D-35, early 1970's .... - Part II

[Ihguild]

Second post about my D35, thanks for the info from my previous post! (https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/d-35-early-1970s-best-investment-ever.210828/)

I got around to cleaning up / touching up my D35 and carefully examining it, something I've never really done since I love its sound.

Neck seems to be ok, a little upbow (?) at the peghead end, seems to be aligned ok but I didn't use a straight edge, only line of sight, so not yet time for a reset, action maybe a little high but I am used to it....

Frets - some wear but since there is no fret buzz I'm just going to keep on playing. Cleaned up the fretboard with a little mineral oil......

Nut - The strings are barely set into the nut so I think it fine.

Deep ding - whenever it happened it did not puncture through, and the cracking seems to be contained to the same as when it happened. I did stabilize the crack using amber CA glue. It now appears darker since the exposed wood is now coated with CA, I took pictures from inside to see the damage before I did anything.

Golpeador - I removed any material that had lifted off the surface and was no longer attached, and left quite a bit after careful trimming. I saw no reason to remove it totally

Pickguard - after removing some of the golpeador I looked to see if the pickguard had caused a crack, and did not find one so all good there.

Various exposed wood from wear, and dings- I used a NCL touchup (Amber) pen to address any exposed wood on the top. I also quickly ran the pen over some existing cracked lacquer by exposed wood areas to blend in. For the top I am ok with the results as it looks much better than before the touchup (albeit a little rough still LOL). For dings on the back, sides and the peghead I used a mahogany NCL pen. It looks great although upon close inspection dings and scratches are easy to feel.

Bridge - Looks like it has had some bridge work in the past as there is excess glue visible on the front of the bridge (hidden under the old golpeador...), and it is slightly lifted up (and glued in like that) on the back? I used a little bit of mineral oil on the bridge also. The pin holes have some cracking visible in an internal picture I took, I don't think it affects anything...

Pins - I had 4 different pins in use, including what I thought was a golf tee and turned out to be a chopstick LOL (all from when I bought the guitar except for the chopstick)! Replaced them with a common set....

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it cleaned up, It was definitely worth the price of the NCL and CA.... The new EJ16s sound amazing (the old strings were ancient but had hardly been played)

Original pics from my first post: https://photos.app.goo.gl/c7niz3Ds5uxvmPJe7

Pictures post-touchups....: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QoFsX7V2Ja3ipz2t5

Hope you enjoy the update!

IHGuild

 

[Br1ck]

The only concern I have is the bridge plate. Do you have any belly in the top behind the bridge? If you do and it's significant, you might want to have a new plate made and the bridge reglued at the same time, but it's almost opening a can of worms. Where do you stop?

 

[Ihguild]

There is a little uplift behind the bridge that I can see and feel. I don't think I'll open it up at this time, maybe the next owner in another 50 years......

It has been fun and informative getting back into playing and finding out so much that I didn't know about my Guild, of course my only regret is that I didn't pick it back up again sooner. Even with all the imperfections that I am now more aware of I'll never sell it and am now getting the itch to start looking for another Guild.......

IHguild

 

[gjmalcyon]

There is a little uplift behind the bridge that I can see and feel. I don't think I'll open it up at this time, maybe the next owner in another 50 years......

A little uplift at the back of the bridge is common with Guild acoustics - the factory installed and glued bridges after the tops were finished. They'd mask off the bridge area, finish the top, then glue down the bridge. As a result you can sometimes slide a sheet of paper under the back of the bridge a fraction of an inch.

 

[Neal]

No belly, no tone.

If a 50-year-old guitar has not risen a little behind the bridge from all of those years of string tension, you have to ask whether it was overbuilt in the first place.

 

[wileypickett]

No belly, no tone.

Good ol' Norman Blake. That quote gets trotted out everytime someone mentions that their guitar is bellying.

When belly is built into the top, a la Collings, Bourgeois and other brands / models, it's there to optimize the tone.

But a flat-top guitar that has developed a belly is a guitar that likely needs repair.

I've owned dozens of Guilds that had bellying issues when I got them, many of them 12-strings. That bellying was often accompanied by other issues: bridge lift, dipping around the sound hole, loose braces, intonation probems, and cracks.

None of these can be considered good for a guitar, and none make for a better sounding guitar.

If bellying is minor, you may be able to live with it. If it's pronounced, it's a problem better taken care of sooner than later. It won't fix itself and may get worse over time.

I've fixed every guitar that came to me with bellying issue and have never regretted having done so. None lost even a smidgin of tone from having been repaired and most sounded better after being restored to the specs built into the original design of the guitar.

Blake notwithstanding.

 

[Ihguild]

Warning: Graphic Photo! Squeamish players should avert their vision.... (Disclaimer: no damage shown (except for aging conditions) occurred after I acquire the guitar in the '80s). The picture definitely over-emphasizes the depth of the scratches, but unfortunately not the ding.....

When I grabbed my D35 this morning to play, I noticed how the sun played across the top so I decided to post a photo showing the belly lobes emanating from roughly the bridge corners.

please ignore the pick scratches, dented top side, various other scratches, oddly trimmed golpeador, beginning of a crack in the middle of the top from the bridge to the edge (the wood has not cracked that I can see, but the lacquer has started to crack and slightly lift) and various other "issues"...

 

[Br1ck]

Every time you post a picture, I like that guitar more. Too bad it's not a bullet hole. The fantasy of what that guitar has gone through is far better than the reality ever could be.

 

[Ihguild]

Purely fictional but how about: "Played some flamenco guitar in a honky-tonk bar and someone winged a beer bottle at the stage while the previous owner was playing"? There is a round indentation at the point of impact...

 

[Neal]

Made to be played. And thrown around. And gouged. And left out in the rain.

What is it about abused D-35's? They seem to have taken it on the chin more than any other Guild model.

 

[geoguy]

My first thought was that the top got crushed between the case and the lid. That hole (?) looks about right for a case latch.

However, the tossed bottle in a flamenco honky-tonk definitely makes for a better story.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

My first thought was that the top got crushed between the case and the lid. That hole (?) looks about right for a case latch. . . .

My first D-35 had a big fat beauty mark in the top from a latch tooth. They don't make cases like that anymore. Thank God.

 

[Br1ck]

A friend had one with the lovely cross hatch pattern from a Sure SM 58. Mic stand fell over. Anyway, I lovingly view mine as my beater, though it's very presentable from five feet away.