Central Florida Folkie
Member
Funny how one’s priorities change over the years. If you’d asked me 20, even 10 years ago if I would have wanted this guitar…for any amount of money…I’d have probably said “no.” I was all about the bling-factor: rosettes, abalone, fancy tuning pegs, showroom condition, blah-blah-blah. 20 years and lots of living and playing later, its all about playability and function. I want something that sounds and plays great, not something I’m paranoid to put a scratch or a dent in. That’s where this beautiful 1979 D25M just fits me like a glove. I sold two first-run Yamaha L-series handmade axes to get her, and she was totally worth it. When the box arrived and I took out the case, all dusty and worn with rusted latches, my wife’s first words were “That looks old.” YYYEEESSS!!!
I took out the bridge pins, which were plastic and given their discoloration and wear I presumed to be the originals, and replaced them with bone. The bridge itself looks like the day it was built. The frets look brand new (and maybe they are-ish?). The neck is perfection: run a straight edge down it and it just sits right on top of the bridge. Its shape and radius fit my hand like it was custom-made for me. One of the things I could never get my head around, even after a proper set up by a luthier, was that my ‘76 Yamaha L-6 always had too much play down at the first couple of frets open-stringed. This D25M has simply perfect action all the way up and down the neck, and an open G chord at the 15th fret sings perfect intonation. I think the break angle over the saddle is adequate and I have no desire to touch the saddle-height at all with an action of 2mm at the 12th fret. I simply love looking at those old tuners, and they keep her in tune just fine. I put some D’Addario Silk and Steel Lights on her, and while I love the sound I think I’ll give some DR Rare 12-54’s on her as the bass is a bit muted with the S&S’s.
No pickup, and don’t want one. I am fortunate to play in and around my little city in central Florida in churches and halls, so I just use mics, like back in the day. I much prefer it that way. I’ve spent far too much money over the years on pickups and preamps trying to replicate the sound of a mic’d guitar, and I just prefer to put a mic on her and have the tone. Done.
She also needs a truss rod cover…any suggestions on where to get a decent one?
I’ve always had Spruce and Rosewood guitars, never a Spruce and Mahogany. I absolutely love the tone with this D25M. Being a huge John Denver guy, and he always played Rosewood Guilds, it was nice to sit with this last night for a few hours and get some new sounds coming to my ears…much more reminiscent of early James Taylor and his vintage Gibson. Very folky, singer/songwriter which is totally my wheelhouse so I’m totally in love.
I’ve been without a Guild for a few years after my beloved DV62, which I never thought I’d part with and had for almost 10 years, developed fingerboard cracks on both sides of the neck and moved the neck a little over 1/8” into the sound hole. Repair, if even possible, was going to be more money than I had so I reluctantly sold it (funny enough to a luthier in NJ who emailed me a few weeks later and said he couldn’t fix it). I bought the Yamahas and, though they were lovely, they had no soul to me. There is just something about Guilds, especially from the Hoboken-Westerly Era into the 70s that resonate to me of a time when folk and singer-songwriter melodies spoke to the ears and hearts of the masses in ways that were very special. This Guild, coming from a very kind gentleman in California who purchased it a number of years ago from Bruce Sandler at The Guitar Exchange in Baltimore (they are life-long friends), clearly was well-played and has lots of memory in it. I’m delighted to continue its story and add a few more…
I took out the bridge pins, which were plastic and given their discoloration and wear I presumed to be the originals, and replaced them with bone. The bridge itself looks like the day it was built. The frets look brand new (and maybe they are-ish?). The neck is perfection: run a straight edge down it and it just sits right on top of the bridge. Its shape and radius fit my hand like it was custom-made for me. One of the things I could never get my head around, even after a proper set up by a luthier, was that my ‘76 Yamaha L-6 always had too much play down at the first couple of frets open-stringed. This D25M has simply perfect action all the way up and down the neck, and an open G chord at the 15th fret sings perfect intonation. I think the break angle over the saddle is adequate and I have no desire to touch the saddle-height at all with an action of 2mm at the 12th fret. I simply love looking at those old tuners, and they keep her in tune just fine. I put some D’Addario Silk and Steel Lights on her, and while I love the sound I think I’ll give some DR Rare 12-54’s on her as the bass is a bit muted with the S&S’s.
No pickup, and don’t want one. I am fortunate to play in and around my little city in central Florida in churches and halls, so I just use mics, like back in the day. I much prefer it that way. I’ve spent far too much money over the years on pickups and preamps trying to replicate the sound of a mic’d guitar, and I just prefer to put a mic on her and have the tone. Done.
She also needs a truss rod cover…any suggestions on where to get a decent one?
I’ve always had Spruce and Rosewood guitars, never a Spruce and Mahogany. I absolutely love the tone with this D25M. Being a huge John Denver guy, and he always played Rosewood Guilds, it was nice to sit with this last night for a few hours and get some new sounds coming to my ears…much more reminiscent of early James Taylor and his vintage Gibson. Very folky, singer/songwriter which is totally my wheelhouse so I’m totally in love.
I’ve been without a Guild for a few years after my beloved DV62, which I never thought I’d part with and had for almost 10 years, developed fingerboard cracks on both sides of the neck and moved the neck a little over 1/8” into the sound hole. Repair, if even possible, was going to be more money than I had so I reluctantly sold it (funny enough to a luthier in NJ who emailed me a few weeks later and said he couldn’t fix it). I bought the Yamahas and, though they were lovely, they had no soul to me. There is just something about Guilds, especially from the Hoboken-Westerly Era into the 70s that resonate to me of a time when folk and singer-songwriter melodies spoke to the ears and hearts of the masses in ways that were very special. This Guild, coming from a very kind gentleman in California who purchased it a number of years ago from Bruce Sandler at The Guitar Exchange in Baltimore (they are life-long friends), clearly was well-played and has lots of memory in it. I’m delighted to continue its story and add a few more…
