D55 or F55 Quest

[Westerly Wood]

Still, we are psyched to see what you one day come home with. Please post pics!

 

[Neal]

Go to Nashville. Play as many Guilds as you can, old and new, D series and F series. Play them against comparable Gibsons, Martins and Taylors. Play them against smaller shop offerings from Collings, Santa Cruz, Huss & Dalton, and Bourgeois.

You will know when the right one is sitting in your lap.

 

[Guild McSeven]

Guild McSeven:
Welcome to an unbelievable group of Guild guitar folks who's enthusiasm is topped only by their knowledge.
I have never bought a new Guild but bought 12--15 in the last five years and most from LTG members. In fact, I have bought six or seven from the very Richard you spoke of in a previous post. I found the guitars I bought from LTG "regular posters" to be,actually, better than they were represented to me.
Not one thing wrong with new but older Guilds will compete with any brand - for fewer bucks.

I live about 35 miles west of Nashville and visit Carter's Vintage Guitars and Gruhn's several times a year. Very seldom do Guilds last long at these two shops, especially, a high end acoustic like you mentioned.
Good luck and save your money - Guilds like partners.

Stubsll48,
Thanks for the info,
I was afraid that Carter and Gruhn would be slim pickings with all the traffic in their stores.
The quest continues. I won’t buy until I play it and hear it.
Them’s the rules that me and Mrs. McSeven live by

 

[Guild McSeven]

Go to Nashville. Play as many Guilds as you can, old and new, D series and F series. Play them against comparable Gibsons, Martins and Taylors. Play them against smaller shop offerings from Collings, Santa Cruz, Huss & Dalton, and Bourgeois.

You will know when the right one is sitting in your lap.

Yes indeed, great minds think alike!
Not a bad way to spend the day

 

[Guild McSeven]

Still, we are psyched to see what you one day come home with. Please post pics!

Well, finding the right one may take a while. Don’t think I forgot about it if you hear little from me.
In the mean time, I will be here reading and learning as much as I can from you all!
Thank you all for the warm welcome and thank you for sharing your knowledge with me.
All my best

 

[Boneman]

Hi McSeven, and welcome to LTG! My brother lives in Knoxville, and I’m planning a trip late Oct for a visit. I like it there especially that time of year, Vols, fall foliage, crisp air. Well anyway, good luck in your quest, as once you find the Guild for you, you will be smitten and the sounds emanating from it will be worth enduring that search. I’m also of the camp you don’t need to buy new, and sounds like you are not opposed to it either. Coupled with your preference to play it first, I would recommend used as well. I have found my Martin DM and my Guild D25 on my local Craigslist, separate occasions of course but in each case I contacted the seller right away because nicer instruments won’t last long, (I always check the ad created date, if it’s been awhile, more room to haggle). Anyway I arranged to go look at them and once I ran them through their paces and heard the sounds I was getting, I nabbed them of course. So I got to try before I buy and so glad I went that route. I feel they are both now keepers. Not to mention the savings over a brand new D55 for instance, and you won’t have to drive out to Nashville (Though someday I may need to add one).

The D46 you see I also bought used, met the seller in person on a different guitar altogether, he tried to sell it to me and it sounded great, played effortlessly and looked like no other guitar I’d seen in person to that point. I didn’t have the funds. I agonized over that decision and 6 months later when I did have some cash I sought him out and obviously he still had it. The flip side is the 12er I bought new online from SW during the pandemic without having played it at all. Turned out another good decision . Point is between playing one and being on LTG, you’ll go down a rabbit hole and have more Guilds than you know this time next year. lol

you could even run up to Chattanooga area and play this one:

1976 Guild D-40c First Cutaway Dreadnaught guitar ever built -...

Not only is this a 1976 Guild vintage guitar that plays, sounds and looks fantastic it’s also the first cutaway dreadnaught ever made according to the internet and the internet is never wrong. But...

chattanooga.craigslist.org

Excited to know what you end up with, cheers

 

