First Guild! First Adirondack top!

[kydave]

Dave has Adirondack! New Guild D-50 Bluegrass Special in the house!
(this from a confirmed Martin owner for most of the past 4 decades with four still in the house)

I'd been kicking the idea around for a while. A local shop has had a NOS (March 2006 by serial no.) Guild for a while now. The list was marked about $300 less than current for starters. It had been marked down to $1795 originally (around 70% list), but for a while during this economy it has been marked down to $1349 for several weeks, if not months. Meanwhile the list has climbed to $2899. I offered them a straight trade for a guitar of mine and walked home with it yesterday! I'm just a dread kinda guy, I guess. I'm looking forward to seeing how it ages with some serious picking put into it.

For the unfamiliar, this is an American made dread with Adirondack top & braces over East Indian Rosewood. BTW, Guild's specs online say rosewood bridge, but the general description (and reality) show ebony... Probably preaching to the choir here, though.

The rosewood color is more like the full pic shows than the back closeup. It's a darker rosewood. The coloration on the top is about right; not super pale, but no aging toner listed in specs. Then again it's been sitting under the shop lights for 3 years. The grain is a little wider than I'd prefer, but the deal was good enough over all that I can live with it.

Sounds GREAT! It has the bottom rosewood gives as the back growls against your belly as you hit a fat open chord, but it has the individual note clarity that some uniniated attribute only to mahogany. I'm a firm believer that a good rosewood dread does everything a top end D-18 style guitar does - AND MORE!

Quickly done sound clips:

http://www.davidtrabue.com/GuildClips.mp3

 

[killdeer43]

Dave,

Great pics, good-looking D-50, and super sounds! A real late evening treat! Might have to replay those sound clips before I hit the sack.

Thanks for sharing,
Joe

 

[wa3jpg]

Dave - We have to stop meeting like this. I've been seeing you on all the forums I visit.

You're giving me GAS. I even stopped at our local Guild dealer to see if they had one. Luckily, they were closed. But then, I have time to go there tomorrow!

Clark

 

[kydave]

Were the original Bluegrass Special and Bluegrass Jubilee guitars Adi topped?

 

[6L6]

Congrats again on a great purchase! I played that D-50 at Gelb many times and I KNOW it's a great one!

6

 

[dapmdave]

Very nice! Looks great, sounds great. And a great deal, too.

That's pretty much the whole Guild combo-plate, isn't it?

Dave

 

[lroyb]

Congrats Dave!

I played a nice Tacoma built D50 at a local shop last week, yes they are sweet.

Good to see you here too

This is one of the few Forums I can get to at work, since they blocked the Yuku sites. It's the best no doubt 8) A fun place....

 

[steverok]

I don't know anything about Adirondack, so I can't share your excitement about that, however, I do know that your new guitar has a "proper" Guild pickguard. Hopefully the new factory will get a clue about this important detail.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Hi Dave.
I see that you found the LTG site.
Your sound clip is great.
Looks like your Martins are going to have some heavy competition for playing time.
Isn't it great to find a new guitar that just speaks to you?
By the way,
I like the Guild Pickguard!
TMG aka L20A

 

[Graham]

Very nice soundclip Dave.

Post some stuff in the members section. :mrgreen:

 

[J45dale]

That D50 sounds great!!
Bass, mid range, and highs all ring out. Great sustain.
Its that famous Guild balance thing.
Have you tried it in a Bluegrass jam ? Report back on results.
Dale.

 

[kydave]

Post some stuff in the members section.
Graham

You got it! Check out "Church Street Blues" over in that section.

 

[bluepen]

Good job...very nice price.
I love my D-50 that I got a few months ago. After swapping a few sets a strings, it really sings to my liking. I went to a buddy's this weekend (a long time HD-28 owner) and he was BLOWN AWAY by the D-50. He's played several of my other guitars but has never reacted the way he did to that Bluegrass Special.

Enjoy!

 

[chazmo]

Dave, I played most of the Tacoma-era 6 string dreads at the music store over the last few years. The D-50 was my favorite of the bunch. You done good.

I don't know if the Adirondack top has an impact on the tone, or if they did something different with the bracing (from the other Ds), but the Tacoma D-50 is a keeper.

 

[Jesse_Dylan]

What a beautiful guitar. Sounds awesome, too.

Now if only it were in that old green finish the Westerly factory used to put on D25s!

Edit: PS, your playing sounded great!

Also, to Sefton, the poster below me (there's something new--replying in a previous post!)--I don't think there is a ton of difference between a D50 and a D55. But keep in mind, a D55 would use a "AAA" spruce top, I believe (whatever that means), and this D50, on the other hand, has an Adirondack spruce top, which is I'm sure quite a bit fancier than whatever a "AAA" spruce top would be.

Great guitars either way, but Adirondack is special.

 

[Sefton419]

I have to say...

I am impressed with how similar the tone is between your D50 and my D55. I am starting to wonder what the difference between the two really is (Besides the fancy mother-o-pearl, and Guild label)

I am very impressed!

 

[kydave]

Re: Spruce.

I'm not familiar with Guild grading standards on wood, but if they are at all like Martin the grading is referring to cosmetics. The AAA spruce (Sitka) would be the most perfect looking, probably with tight even grain. In Martins the Adirondack has different grades (fewer) than the Sitka, due to the fact that there is less selection available in Adi than Sitka - not enough trees of the proper size. Adi used on modern guitars, including Martins, nowadays is frequently not all that attractive compared to old guitars, and has wider, uneven grain that would not have been used or would have been relegated to cheaper models in the old days.

If you can post a close up of your D-55 top I'd appreciate it.

Here's the top on my D-50.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Jesse_Dylan]

That's a good point--the grain in wood doesn't necessarily have any correlation with its tonal capabilities. Some of the gnarliest looking wood can have the sweetest sound.

Edit--altho I have to say, the top on your D-50 is beautiful.

 

[kydave]

Sefton:

Other than cosmetics, the main difference is the D-55 has Sitka spruce and the (new) D-50 Bluegrass Special has Adirondack spruce. Other than that, they're both rosewood body dreads with spruce tops.

These tops are my idea of even, tight spruce! The top one (my old D-28) has about 1/16" as the wide grain. The Special Edition below is as nice with a lot of silking, too. I'll try to get a better pic and also a closeup of my Custom Shop 00-28H.

 

[valleyguy]

I have to say...

I am impressed with how similar the tone is between your D50 and my D55. I am starting to wonder what the difference between the two really is (Besides the fancy mother-o-pearl, and Guild label)

I am very impressed!

If you sat down and played the two side by side you'd find a big difference in sound. I know I did. Been out visiting shops with both trying to decide which one I preferred. In every case I preferred the sound of the D50 to the D55. Like the looks of the D55, though. Of course I'm in a flatpicking period right now. Four years ago I might have preferred the D55, nice strummer. i bought the D50, and my adi has pretty wide grain similar to Dave's with darker "runs". If I bought it for looks, I'd have a D55.