Resurected 1970 D 35

[Br1ck]

Actually, I already bought up the entire market of D 35s and this thread is just seeding for the great price bump to come. I love conspiracy theories.


Seriously, now that I'm taking a good look at this guitar, it has a ton of bear claw in the top. I'm wondering if D 35s got all the "flawed " sitka. You can sort of see it in the upper and lower bout outside edges. I'm thinking in 1970 this was thought of as lower grade wood and diverted to the D 35. Anyone else have this on theirs?

Also, the tuners are proving to be functional, and the aesthetics of the strip tuners is growing on me. Kinda cheesey in a good way.

I also like the made in Hoboken label, even though it is a Westerly guitar. Shows that they were thinking no one would ever care.

 

[adorshki]

Seriously, now that I'm taking a good look at this guitar, it has a ton of bear claw in the top. I'm wondering if D 35s got all the "flawed " sitka. You can sort of see it in the upper and lower bout outside edges. I'm thinking in 1970 this was thought of as lower grade wood and diverted to the D 35. Anyone else have this on theirs?

Could explain why they made 'em at all when there was the D40 one notch up the price list, as has often been asked.
Also just noticed today on a '72 price list posted in txbumber's F612 thread, that in '72 they offered D35 in Ssunburst but D40 was Natural only. And we've heard that Sunburst was often used as a way to hide finish "flaws".

 

[Westerly Wood]

Hello wileypickett,

Actually the D-35 was discontinued during 1987 and the reason was that the people in charge felt there was no need to have a mahogany bodied dreadnought in between the D-25 that was listed at $ 650.00 and the D-40 at $ 795.00.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

And I would totally agree with those people. Talking 150 bucks. If someone really wanted a D40, 150 dollars is squeezable.

 

[LateStart]

Br1ck - anytime. Meet ½ way in the parking lot at Fry's and then take a trip to Gryphon to see how the other half lives...

 

[chazmo]

LS, Br1ck, next time I'm out there (prob. Dec. or Jan.) we should all meet up down there. We can grab adorshki and have a mini-Bay-Area LTG meet.

 

[Neal]

Wood, $150 for me in 1987 would have been a pretty tight "squeeze".

FWIW, the difference in today's dollars would be $318.74.

Neal

 

[adorshki]

Wood, $150 for me in 1987 would have been a pretty tight "squeeze".
FWIW, the difference in today's dollars would be $318.74.
Neal

Remember though those were list prices and "back in the day" heavy discounting was the norm, so I'm guessing "actual market difference" after some dickering would have meant less than $100.00 jump to go from an archback to a flatback.
Although truthfully until just recently I wouldn't have been able to understand why anybody'd want to.

 

[Br1ck]

LS, Br1ck, next time I'm out there (prob. Dec. or Jan.) we should all meet up down there. We can grab adorshki and have a mini-Bay-Area LTG meet.

Sounds like a plan. Mini LTG convention where we can further fuel our guitar lust.

LateStart, maybe we can talk Gryphon into one of their rooms. That way we could compare our snotless D 35s against their boutique fare.:tongue:

Played out with my D 35 for the first time last night. Sounded great with the Dazzos installed. Heck, LateStart, come on down and have some put in your keeper.

 

[adorshki]

Sounds like a plan. Mini LTG convention where we can further fuel our guitar lust.

I'd be puttin' up a Corona D40 Richie Havens against yer vintage pieces (unless ya wanna take on a cannon of a D25).
Got a sneaking suspicion it may be the runt of the litter, even though it's finally been finding its voice over the last year or so.
Or I mighta just been jaded by the 2 Westerlys, those 3 are pretty much all I've known for over 10 years now.
Saturday afternoons are my only good day , and even then I'm subject to surprise health problems (gout, primarily) but I DO know of a nice little park in Saratoga...

 

[Br1ck]

Look, let's not let this degenerate into a mine is better than yours contest, cause 6L6 will show up with his D 55, or horror of horrors, his D 45, his Mcguinn 7 string or his Collings D1 or one of his Collings D2s, or even maybe his F 312.

Then we're all screwed, so lets keep things civilized.

 

[twocorgis]

Look, let's not let this degenerate into a mine is better than yours contest, cause 6L6 will show up with his D 55, or horror of horrors, his D 45, his Mcguinn 7 string or his Collings D1 or one of his Collings D2s, or even maybe his F 312.

Bill has quite a collection, doesn't he?

To bring us back to hog dreads, I've always had Hoboken D40s on my radar after playing one that was light and resonant, and was a superb guitar. Problem is, my Martin D18 David Crosby Signature might be the best square shoulder dread I've ever played, so there wasn't any need for another one.