[Guild McSeven]

Hi McSeven, and welcome to LTG! My brother lives in Knoxville, and I’m planning a trip late Oct for a visit. I like it there especially that time of year, Vols, fall foliage, crisp air. Well anyway, good luck in your quest, as once you find the Guild for you, you will be smitten and the sounds emanating from it will be worth enduring that search. I’m also of the camp you don’t need to buy new, and sounds like you are not opposed to it either. Coupled with your preference to play it first, I would recommend used as well. I have found my Martin DM and my Guild D25 on my local Craigslist, separate occasions of course but in each case I contacted the seller right away because nicer instruments won’t last long, (I always check the ad created date, if it’s been awhile, more room to haggle). Anyway I arranged to go look at them and once I ran them through their paces and heard the sounds I was getting, I nabbed them of course. So I got to try before I buy and so glad I went that route. I feel they are both now keepers. Not to mention the savings over a brand new D55 for instance, and you won’t have to drive out to Nashville (Though someday I may need to add one).

The D46 you see I also bought used, met the seller in person on a different guitar altogether, he tried to sell it to me and it sounded great, played effortlessly and looked like no other guitar I’d seen in person to that point. I didn’t have the funds. I agonized over that decision and 6 months later when I did have some cash I sought him out and obviously he still had it. The flip side is the 12er I bought new online from SW during the pandemic without having played it at all. Turned out another good decision . Point is between playing one and being on LTG, you’ll go down a rabbit hole and have more Guilds than you know this time next year. lol

you could even run up to Chattanooga area and play this one:

1976 Guild D-40c First Cutaway Dreadnaught guitar ever built -...

Not only is this a 1976 Guild vintage guitar that plays, sounds and looks fantastic it’s also the first cutaway dreadnaught ever made according to the internet and the internet is never wrong. But...

chattanooga.craigslist.org

Excited to know what you end up with, cheers

Boneman,
Hey thanks for the words of encouragement.
“Smitten”, is definitely the word of the day! And that I am!

I have been around town at some of the music stores in the Knoxville area and occasionally bump into a Guild here and there.
Murlin Music in Maryville was the first store that opened my eyes wide about Guilds. Murlin as it turned out, started the, “smitten” aspect of the quest.
I visited them a year or so ago to find a wormen‘s boo-tique there instead.
I went in and asked them what had happened to murlin. They said they went out of business. Hmmm!
Now due to this thread, I find out he is at another location. I got to get his address and stop there soon.

A heads up, there is a small one man guitar shop on Kingston pike, Music Room Guitars.
Their address is 5103 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919.
Last there, (a couple months ago) he had a Guild 6 string that I tried out. It had a nice sound but at the time I was fixated about the Nashville trip and didn’t give it an honest listen to.
You may know of the shop I refer to.

Lastly,
Chattanooga is the only area I haven’t looked around in!
Guitar Center is a dealer but no high hopes regarding their selection.
I gotta find something soon….all this dinero is burnin‘ a hole in me pocket

 

[bobouz]

I believe you can order a brand new Guild online from Guitar Center, have it shipped to your local store, try it in store, and return it if it doesn't suit you - without losing a penny. As for buying used, I have purchased many used instruments from GC without fear because of their return policy.

But all of that said, I do think your best bet is to go to Nashville first. Nothing beats being in a roomful of high quality instruments with a chance to do in-hand comparisons. Enjoy the quest!

 

[Guild McSeven]

I believe you can order a brand new Guild online from Guitar Center, have it shipped to your local store, try it in store, and return it if it doesn't suit you - without losing a penny. As for buying used, I have purchased many used instruments from GC without fear because of their return policy.

But all of that said, I do think your best bet is to go to Nashville first. Nothing beats being in a roomful of high quality instruments with a chance to do in-hand comparisons. Enjoy the quest!

