NG uild D...... ..First Vintage!

[krugjr]

Pretty new to Guild, 3 months or so.....you all steered me toward the F50-R, new 2014.......perfect guitar for me! kept thinking about the D55, D50 and the D40...once again LTG schooled me, and a NOS 2010 D40 BG "found me" and I love it.......but I had read (heard) enough about the older Guilds that I kept an eye on some of those for sale in the shape and wood combos of interest....along came a listing here FS/FT by Kitarkus for his '78 D50.....Aug 7th posted with pictures and info.....I'm the one that bought it.....arrived a few days ago but I've had a busy work week and have only started to see what it's all about.....I'll report more in the next week or so.....last month I played that new D55 and reported on it...didn't buy, partly because of sound and partly because of price......so the price and the "vintage curiosity" of the '78 drew me to it.....Guild is soooooooo different than the Taylor world I've lived in for years that it takes me a while to adjust....just like my other two Guilds, we'll see how/if I warm up to this beautiful D50...it is everything Kitarkus said it is.....I've stuck my toe into the Guild vintage world......time will tell if I take the plunge! (as most of you know, I'm not a collector...the D50 would have to replace one of mine, and that could be tough!) back to work.....

 

[txbumper57]

Good Luck with it Krug! Look forward to the analysis after a few hours of getting acquainted!

 

[Rayk]

Sweet audio please.

 

[krugjr]

thanks, Bumper.....definitely will......Rayk, if only this 65 yr old could post audio??? haha......I've owned recording studios in the past and to think technology has raced past me to where I've officially entered the "don't have a clue" status.....but I've played for 50+ yrs, so I will load you up with cliches and hopefully that will work.....I have learned that the neck is about what I have with my others, just fine....knew it was "heavy built" but nothing uncomfortable for this jumbo sort of guy...volume and sustain are a 10 +....so that pretty much leaves tone and over all sound to evaluate in the coming days....put D'Addarios med non coated on first, just breaking them in...will go with John Pearse next....my favs

 

[davismanLV]

krugjr, just enjoy your guitars! Guild makes amazing guitars. Taylor makes some really good guitars too. If they all sounded alike, wouldn't that be a boring a$$ world?? Work your strings, you've obviously got a clue. Have fun. Keep us posted!! :encouragement:

 

[krugjr]

will do, Tom.....the EJ19 Bluegrass probably wasn't the best string choice to start with....I'm wanting to warm it up a bit and soften the mids a little (for my rhythm strumming) and those are still a pretty bright string.....just had an extra set on the shelf from string collecting last yr so I threw them on to start...came with strings a few months old.....after playing that new D55 last month, I knew the over all tone concept of the D55/D50, with strong mids and highs and tons of volume, and the brightness Taylors are known for, but I have wondered if the D50 from the 70s would be "aged" to the point of being somewhat like my F50-R and a tad warmer than it is..... I probably should have just put on the JPs right away.....just ordered six more sets of JP mediums..... PBs, 80/20 Bronze and the New Mediums (first time trying those)...gonna start with the New Mediums, with the lighter strings in the middle and the warmer tone of JPs, it could be a great combination with the D50......man, I can see why they called them the original bluegrass guitars...I don't know when Guild started making the D50 BG, but I can't imagine the newer D50 BGs being any "stronger" than this '78.....I'm starting to A/B it with my D40 BG, finding them somewhat similar in tone...whereas my F50-R remains in a class all by itself! I will say, just like when I got the F50-R and the D40 BG, this D50 sounds better to me every time I take it out of it's case .....I put a pick to my new guitars and get what I call the Guild Grin!

 

[SFIV1967]

Krug, you sound like a kid in a candy store! Great posts! It's so much fun comparing various guitars.
There was a great and long YouTube video (which is now deleted unfortunatelly) where a shop in Florida (Wolfe Guitars) had 3 brand new New Hartford D-55 guitars and he tested them strumming and finger picking and each of the three sounded so much different, even if they were all new.
Ralf

 

[Rayk]

thanks, Bumper.....definitely will......Rayk, if only this 65 yr old could post audio??? haha......I've owned recording studios in the past and to think technology has raced past me to where I've officially entered the "don't have a clue" status.....but I've played for 50+ yrs, so I will load you up with cliches and hopefully that will work.....I have learned that the neck is about what I have with my others, just fine....knew it was "heavy built" but nothing uncomfortable for this jumbo sort of guy...volume and sustain are a 10 +....so that pretty much leaves tone and over all sound to evaluate in the coming days....put D'Addarios med non coated on first, just breaking them in...will go with John Pearse next....my favs

I can help ya or maybe someone else here to get started with simple recording at a very low cost and that just being a mic and a interface . The Daw is free . Just give a holler

 

[krugjr]

