Old Guild Guy ..... and an old friend

[saintjb]

Hi folks, I am new here but not new to Guild. I came across this forum about three weeks ago, and found gold. The quality and knowledge of the forum and it's members repectively is the reason I registered, along with the fact that I am an old Guild guy. My first Guild was a D25 when I graduated from High School in 69'. (yah I'm that old). They were a new model then, and I cherished that thing all through college. Anyway to make a long story short when I decided to go on to graduate school I had to sell everything I own, including the D25, but....it was the last thing to go. Now that I am ready to retire, I had a need to bring back some old times, and I had an itch to get another D25. I have played many others in between but my memories of the D25 will not die. When I found this forum I found that there are a few other D25 enthusiasts around too. Anyway, a week ago I was in an old music store in town, and happened to wander into a back storage room. I don't know how this guy operates successfully. Mixed in with a bunch of cases and boxes was a Guild case. I opened it up and it was a brand new D25. I have seen these things in different colors but this one was all midnite blue. It still had the cover on the pickguard and the tags from Fenders Corona company. The label inside said hand crafted in Corona USA. We put some new strings on it, and he did a partial set up, but that was enough for me. Bringing it out to good light the color was brilliant and there wasn't a flaw on it. After much paper shuffling we were both happy at $600. The serial number on this is CPN000470. It is marked on the inside label and also branded into the back of the headstock. I do know that Corona was where they went after the Fender buy out, and then to Tacoma. Sorry for the long winded post, but I do have a question after all this. How long were they at Corona, and was their quality as good as Rhode Island. Also any help with the geneology through this serial number would be great, like when was it made. Thanks for listening to this ramble but I feel like a kid again.
Best,
JB

 

[cjd-player]

The quality and knowledge of the forum and it's members

:?: Are you on the same LTG site that I visit :? ????

Welcome to the nut house.

You can be our patron saint :mrgreen:

 

[GardMan]

Welcome JB,
Hans Moust, the "Guru" of all things Guild, can chime in with the build date from your SN. I also started with my first Guild when I graduated from HS, my '72 D-35. Purchased in Jan '73, and still my prized possesion. Chose the D-35 over a D-25 in '73, and found this site while searching at this late date for a D-25 like the one I passed over. Two years later, and I have five, and hoping to make it six before the years out, Guild dreads!

As far as Corona quality... my understanding is that the good Coronas are as good as anything made in any of the Guild factories along the way, but that there were some issues with quality control... typical problems were premature finish "checking" and lifting of the bridge. If yours isn't showing evidence of these problems, and looks and sounds good to you, it sounds like you got a nice deal.

Again, welcome to LTG... hold on and enjoy the ride!
Dave

 

[Scratch]

Welcome aboard, Saint. Is your s/n stamped on a label on the back of the headstock, and on a rectangular label that is attached to the round Corona label inside the soundhole?

 

[dreadnut]

Welcome to LTG and welcome back to the Guild family! While there were some Coronas with problems, I think most of them were identified and sold as seconds. If you found a new old stock one with no issues, I would think it's a good one. Sounds like you got a good deal on it Midnight blue, too - not too many of those out there, I bet. Pictures, Pictures!

If it looks and sounds good to you, that defines the quality...

 

[chazmo]

JB, welcome to LTG, and congrats on your return to Guild.

 

[coastie99]

Nice story JB.......... what a lucky find !

A very warm welcome from down here in Newsyland.

Only issue I've heard about with Corona-built acoustics is the afore-mentioned finish checking.

2003 Guild catalogue shows the D25 in 6 finishes, including "Sapphire Blue Transparent". Be glad that your "find" isn't Seafoam Green !

 

[hansmoust]

The serial number on this is CPN000470. It is marked on the inside label and also branded into the back of the headstock.

Hello saintjb,

Welcome! The serial number of your D-25 should be CPM000470 but I would not be surprised if the written number on the label would say CPN000470. Mistakes like that were not uncommon.
There are still some 'blank spots' in my knowledge of Corona serial numbers but I believe that your D-25 is from the year 2003.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[markus]

Welcome!

I registered here exactly one year ago and I love it! Learning more about guilds every day …
Markus

 

[capnjuan]

Hi saintjb and welcome! CJ

 

[saintjb]

Welcome aboard, Saint. Is your s/n stamped on a label on the back of the headstock, and on a rectangular label that is attached to the round Corona label inside the soundhole?

Thanks for the responses. Scratch, to answer your question. The serial number is written on the round Corona label itself in the sound hole (1 label), and it is also actually stamped into the wood on the back of the headstock.

Best,
JB

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Hey JB!

 

[krysh]

welcome from germany

 

[Scratch]

Welcome aboard, Saint. Is your s/n stamped on a label on the back of the headstock, and on a rectangular label that is attached to the round Corona label inside the soundhole?

Thanks for the responses. Scratch, to answer your question. The serial number is written on the round Corona label itself in the sound hole (1 label), and it is also actually stamped into the wood on the back of the headstock.

Best,
JB

Sure would like to see a picture or two, JB. Sounds like it is mighty pretty...

 

[saintjb]

The serial number on this is CPN000470. It is marked on the inside label and also branded into the back of the headstock.

Hello saintjb,

Welcome! The serial number of your D-25 should be CPM000470 but I would not be surprised if the written number on the label would say CPN000470. Mistakes like that were not uncommon.
There are still some 'blank spots' in my knowledge of Corona serial numbers but I believe that your D-25 is from the year 2003.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Hello Hans, thank you for sharing your knowledge. After a closer inspection and playing around with my bi-focals the S/N is indeed CPM000470. Do you know what the numbers stand for or are they just a random set of numbers? Thanks to all for the warm welcome.

JB

 

[bdeclee]

Hey Saintjb,
Pictures! We want pictures! I haven't seen any of those midnight blue (or seafoam green, for that matter) Guilds. You can post pictures to a Photobucket account (it's free), and then copy & paste the link below the picture into your post on this forum. Voila! The photo will appear here.

Oh yeah... and welcome!

 

[marcellis]

Great story & welcome from a fellow D-25 lover.
(Check out the restoration project in my sig).

The D-25 needs a webpage guys. I can donate webspace.

Or someone buy a domain and let's get going with the Guild D-25 site.
It's one of history's greatest dreadnought guitars. It deserves it.

 

[instanthuman]

...one of the great dreadnaught guitars...and I have one! Where is the gloating smilie when you need one?