Also pertinent to the thread is that this guitar developed a dip in the neck between the 12th and 14th fret (with a hump there) recently, and I have it in for major rehab right now. The saddle was starting to get low anyway, and the bridge was starting to lift (although has been stable for the last 2+ years), so the time is right for a neck reset, refret and fretboard planing, along with a bridge reglue. The Crosby is the lightest Martin dread I've ever picked up, and that was at David's behest. I read in his Fretboard Journal interview that he told Martin "Build it light, don't build it to last 50 years", and that might explain why it needs all this work at only 13 years of age. When you pick it up and play it and it resonates through your whole body, you understand though!

And good on ya for bringing this one back to its original luster. The way I see it, a great hog dread is easily worth $1250.

 

[Br1ck]

The only reason a 66 D 18 didn't come home with me last spring is I came to my senses and realized that I had a hog dread coming soon. It was another flavor though. The Guild is much more singer oriented vs the D 18s forward bluegrass picking presence. Yes, weight vs durability will always be an issue we have to deal with. Though a fairly light build, my D 35 had no issues with structure in the box, but a lot of neck work was needed, and the bridge had been shaved as far as you could go.

 

[twocorgis]

The only reason a 66 D 18 didn't come home with me last spring is I came to my senses and realized that I had a hog dread coming soon. It was another flavor though. The Guild is much more singer oriented vs the D 18s forward bluegrass picking presence. Yes, weight vs durability will always be an issue we have to deal with. Though a fairly light build, my D 35 had no issues with structure in the box, but a lot of neck work was needed, and the bridge had been shaved as far as you could go.

My luthier wasn't at all sure what caused the dip in the neck on my guitar, and didn't see any obvious reason for it. The good thing is that he loves the guitar almost as much as I do, and he'll have it all apart so he'll figure it out! All I have to do is pay the bill! With a higher break angle I'm optimistic that it will sound even better, and I'm curious what that will be like.

 

[LateStart]

D35 Rat Rod Equivalent

if my D35 was a car it would be a 'rat rod' kinda like this; damaged, not original, bad ***..

 

[Br1ck]

I'd have thought more like a 60s farmer's pick up truck.

As for the price difference between a D 35 and a D 40, in the early 70s I saw many new D 35s bought by starving students to whom even $50 was a large chunk of change. That a D 35 was cheaper than a D 18 led to the perception we are still enjoying today of Guilds being the poor man's Martin. I believe Guild should have priced their guitars comparably and let them stand equally in the marketplace, but then we couldn't buy them cheaply today.

The more I look at the top of my D 35 (through the decades of wear) the more irregular grain I see. Pretty much the whole top has bear claw to some degree. I'd love to find a burst D 35 some time.

 

[adorshki]

Then we're all screwed, so lets keep things civilized.

Right, initially I thought you mentioned D35/D40 comparo, so was trying to "stay in the envelope", but if we did want to open it up, we gotta ask JCWU about his DV and JV 52's......
I would love to hear 6's F312 though.

 

[6L6]

"Look, let's not let this degenerate into a mine is better than yours contest, cause 6L6 will show up with his D 55, or horror of horrors, his D 45, his Mcguinn 7 string or his Collings D1 or one of his Collings D2s, or even maybe his F 312…"

LOL, Brick!

After 27 years of playing in a successful Oldies R&R Band, I decided to sell off a bunch of vintage equipment I'd bought over the years before it became "collectible". Blackface Fender amps, '53 Telecaster, '63 Strat, '63 Jaguar, '61 Jazzmaster, at least a half dozen Fender Custom Shop guitars… When our band finally hung it up, I took the proceeds and went almost totally acoustic. No regrets!

Very lucky to have a stash of fine instruments. But amongst our O/M gang, nothing compares to Harold's collection.

Bill

 

[GardMan]

And I would totally agree with those people. Talking 150 bucks. If someone really wanted a D40, 150 dollars is squeezable.

In January 1973, I "squeezed" another $40 (IIRC, from $225 to $265, prices w/o case) to get my D-35 instead of a (flat-backed) all mahogany D-25. The D-35 was over my budget... but I preferred its tone (and appearance). No way could I have stretched for a D-40 (which was another ~$60). The shop loaned me a chipboard case until my next paycheck, then I went back and got the hard case for another $35. I was 17...

 

[6L6]

Heard Brick play his resurrected D-35 at Cameron's Pub & Inn (Half Moon Bay, CA) last night and it looked/sounded fantastic!

Bill

 

[Zelja]

After seeing this & another thread on AGF that Br1ck was involved in, I'm becoming keen on trying out a Dazzo pickup on one of my Orpheums - either the Jumbo or 12 Fret Dead. Definitely going the SBT route (was thinking K&K or Schatten HFN) with an option to be paired with an internal mic.