I can recall at least 2 D40's sold as B-stock for finish blems and one that developed a severe finish check when practically new, the owner couldn't quite figure out how it happened, whether a temperature shock (unlikely) or pressure on the top (seemed to be probable cause).
Anyway it was this combined with Fender's liquidation of unsold stock in Corona and Tacoma that gave Guild's (and Corona's in particular) reputation a black eye for many years.
So there's some justification for the persistent bad rap but over the years an increasing percentage of folks who've bought Coronas here report complete happiness.
Made me start believing they just needed a few years (like my D40) to really open up, even if not played too much.
The "dud" rate is still pretty low compared to the other "big" makers.
And I can say my Corona D40's finish is the best of the bunch, although it started off pretty thick. But it's opened up magnificently and I think aging of the finish is a big part of it, as true NCL gets thinner as it ages, allowing the top to vibrate more freely.


That's why I asked if Timmy had a photo of the label of his D25, as I'd like to see how they handled that. MIRC instruments have the serial number obliterated and a different reference number put over it.
Right, the barcode label is universal on MIRC refurbs, we've even seen cases where it looks like attempted removal took off the underlying paper of the original label too.
And BTW welcome aboard, Timmy!!!
Hope all that helps!
 
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