D55 after 1999
- Thread starter Russman
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Mine D55 is number AD552029 -- I've been told it is a 2000. Your's appears to be a little earlier (maybe).
Great D55s in my opinion as Fender was a little more consistent of their "quality control" department after taking over Guild - again my opinion.
Although others may disagree, I'm with you on this Shelby. I think some of the finest Guilds I've owned have been under the ownership of Fender.
I think our own @West R Lee had a D55 that according to Hans was one of the last guitars that left the Westerly factory. Do you remember the serial number Jim? Pretty sure you don't own it anymore.
And I agree about Fender's stewardship of Guild, and the best Westerly builds I've played or owned were from after Fender took over in 1995, which is contrary to what you'll read in a lot of sale listings.
And I agree about Fender's stewardship of Guild, and the best Westerly builds I've played or owned were from after Fender took over in 1995, which is contrary to what you'll read in a lot of sale listings.
adorshki
Reverential Member
Hi Russ: The s/n chart on Guild's site doesn't actually go beyond '96 although "IIRC" we've seen a few '97 s/n's there.
Our member Hansmoust has records for that period from '96 through '01. You can reach him here: http://www.guitarchives.nl/guitarsgalore/
Going by Uke's info I'm guessing it's actually going to be a '99, maybe even '98, cause yours's about 440 guitars earlier, but there may be a date stamp on the neckheel block, usually on the beveled treble side. Hard to see unless you know you're looking for it. They stopped stamping sometime in '99 IIRC, so that's useful info even if it's not there.
That's actually the date the rim was completed, the actual guitar wasn't finished and ready to ship until 2 or 3 weeks later, maybe longer in some cases. But you know it can't possibly be older than that stamp. (In most cases...the oddball exceptions always seem to pop up whenever I say "never", lol!!)
- Joined
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Hans Identified my serial number as indicating my guitar was completed in 2000.
adorshki
Reverential Member
Right. What I meant was, since Russman's guitar is about 440 units earlier than yours, I suspect it was actually more like a year to 2 years older.
D55's weren't very high volume sellers, and typical production from '93-'95 was about 200/year (going by the s/n chart), but Guild wasn't in the best shape financially at the time either. Wouldn't surprise me if production figures went up under Fender, but I'd be surprised if D55 volume doubled in only 2 years, unless there was some sudden spike in demand.
