NGD Westerly D-55

MLBob

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Have been looking for a D-55 for a while. Decided that the right one would probably find me if I took my time and was patient.

I was right. Mom always said I could fall in the manure and come up with a gold watch! This D-55 was an original-owner, case queen. Hans verified that it was built in 1999 and one of the last D-55's out of Westerly, RI by a pretty good margin (Thanks, Hans!).
Best part of the whole transaction was that the owner didn't feel comfortable about shipping it from Michigan and instead offered to drive it down to me in SW Ohio. When he arrived, we went directly to the shop of my luthier, Justin Kennedy, where Justin gave it a thorough going over before we sealed the deal.
Outside of a little tarnish on the tuners and a set of strings that looked as if they hadn't been changed in a LONG time, I couldn't believe the primo condition of the guitar and how pretty the rosewood was. Not a mark or ding on it! Took it home to humidify (just in case), oil the fretboard, put on new strings, and polish it up a bit. Justin will get it back for a full set-up.
Some pics :
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adorshki

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Mom always said I could fall in the manure and come up with a gold watch!
Well heck judging by this score do ya think you could fall down again and find me a Timex of an F47Rce?
There's that luscious AAA silking again:
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Ya done good!
 

dreadnut

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Nice score! I'm in Michigan, why didn't I see that one?
 

HeyMikey

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Stunning! A proverbial time capsule. Congratulations and a very good lesson about having the patience for the right one to present itself.
 

richardp69

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SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

sailingshoes72

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That is really a beautiful guitar in excellent condition. Congratulations! It's cool that the original owner was willing to drive the guitar down to you rather than risking any damage during shipping. And, yes, the rosewood is very pretty. I like the abalone rosette. :encouragement:
 

JohnW63

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In high school, that was my dream guitar. Awesome example of it. If I hadn't gotten one from a Forum member a little while back, I would be SO envious !
 

davismanLV

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Bob... I've been waiting for this one and now that it's here.... I'm MORE IMPRESSED THAN EVER!!! HOLY CRAP!! That's an epic D55!! Congrats, my friend. WOWZA!! I'm blind from beauty!!! :encouragement: :very_drunk:
 

Cougar

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....the right one would probably find me if I took my time and was patient.....

Holy smokes! I guess good things DO come to those who wait! I mean, really good things. Wow!
 

Grassdog

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Hey Bob, major congrats you did really well on that one - I need to hear what that thing sounds like. After you get her back from Justin, we should get together for an acoustic jam and I'll bring my JF-55
 

MLBob

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Roger,

That sounds like a fun idea. Maybe you can come sit in at one of our weekly practices. I'll text you info.

Bob
 

Taylor Martin Guild

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Nice find.
I remember when I found my D-55.
I had just sold my JF-55 and wanted to replace it with a D-55.
The first place that I looked was the local on line want adds.
Couger will know what KSL Classifieds are.

I did a search for acoustic guitars and the first one that came up .

I called to owner and found out that he was a young man about to get married.
He needed to sell the guitar to fund a ring.

I drove about 70 miles to where the guitar was at.
When I first opened the case, I noticed the plastic pick guard protector was still on the guitar.
The young man told me that his parents and gifted him the guitar for a school class.
When he had completed the class, the guitar went into the closet for the next 3 years.

The guitar came home with me.
 

MLBob

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After a week of keeping this beauty in a humidified case, I dropped off my D 55 at the Luthier this morning for installation of a passive, K & K, Power-Mix system ( Pure Mini + Fantastick undersaddle w/ stereo jack.) He will also do a calibration & reset service with complete set-up. I left a set of bone bridge pins with abalone inserts to replace the ones that came with the guitar. Should be there for about a week.
If anyone is in the Dayton / Cincinnati area, this young man is an excellent guitar tech: http://www.jkennedyguitars.com/

Whenever I drop off an instrument there, I like that he takes a complete set of photo records of it; and within a day I get a work estimate for my approval.


JK2.jpg
 
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