D55 dating and things to look for

[Ivanmax]

First of all, hi everybody!
My name is Ivan and I'm writting from Spain. I'm thinking of buying a second hand Guild D55. I'm paying 2000 eutos for it, and it comes with a M80 L.R baggs pickup. I'm trying to date it, but can't find the necessary info to do it. The serial number is TI272001
Is the price right? What things should I be looking for to check the guitar is in good shape?
Many thanks in advance.
Ivan

 

[GardMan]

Welcome to LTG!

I think that's a Tacoma era SN... I don't know how the SN relates to the date, but I know there are folks here that do, and they'll likely chime in at some point. Several LTG members have D-55s from Tacoma and love them.

As with any used guitar, you want to check the neck angle (a straight edge laid along the fretboard should just meet the top of the bridge), action (~2.4-2.5 mm from the top of the 12th fret to the low E string is good), saddle height (sufficient to give good break angle and have room for adjustment, if needed).

I am afraid I can't give you an idea on price... I don't know what the exchange rate is, and Guild's tend to get premium prices in Europe. Perhaps some of our European members will chime in with advice...

Happy hunting!

PS: From Hans post in this thread, looks like it is from 2005...

 

[Brad Little]

Recently sold D-55s on eBay went for an average of $2300, which an online conversion site equates to €1925. Baggs M80 sells on Amazon for $299, so price is in the right area, depending on any thing that may need to be done on it.

 

[Ivanmax]

Many thanks for your help. And that's the guitar that's driving me crazy:

 

[Brad Little]

Nice burst, would be hard for me to pass up if I were in the market for another dreadnaught.

 

[SFIV1967]

The serial number is TI2012001

Welcome to LTG from Germany!

There seems to be one number to much in the serial number. I assume the second "2" is wrong (I marked it red).

Guild under FMIC ownership began building Guild guitars in Tacoma, Washington on the West coast in early 2005.

- The first letter “T”, identifies the guitar as being made in Tacoma, Washington.
- The second letter identifies the year of manufacture and is based on a dating system introduced by the Tacoma guitar manufacturing plant in 1998 that associated the letter “B” with that specific year. Successive years are associated with the alphabet in sequence. Using this system, the letter “I” would stand for the year 2005.
- The first three numbers of the serial number are derived from the “Julian” calendar which associates each day of the year to a respective number from 1 to 365 in numerical sequence. These three numbers identify the month and day of manufacture by their respective numerical order. In this case, the numbers 201 identify the instrument as being made on July 20th.
• The final three digits of the serial number refer to the unit number built on that specific day. In this example, 001 identifies this serial number as being from the 1st instrument built on that day.

Ralf

 

[Ivanmax]

Many thanks for all the info. Actual serial number:

 

[Ivanmax]

Welcome to LTG from Germany!

There seems to be one number to much in the serial number. I assume the second "2" is wrong (I marked it red).

Guild under FMIC ownership began building Guild guitars in Tacoma, Washington on the West coast in early 2005.

- The first letter “T”, identifies the guitar as being made in Tacoma, Washington.
- The second letter identifies the year of manufacture and is based on a dating system introduced by the Tacoma guitar manufacturing plant in 1998 that associated the letter “B” with that specific year. Successive years are associated with the alphabet in sequence. Using this system, the letter “I” would stand for the year 2005.
- The first three numbers of the serial number are derived from the “Julian” calendar which associates each day of the year to a respective number from 1 to 365 in numerical sequence. These three numbers identify the month and day of manufacture by their respective numerical order. In this case, the numbers 201 identify the instrument as being made on July 20th.
• The final three digits of the serial number refer to the unit number built on that specific day. In this example, 001 identifies this serial number as being from the 1st instrument built on that day.

Ralf

You are right Ralf, my mistake. The number was wrong. Many thanks for your help.

 

[gjmalcyon]

Welcome. Here is some additional information about check the guitar's neck angle:

FRETS.COM

Tacoma-built instruments have quite a few fans in our community, including me.

 

[davismanLV]

Ivan, welcome to LTG. That's a beauty of a guitar!! If you need specific information about checking the neck angle you can find it at this address on a site called FRETS.COM It will specifically show you how to check the angle of the neck of this guitar. Neck resets tend to be an expensive repair. Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it if you have someone to do the work but you'll need to negotiate that repair when determining price. Good luck!!!

p.s. - whoops!! GJ and I were typing at the same time!! Good site for reference!!

 

[Ivanmax]

Thanks to you all for all your attention and help
I asked the owner to send me a video placing a ruler on the fretboard and the ruler falls perfectly on the bridge, so the neck seems to be in perfect condition. Besides the action is very low and there is almost no fret wear. Apparently the guitar has been hardly played, as the current owner bought it brand new as a treat and he is a lot more into playing electric guitar.
Anyway, we will be taking the guitar to a luthier tomorrow to have it fully checked. If everything checks out, in a few days that beautiful instrument will be getting all the playing it deserves.

 

[GardMan]

Beautiful guitar!

 

[Br1ck]

You get to play it? you get to take it to a luthier? It doesn't get any better than that.

 

[SFIV1967]

You are right Ralf, my mistake. The number was wrong.

And now I have difficulties reading that number!
Is this a 242 or 272 ??? What do others say here? My guess would be almost 272. It doesn't matter as it is year 2005, I'm just curious.

242 would be August the 30th
272 would be September the 29th.

Here's a different Tacoma label with a 4 and a 7:

But look, Tacoma even had European style numbers on labels:

Ralf

 

[fronobulax]

I vote for 4. My handwriting is sloppy. I never close the top of my fours and nothing on the stem of my seven goes farther than the horizontal line. TK047008 is closest to my four. I don't "slash" my sevens so that seven is closest to mine but the seven in this font - 7 - is even closer. My opinion unless having bad handwriting gives me special powers when reading other people's bad handwriting.

 

[5thumbs]

All I can say is, that is a very pretty guitar!

 

[Default]

I would say buy it, definitely, because July 20th is my birthday.
Also, looks like a sweet guitar!

 

[Ivanmax]

Thanks to you all for all your help and comments.
They guitar is being taken to a luthier today for a full revision and a proper set up with 012 strings (now it is set up for 011). If when ready everything is ok, it will become my guitar, after parting with a whole month of my crappy Spanish primary teacher´s salary . Well, it will be money well spent.

 

[Stuball48]

Hoping all is positive and await your report on the D55. Never seen or played a bad D55 - some a little better than others - but never a bad one. Money well spent IMHO.

 

[SFIV1967]

I would say buy it, definitely, because July 20th is my birthday.

Guitar was not labeled on July 20th as the serial number provided was wrong...The new birhtdays of here were either August the 30th or September the 29th, we couldn't settle on the day yet, if 242 or 272...
Ralf