I rember back in....I think it was '65 or '66, I ordered a D-28 and they told me I'd have to wait two years to get it. Martin was back-ordered that badly then, and they could not get enough of the right sized wood to do the two piece back. They offered me a new model for the same price if I'd take it. It was a D-35. You coud get 'em from the factory back then. I remember thinking the three-piece back was the wildest thing I'd ever seen. I bought it and three years later traded it for a volkswagon our Air Force Chaplin had. The VW is long gone, but the guitar plays on with his daughter. I'd love to see Guild do a D-55-TPB! To really get it right, they'd have to do a butterfly flip cut on the two back-sides and even the same on the center-back piece with a no-see seam so that the balance of sound would be equal on both sides of the guitar. Expensive to build, but wow! That coupled with the scalloped bracing would be interesting!
The rosewood D-100 (up-scaled D-55) had Maple and abolone bindings.
The headstock was multi-layered wood cut at an angle to show off the layers as if they were a binding. (The DV-72s have the same headstock except the "G" is in turquoise to match the "arrowheads" on the fretboard inlay and bridge) The inlay on the D-100 headstock is all abolone instead of mother of pearl on the D-55s. It has a hand-carved mahogany neck. The fretboard inlay was different than a D-55s, more along the lines of a Martin D-45. The AAA spruce tops on the D-100s and DV-72s were cut a special way to give the "Feathering" look when the lacquer was applied.
Willie Fritscher really knew how to pick those woods of tone! I wonder how many of 'em George Strait bought up?
Anybody know if Willie moved from Westerly to CA? Or did he just retire and stay in Westerly. One of the most knowledable persons I've ever met when it came to picking raw wood to build guitars.
Anyone know of a Custom Shop Deco Valencia Concert model floating around? Even an excellent condition F-30 or 40?