After an excruciating (for me) delay in the time it took to get back my freshly setup DV 74, last week I finally got it back. Seems that the end of winter brought out area musicians in droves to get work done on their guitars, and the folks at Restoration Guitar have been busier than (as it was described to me) “one armed paper hangers.”
I was told to expect a 3–4-week window for them to even get to my setup and a thorough inspection; and decided while they had it that long, they might as well order and install a set of passive power mix pure pickups from K & K. I figured that my D 46 & D 55 could get me through for as long as it took. When K & K initially sent some incorrect components for my pickup installation, things got delayed even more.
The additional wait gave me plenty of opportunity to gather as much background information as I could about this unique find. I’ve tried to keep a file on all the Guilds I have, so that whoever ends up with them someday after I “shuffle off this mortal coil” will have some accurate history on them.
As I mentioned in my initial post, this DV was originally acquired from Guild in 1995 by Don McKay and Marty Rodabaugh, longtime owners of the former Wildwood Music in Coshocton, Ohio. Prior to their retirement in 2018, Wildwood had been one of the Midwest’s premier dealerships for quality acoustic instruments.
For some reason, Don & Marty held onto this guitar until 2024 when it finally ended up on consignment at Guitar House in Columbus, Ohio, a shop run by friends of theirs, and knowledgeable people who have the same reputation for selling and servicing high quality guitars. At any rate, the result is that because of a post on LTG, I stumbled onto one of those finds one dreams about: # 3 of a limited-edition special light build that utilized select tone-woods; and a guitar which somehow never found its way out of dealer inventory. For all intents and purpose, it is truly “brand new-old stock.”
I didn’t imagine I’d ever find another Guild dread with more clarity, sustain, and overtones than my D 55, but the difference is clearly noticeable. Going to be fun to see if this one will “open up” even more, now that it will get plenty of playing time. It’s also a remarkable stroke of luck that it spent all those years with someone who made sure it was kept in an atmosphere that was temperature & humidity controlled, before making the decision to part with it.
Here are some pictures and bits of Info collected during my searches. From the old Wildwood website -
This is the listing for this DV 74 in their final inventory sell-off from 2019:
Here are pics of the guitar now:
One final note about that TRC – The late Richie Havens was a musician that has always held a special place in the 'soundtrack' of my life. His body of work, originals as well as covers, is something I treasure. Richie was the reason I first picked up a Guild. In prior tributes, I had autographs he gave me reproduced on truss rod covers for both my D 46 & D 55.
I decided that this DV 74 should be personalized along those lines as well - but with something even a bit more unique – and this is what I had made:
Now, some of the purists may be appalled, but I think it’s cool! I've set aside the original as well
I was told to expect a 3–4-week window for them to even get to my setup and a thorough inspection; and decided while they had it that long, they might as well order and install a set of passive power mix pure pickups from K & K. I figured that my D 46 & D 55 could get me through for as long as it took. When K & K initially sent some incorrect components for my pickup installation, things got delayed even more.
The additional wait gave me plenty of opportunity to gather as much background information as I could about this unique find. I’ve tried to keep a file on all the Guilds I have, so that whoever ends up with them someday after I “shuffle off this mortal coil” will have some accurate history on them.
As I mentioned in my initial post, this DV was originally acquired from Guild in 1995 by Don McKay and Marty Rodabaugh, longtime owners of the former Wildwood Music in Coshocton, Ohio. Prior to their retirement in 2018, Wildwood had been one of the Midwest’s premier dealerships for quality acoustic instruments.
For some reason, Don & Marty held onto this guitar until 2024 when it finally ended up on consignment at Guitar House in Columbus, Ohio, a shop run by friends of theirs, and knowledgeable people who have the same reputation for selling and servicing high quality guitars. At any rate, the result is that because of a post on LTG, I stumbled onto one of those finds one dreams about: # 3 of a limited-edition special light build that utilized select tone-woods; and a guitar which somehow never found its way out of dealer inventory. For all intents and purpose, it is truly “brand new-old stock.”
I didn’t imagine I’d ever find another Guild dread with more clarity, sustain, and overtones than my D 55, but the difference is clearly noticeable. Going to be fun to see if this one will “open up” even more, now that it will get plenty of playing time. It’s also a remarkable stroke of luck that it spent all those years with someone who made sure it was kept in an atmosphere that was temperature & humidity controlled, before making the decision to part with it.
Here are some pictures and bits of Info collected during my searches. From the old Wildwood website -
This is the listing for this DV 74 in their final inventory sell-off from 2019:
Here are pics of the guitar now:
One final note about that TRC – The late Richie Havens was a musician that has always held a special place in the 'soundtrack' of my life. His body of work, originals as well as covers, is something I treasure. Richie was the reason I first picked up a Guild. In prior tributes, I had autographs he gave me reproduced on truss rod covers for both my D 46 & D 55.
I decided that this DV 74 should be personalized along those lines as well - but with something even a bit more unique – and this is what I had made:
Now, some of the purists may be appalled, but I think it’s cool! I've set aside the original as well
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