Ralf.....thanks for response.....yeah, guitar to guitar, and brand to brand, each one can be so different.....believe I got two gems with my first Guilds.....my D40 BG, adi spruce and mahogany, I love the sound...so I "naturally assume" the D50, spruce and rosewood, is going to be warmer and have the mid range dip RW is famous for (my Taylor brain and ears) but just like GEOGUY said to me a while back, "you'll find a Guild mahogany dread warmer than the D55"....I remember that statement, and it is very true with mine.....the construction of the D55/D50, no matter the wood, accents the mids over the lows, with volume and sustain galore...to me a flat pickin', finger pickin', lead pickin' monster.....diff than my F50-R for sure, where as my D40 BG is diff than the F50-R (pleasantly so) but at the same time has the beautiful warmth, clarity and bottom end which is similar to the F50-R.....so we'll see what the JP strings do to the D50 when they arrive.....this I can say absolutely.. experiencing the '78 D50 for a few hours has helped me see how perfectly the F50-R and D40 BG fit me and my rhythm style of playing.....my gratitude goes out to those of you who helped me end up with those two guitars.....and we'll let the vintage D50 story continue to unfold.....

 

[krugjr]

Rayk.....appreciate the offer.......will free up so time "soon" and get a hold of you for a lesson.....

 

[bobouz]

After owning four Guilds in the '70s, I've circled back to them this year & fell in love all over again.

The capper came on the evening of my 64th birthday this year, when I spotted a '76 G-37 blonde for a killer price. Paid extra to have it one-day shipped, and couldn't have asked for a finer birthday present. It plays beautifully & has the punchy maple tone I love for fingerpicking. This guitar has reinforced all the good things I remembered about my '70s Guilds, which imho ranked at the absolute top when assessing quality & value in the new guitar market.

Get to know your new-to-you '70s Guild, and I hope you find the same sweet degree of satisfaction !!

 

[krugjr]

OK, so the EJ19 Bluegrass strings came off...still too bright, and the light upper strings just didn't allow a balanced sound for me.....put on the John Pearse New Mediums (first time using those on any guitar) and they're not completely broke in yet but already a little warmer sound than the D'Addarios.......BUT.....like I said earlier, this Vintage Guild would have to wow me enough to replace my F50-R (no way) or my D40 BG (I doubt it) or it has to find a new home.....I don't really care about "vintage"...don't really care about how "beautiful" it is...or how easily it "plays".....it's all about "sound and tone", matched with the way I play rhythm and strum my chords, with percussion and some light pounding of the strings and bridge with my pick hand, and the D50 doesn't come across in those areas as well as my other two Guilds.....I don't know how mine compares to other D50s, haven't played any (just that new D55 a while back) so mine could be diff than yours.....I picture someone who plays, or jams, with other unplugged acoustic pickers blowing the Martins and Gibsons off the stage with this "midrange cannon".....volume, sustain and a tone to cut through any mix.....great neck, with low action.....but like some of you have coached me up, "krug, if you pick it up and it doesn't speak to you right out of the gate, don't think it's gonna wow you later".....and that's what I'm thinkin', it's a '78, it's "played in", it won't change much from this point on.....I keep talking about "my style" of playing because it's important for me to stress this guitar has no issues......something about the "construction" back in the 70s seems so solid and heavy that the best sound seems to come out of it when "playing the strings" vs "pounding on the body".....does that make sense to any of you rhythm players? or flat pickers? I can strum a chord and just hit the strings, and it has "a certain amount of bottom" in that balance.........then I hit that same chord using my "percussion style" (expecting all that extra bottom to unfold) and the balance is still pretty much the same....that's the best way I can describe it, and it took a week to come up with that.....I've played that rhythm style for soooooooooo many years, it's the way I judge a guitar for my playing...the F50-R and the D40 BG give me both ways to draw sound out of them, the D50 not so much......it probably sounds and plays exactly how a 1978 D50 is supposed to, how would I know? another few days with the JP PBs breaking in a little more, listening and learning a little more about "Guild", then I'll see if someone at LTG thinks this D50 will "speak to them"! all feedback welcomed as usual.....

 

[Rayk]

Though I only have a f212 in Guild it sounds like you need one to kick it up a notch when you do right ? My Blueridge is like that while all the time it's like trying to hold back the horse power she wants to run but will tolerate a trot .

But it sounds like a good recording guitar staying focused and in control . Does she support good over tones or is that the issue lack there of or just subtle ?

Your D40 Adirondack top ?

I'd sure t like to hear the d50

 

[krugjr]

Rayk.....the D50 doesn't seem to have as many overtones as my F50-R, but it has more than the D40 BG...somewhere in the middle of the two as far as overtones go....(reserve the right to revise that answer after JPs break in and a little more playing)...yes, the D40 BG has the redwood/adi top...it's part of the reason I've been so pleasantly surprised with the "warmth" of the D40...figured the adi top would accent the mids and take away bottom, but it just gives it lots of volume and headroom, and still plenty of low end, even for a hog back and sides...

like I said earlier, I have this "Taylor" mindset...mahogany = bump in mids....rosewood = dip in mids.......it's the way they're built and braced......so I'm playing my D40 with "plenty" of bottom, and I figure this aged D50 "must" have even more pronounced bottom along with that Guild woody, balanced, clear sound....some early remarks when I first started shopping Guild here at LTG even said the D50s and D55s had more bottom than the F50-Rs........maybe that's the rare find of an individual guitar with unique tones.....so I had some preconceived notions before the D50 arrived.....still don't know if I have the time for that recording lesson yet, but if you list the equipment I would need, I could at least see if I own any of it...I pretty much sold all my recording eqip when I got out of that business....

 

[krugjr]

for those who didn't check it out before, the FS/FT listing from 8/07 by Kitarkus is still up.....check his photos in shutterfly in his opening post...she is beautiful!

 

[Rayk]

First off let me say sorry for I forget a lot and for some reason on my phone I thought this was new thread guess I took my eyes off the screen as it opened and totally forgot that we already mentioned recording or anything of the first page ..... Eh what's that sunny ? Lol

Anything I say about my opinions are far left field compared the folks here so grain of salt when I say .... Guilds back in the day when I was just starting out I always heard and thought they were great guitars .

I'm wondering if the tone is the 70's thing , just the way it was back then built solid to sound good for the time period .

We know the build has developed and improved over the yrs and string techknowlogy has gone BAM !

Modern tones differ from 70's tone right . Now many will argue the point but I was at GC and they had this old vintage Gibson and two guys that play bluegrass rocky stuff picked up and played it they jammed darn good very talented the one guy I was talking with the guitar player was speaking volumes about the Gib .

Now who am I in the scheme of things but it sounded ok but not as great as he was making out to be . I think it's more a vintage vibe then actual great tonal bliss .

So maybe that guild is the same great for the 70's thing but maybe not hitting on POW! In your face thing many expect today.

I don't have enough experience as some but bluegrass in the old days played by those guitars of the sameish years matched .

We have Goldhill bluegrass every weekend and lots of these folks have old Martians not seen a Gib but they sound good and balanced there hog bodies . Have not seen a rosewood .

But over all they fit the bill but they don't Wow or pop out and I'm right next to them as they play . Now I'm not cutting anything down just wondering .... Vintage is vintage. I want an old car because they look cool but they most likely don't have power steering and A/C nor the power/speed of newer cars there big tanks and you don't wanna be hit by one !

I have an 80 Mercedes 280d rides like sitting on cloud she gets ya there but slowly lol

My hunt for next guitar is going be very difficult kindly Neil is going to help me out with that and in turn he can get hands dirty on my Blueridge funny thing is he might .... My Gosh that thing sucks one never knows . Now as far as my F212XLCE I'm very impressed with its even tone and her controlled over tones but to tell the truth she just leaves me wanting more !

So I'm jonesing to play a 512 that's the sound I like that rosewood bliss over to take down an airplane haha . But my next 6 string needs to compliment the Blueridge not mimic her and that's were Neil comes in .

Ok boy did I go one I need a beer now lol

I'll pm you if you don't get it let me know here ok I'll send it today . I'll keep it real short hahaha ....

 

[Neal]

So, I have several '70's era Guild dreads, one all-hog ('71 D-25), one hog/sitka ('73 D-35) and one maple/sitka (G-37). I used to own two rosewood/sitka Westerlies, a '77 D-50 and a '76 F-50R as well, but both got sold.

I liked the D-50, and liked the F-50R even more, but both lost a Darwinian battle with the New Hartford instruments I acquired (F-47R and Orpheum 12-fret 000 RW), both rosewood/Adirondack. Maybe it is the difference in tops, maybe advances in guitar-making, maybe because the new Guilds are a lot lighter, maybe all of the above. Or maybe I just got two good ones. No way of knowing for sure.

But I do know one thing. The New Hartford Guilds I own all sounded great on Day 1, and continue to improve in tone with every strum.

Interestingly enough, the vintage Guild I pick up most often is the D-25. It has a lot of soul.

Neal

 

[krugjr]

thanks, Neal, appreciate those thoughts.....the few months I've been around LTG I've taken notice of people's "signatures" and there are many members that only own and play the vintage Guilds, so I know they've always been great guitars....would be interesting to have an accurate count of all the Guilds owned by all the members, and see how many of each year's production are owned at this present time.....what I do know is my two New Hartford Guilds rival all the Martins, Gibsons and Taylors I've owned and played and they're keepers...my two years of research (after 50 yrs of playing) paid off nicely to end up with my favorite Taylor, the 2013 516e FLTD (hog/european spruce), it's new buddy, my 2010 D40 BG (hog/redwood spruce), and my 2014 F50-R (rosewood/sitka spruce) which is the best Martin, Gibson and Taylor guitars I've ever played all wrapped up into one fine, fine package, and then one step better....it's a Guild! now get on with the music, krug....there are people that need to be touched!

 

[Rayk]

LOL one fine ending krug.