NGD D-55 New Hartford 2009

[richt54]

I received this guitar on Thursday via Fed Ex. I bought it off of Reverb. It was made September 8th, 2009 in New Hartford. It was the first guitar finished. The seller included some Elixir custom light strings because the strings on it were not good. I cleaned it up and restrung it. It seems to me that the guitars that I get take a day to wake up after travel. I will try to do a good comparison to my recently acquired 2005 D-55 Tacoma built Guild. The seller said he bought it and never played it so he waited to pass it on to someone who would. Logged a few hours so far. With the comparison I will try to make a video that demos the look and the sound. I wanted a D-55 now I have 2.

 

[GGJaguar]

That looks fantastic, congrats! Wow, 13 years old and barely been played. You'll need to break it in! Looking forward to the Tacoma vs New Hartford comparison.

 

[SFIV1967]

Simply wonderful! Congratulations! New Hartford had the best sunbursts!

Ralf

 

[davismanLV]

Oh man, that burst is INSANELY good!! What a beauty!! Congrats on this one!!

 

[richt54]

Simply wonderful! Congratulations! New Hartford had the best sunbursts!

Ralf

Thanks Ralf. And I know it has Adirondack braces too. A win-win-win. It has a beautiful burst top, adi braces and it sounds fantastic. It's all your fault , Ralf.

 

[richt54]

That looks fantastic, congrats! Wow, 13 years old and barely been played. You'll need to break it in! Looking forward to the Tacoma vs New Hartford comparison.

Thank you. I'll try to make it comprehensive.

 

[richt54]

Oh man, that burst is INSANELY good!! What a beauty!! Congrats on this one!!

Thanks DMLV. I do enjoy the dreadnaughts. I'm glad I kept my shoulders in good shape in my old age.

 

[richt54]

Just a quick note about the strap button on the upper bout. It's hard to image but there is a block about 3/4 inches wide about 1.5 inches long and maybe .5 inches deep that it attaches to. My Tacoma D-55 does not have one and I've noticed that later year NH's don't have one either.

 

[walrus]

Congratulations! Beautiful!

walrus

 

[twocorgis]

Just a quick note about the strap button on the upper bout. It's hard to image but there is a block about 3/4 inches wide about 1.5 inches long and maybe .5 inches deep that it attaches to. My Tacoma D-55 does not have one and I've noticed that later year NH's don't have one either.

That's where they put them in New Hartford, at least on the "better" guitars. The '09 D55 was like that, and so is my '10 F512. The Standard series has the button in the more typical treble side of the heel, at least both of mine do.

 

[SFIV1967]

That's where they put them in New Hartford, at least on the "better" guitars. The '09 D55 was like that, and so is my '10 F512.

2011 catalog picture of a 2010 guitar:



Ralf

 

[jeffcoop]

Congratulations, Rich. Between the two D55s and the two D50s you tried out, you're going to be the expert on Guild rosewood dreads from the past 17 years. What a great opportunity!

 

[richt54]

Congratulations, Rich. Between the two D55s and the two D50s you tried out, you're going to be the expert on Guild rosewood dreads from the past 17 years. What a great opportunity!

Thanks Jeff. Can’t say expert exactly but possibly a modicum of empirical wisdom.

 

[fronobulax]

I've noticed that later year NH's don't have one either.

Factory installed strap buttons evolved at NH. At the end they didn't offer a factory installed button unless the instrument also had factory installed electronics. The belief was that players who wanted factory electronics also wanted to play on stage and thus were more likely to play standing and want/need a strap button. No electronics meant the player was more likely to play seated and so didn't need a strap. I don't recall that the data behind this was shared.

 

[GGJaguar]

No electronics meant the player was more likely to play seated and so didn't need a strap.

A reasonable marketing assumption (that's save the company some $$).

 

[HeyMikey]

That’s a terrific find Rich. Essentially a new guitar with the benefit of some aging to it. I’m a big fan of the lighter made NH Guilds.

 

[Boneman]

HNGD! Glad to see it arrived safely. That is an excellent find, and it’s surely a winner. Although if he never played it, what happened to the 4th fret?

 

[richt54]

HNGD! Glad to see it arrived safely. That is an excellent find, and it’s surely a winner. Although if he never played it, what happened to the 4th fret?

The fret board is somewhat dry because he didn't use it. Most of the time a fretboard does not need oiling because of the oils from the fingers. It's not wear. If I would use some bore oil on it, which I should have done, that look would even out. I noticed that when I had the strings off and was cleaning it with the Dunlop cleaner. It had a small mark on the top and a small finish craze line. He wrote to me that he just kept it under his bed. I suspect it was dry.

 

[kostask]

richt54:

That guitar was played, and a lot. The original picture of the fingerboard is full of "gunk", which comes mostly from finger oil, dead skin cells, and whatever garbage was used to condition the fingerboard in the past. The owner of the guitar who sold you the guitar possibly didn't play it, but it was played at some point in the past, and the "gunk" on the fourth fret fingerboard wood is proof of that. The areas that don't have gunk are were the strings were fretted, and the strings serve to scrape off the grunge. The areas nearer to the frets have more gunk because the fret wire serves almost as a dam to accumulate the gunk. You should use something semi-soft (like the edge of an old credit card) to scrape that stuff off before using the bore oil on it.

P.S. Most fingerboard wear is from people with excessively long nails playing the guitar; the wear doesn't normally come from the strings abrading the fingerboard, it is from fingernails digging into the fretboard.

P.P.S. There is not enough finger oil to keep a fingerboard conditioned, especially if you are doing the right thing and washing your hands prior to playing the guitar. Conditioning a fingerboard with a proper oil (i.e. nothing with any silicones or petroleum distillates) even just once a year, or even twice a year, is all that is needed.

 

[richt54]

richt54:

That guitar was played, and a lot. The original picture of the fingerboard is full of "gunk", which comes mostly from finger oil, dead skin cells, and whatever garbage was used to condition the fingerboard in the past. The owner of the guitar who sold you the guitar possibly didn't play it, but it was played at some point in the past, and the "gunk" on

I don't agree with your statement that it has been played alot simply from the absence of associated fret wear. The person or people that owned played it and put it away without wiping it. It's a 13 year old guitar and probably has never had the fretboard oiled once.