Bobouz
I agree with you.
Nashville for the hands on. If I strike out there, off to Guitar Center to order a new one. If it isn’t the ONE!
I’ll keep on looking!
I don’t just want a nice Guild…..I want a spectacular Guild

 

[Boneman]

No doubt you ought to be able to find a spectacular one at GC if all else fails. Jumbo, orchestra, dreadnought they have em all. Just do a used Guild acoustic search and like they say, order the one you like, have it sent to your local GC and try it out in person. Then if you don't like it, take advantge of their very generous return policy.

"used guild acoustic guitars" Results | Guitar Center

Your used guild acoustic guitars result provided by Guitar Center site.,templateDimensionStrategy 1700003,,Search H1 Template,,Your Search Results for "used guild acoustic guitars

www.guitarcenter.com

And yes, we are enablers.

 

[HeyMikey]

And yes, we are enablers.

Ain’t that the truth! The best bunch of folks around to help you spend your GAS money.

 

[WC_Guitarist]

IMHO the older US made Guilds are all pretty spectacular both looks and sound. And they say the new ones from Oxnard CA are their equals.

 

[Pike]

The post Fender Westerly D55’s are very good. My ‘98 was better than the D60 and the D66. It had the thinnest top of all of them. I also owned a post Fender Westerly D40 that was lighter and more responsive than a ‘76 D40 that lived here for a while.

 

[Guild McSeven]

The post Fender Westerly D55’s are very good. My ‘98 was better than the D60 and the D66. It had the thinnest top of all of them. I also owned a post Fender Westerly D40 that was lighter and more responsive than a ‘76 D40 that lived here for a while.

Pike,
In order of tone and quality and all other criteria, which era and manufacturing locale would be the most desirable?
This information would be very helpful and save me a lot of time.
I hear a lot about Hoboken as well as Westerly.

 

[Norrissey]

Thank you for that Guitar Center information.
I have never bought anything online from Guitar Center and that is truly valuable advice.
25$ is not much of a risk in the attempt of finding a great instrument.
I will look into the details.

Guild D55 Acoustic Guitar

For greater savings check out our Used Guild D55 Acoustic Guitar and get a great deal today!

www.guitarcenter.com

 

[Guild McSeven]

Hey guys,
FYI, I stopped by open chord music here in Knoxville and got to try the BT-258E eight string.
Sorry to report…..not my cup of tea! I’m sure some of you can make it sing. I have never cottoned up to baritone guitars.
Did take notice of the body size, fit and finish.
The jumbo size is very comfortable to play so I’m happy to report that. I had though it may have been too large for me.
The workmanship was flawless, just beautiful as can be!
Still hoping to get my hands on the D55 for my review. This may take a while
Cheers

 

[GC]

Just giving my 2 cents here, I still have my first Guild, a 1966 D-40, that I got new. I also have 2 D-55s, a 1974 and 1997. The Hoboken D-40 is much lighter than the later Guilds. The D-55s are very different from each other. The neck on the '74 is beefier than the '97. The body depth on the '97 (which is Fender era) is slight wider. Now I will say something that most of you would possibly disagree with. If I had to choose my favorite of the three it would be the '97. I know this because whenever I have to play a gig, it's the one I take. That's just my preference and the reason you should try as many Guilds from different incarnations of this company as you can. The model alone won't tell you much as your own senses will when you actually play them.

 

[Br1ck]

I live in th SF Bay area, and I doubt there is a dealer within 50 miles who stocks any USA Guilds. Guild dealers listed on the website have a few Asian imports if that. I think the online retailers may be back ordered too.

One thing I know, I've never played a D 55 I didn't like.

 

[chazmo]

I thought there used to be a dealer down in Silicon Valley somewhere, Br1ck (Palo Alto, maybe??)... Not 100% sure though. Maybe that was the Fender days.

 

[Norrissey]

Another D55 on the GC site.

Guild D55 Acoustic Guitar

For greater savings check out our Used Guild D55 Acoustic Guitar and get a great deal today!

www.guitarcenter.com