john_m
Junior Member
Hey, everyone! New member and new Guild owner here. I recently purchased a 79 Guild D35 for around 850. It’s my first good guitar. Hopefully, the only acoustic I’ll ever need! A little backstory, first. I started teaching myself how to play just a year ago. I used to play a Fender CD60ce, and it served me well, I learned a bunch from it. I felt like it was time for me to find a good guitar so I sold it back to the previous owner. I researched about the usual brands, Gibson, Martin, Taylor, etc, until I read (and heard) great things about Guild. I was sorta dead set on a Guild. “Sorta,” because in my country, it’s somewhat difficult to find a Guild. Or any decent acoustic guitar, for that matter, without having to pay an arm and a leg for it (a brand new Gibson J45 would cost around $3,400.) Plus, Guild’s aren’t that popular here. It’s a Martin and Taylor kind of country.
The sane thing to do was to buy used. I thought about getting a 95 Gibson J30 Montana that I found in our local online classifieds, but something was pulling me towards a Guild. I’ve only seen 3 used Guilds locally: a GAD 25, GAD 50, and a 78 D55. I considered getting the GAD 25, a model based on the D25 which was, at one time, my musical hero Ryan Adams’ guitar. But, I don’t know, something inside of me was saying “Go get something better and older!” The D55 is too expensive. I can’t justify buying a $1,600 guitar while I’m still practically a beginner. Beautiful guitar, though!
So I searched and searched. I found a guy at a local music website who was offering up his 79 Guild D35 for trade to various pro audio stuff that was for sale. He listed his number and I texted him, asked if he would consider selling his guitar instead. He said he would, for the price that I got it for. This was back in October, I think. I told him that if it’d still available by December, I’d get it from him. Sight unseen! He didn’t actually post an ad for it on the music site. I asked him if he could email me pictures, but he said that it would be better if I see it in person. He did say that it has scratches and the usual dings. It also had work done, the bracing had to be reglued. The luthier he had it worked on is one of the best here, so I was fine with that. “It‘s been played,” he said. And that’s the kind of guitar I want, something that’s been played.
Anyway, December came, and I had to use the money from my guitar fund for necessities. I contacted him again last week of January to ask if the guitar was still available. It still was, but a friend of his has expressed interest in getting it! By then, I was still halfway from the amount, so I sold my tablet, a couple of things I wasn’t using anymore, and several limited edition CDs that I had from one of my favorite artists (don‘t ask who, it‘s embarrassing!) I really really wanted the guitar! When I finally reached the amount, I texted him and told him that I have the cash in hand and that I was buying it from him. I asked for his real name cos I didn’t like closing a deal with someone using screen names. I googled his name, turns out he’s a pro musician, a guitarist for a fairly known local World Music band with a couple of CDs out.
A week later, I went up to his place to pick up the guitar. When he opened the case, I think I gasped, or something. Haha! The thing was beautiful! It wasn’t like the one I’ve seen on photos online, it looks like it’s been darkened by time already. He said that it’s been gigged and recorded with. I played a couple of short tunes. However, the temporary strings, .9s, installed wasn’t really making the guitar live up to its full potential. But I felt it there. It was something else. Man, I was in love with it.
We shook hands on it, chatted for a bit. He showed me his other guitars, a jumbo Guild (forgot the model,) a 40’s Epiphone archtop, and an old Gibson ES 335. I was drooling! He played me a recording of the stuff he’s working on with his band, songs he recorded using the D35. It was amazing. It’s definitely something to aspire to.
I’ve always wanted to be a musician, just never had the time for it, or life got in the way, or _______<---- insert reason here. Now, I dunno, I can feel this newfound energy, an inspiration. Is it the D35? The story behind it? Maybe. I’ve read about people getting inspired to play more when they have a new guitar that sounds spectacular. Maybe I’m one of those people. I just hope the “professional mojo” the guitar has rubs off on me a bit.
Sorry, it's not the best photo. I have yet to do a proper NGD Photoshoot! :lol:
The sane thing to do was to buy used. I thought about getting a 95 Gibson J30 Montana that I found in our local online classifieds, but something was pulling me towards a Guild. I’ve only seen 3 used Guilds locally: a GAD 25, GAD 50, and a 78 D55. I considered getting the GAD 25, a model based on the D25 which was, at one time, my musical hero Ryan Adams’ guitar. But, I don’t know, something inside of me was saying “Go get something better and older!” The D55 is too expensive. I can’t justify buying a $1,600 guitar while I’m still practically a beginner. Beautiful guitar, though!
So I searched and searched. I found a guy at a local music website who was offering up his 79 Guild D35 for trade to various pro audio stuff that was for sale. He listed his number and I texted him, asked if he would consider selling his guitar instead. He said he would, for the price that I got it for. This was back in October, I think. I told him that if it’d still available by December, I’d get it from him. Sight unseen! He didn’t actually post an ad for it on the music site. I asked him if he could email me pictures, but he said that it would be better if I see it in person. He did say that it has scratches and the usual dings. It also had work done, the bracing had to be reglued. The luthier he had it worked on is one of the best here, so I was fine with that. “It‘s been played,” he said. And that’s the kind of guitar I want, something that’s been played.
Anyway, December came, and I had to use the money from my guitar fund for necessities. I contacted him again last week of January to ask if the guitar was still available. It still was, but a friend of his has expressed interest in getting it! By then, I was still halfway from the amount, so I sold my tablet, a couple of things I wasn’t using anymore, and several limited edition CDs that I had from one of my favorite artists (don‘t ask who, it‘s embarrassing!) I really really wanted the guitar! When I finally reached the amount, I texted him and told him that I have the cash in hand and that I was buying it from him. I asked for his real name cos I didn’t like closing a deal with someone using screen names. I googled his name, turns out he’s a pro musician, a guitarist for a fairly known local World Music band with a couple of CDs out.
A week later, I went up to his place to pick up the guitar. When he opened the case, I think I gasped, or something. Haha! The thing was beautiful! It wasn’t like the one I’ve seen on photos online, it looks like it’s been darkened by time already. He said that it’s been gigged and recorded with. I played a couple of short tunes. However, the temporary strings, .9s, installed wasn’t really making the guitar live up to its full potential. But I felt it there. It was something else. Man, I was in love with it.
We shook hands on it, chatted for a bit. He showed me his other guitars, a jumbo Guild (forgot the model,) a 40’s Epiphone archtop, and an old Gibson ES 335. I was drooling! He played me a recording of the stuff he’s working on with his band, songs he recorded using the D35. It was amazing. It’s definitely something to aspire to.
I’ve always wanted to be a musician, just never had the time for it, or life got in the way, or _______<---- insert reason here. Now, I dunno, I can feel this newfound energy, an inspiration. Is it the D35? The story behind it? Maybe. I’ve read about people getting inspired to play more when they have a new guitar that sounds spectacular. Maybe I’m one of those people. I just hope the “professional mojo” the guitar has rubs off on me a bit.
Sorry, it's not the best photo. I have yet to do a proper NGD Photoshoot! :lol:
