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.....