My D55 is home!

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I picked up my new to me D55 today.
I had to leave it with my luthier to get the bridge [edit] re-glued before I could bring it home to play.

This is going to be one very fine guitar!!!
Tom, my luthier set up the action while I was there and it plays sweet and sounds better than I had even hoped that it would.

I'm putting a heavy dose of humidity in the guitar right now, so it won't see much playing time for a day or two. [2 dampets and a soap dish with floral foam]

Dave,
I was wrong about the D50 price at Tom's.
He is asking $1400.00 for it. My D55 was $200.00 less than that.
I saw the list price when I first looked at the D50.

I have taken some pictures but I don't do well with posting them.
Perhaps I can get someone to help with posting some.

I know one thing.
Tacoma built Guilds are right up there with Westerlys.
This is one fine guitar!

I'm very fortunate to have found it,
TMG.

 

[GardMan]

Hey TMG...
Sounds like you are a happy camper! Glad you found your D-55! Hope to hear it soon...

I told Tom if that D-50 is still there come January, I might be interested... but not to hold it for me, yet. $1400 is still a little high compared to eBay prices, but maybe I could talk him into a case, and setup w/ a new bone saddle (looks like it has a graphite saddle) (and of course, I get to audition it before buying... that's worth something!). When you figure all that in w/ no shipping charges, it's pretty comparable.

Gone fishing tomorrow!
Dave

 

[dane]

Congratulations! I hope to see it and hear it some time.
Play long!
Play hard!
Play often!
But most importantly…
Play Guild!

(Think I could get a tee shirt deal out of that?) :wink:

 

[cjd-player]

Congrats on the guitar, TMG.

D-55's are wonderful.


:? I'm a little curious why your luthier woukld set the action if the guitar needed so much moisture. If it was very dry, then it seems to me that bringing it up to proper humidity will raise the top. If he lowered the saddle when it was dry, and the top raises, not only will his setup be undone, but there may not be enough saddle left to lower the action again. :?: :?:

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Congrats on the guitar, TMG.

D-55's are wonderful.


:? I'm a little curious why your luthier woukld set the action if the guitar needed so much moisture. If it was very dry, then it seems to me that bringing it up to proper humidity will raise the top. If he lowered the saddle when it was dry, and the top raises, not only will his setup be undone, but there may not be enough saddle left to lower the action again. :?: :?:

He adjusted the neck tension to where the neck was flat level. The guitar had a slight buzz on the 5th string.
He tweeked it for a slight bow to get the buzz out and that's where we will keep it till it gets rehumidified.
That makes it very playable for now.
If I need to have it readjusted after it's humidified, I'll take it back to him, or just do it myself.
He did this at my request.

 

[chazmo]

'grats, TMG. May you have many years of happy Guilding!

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Update:
After 4 days of humidifying my D55, all is well.
The action is right on and is very easy to play.
The tone is just what I wanted.
Full with plenty of volume.
I took the plastic protective cover off of the pick guard and as expected, there are no marks or scratches of any kind on the pick guard.
Looks like bone on both the nut and saddle.
The Fishman pickup sounds nice, although I won't be using it very often.
The neck angle is right on and there is plenty of saddle to work with, if and when needed.

This is a 2005 and not a 2006 as the seller thought.
If the Guild Site is correct, it was built on Aug. 15th, 2005.
It was the 5th guitar built that day.

I will be taking her with me to my weekly jam session tonight.
It will be fun to hear how she holds up in the mix.

I did a quick A/B against my Martin D-35 and was very happy with the sound compared to the Martin.

As I expected, the D-35 had a little deeper bass but the Guild held it's own very well everywhere else.

Now you have to remember that I have owned my Martin D-35 sense 1981 and this is the guitar by which all other guitars are judged.

The D55 neck sure is nice. I like the shape and feel of it over the Martin.
All in all, this is one sweet guitar!

I don't remember how to add pictures here but you can see a few here: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album ... o?start=12

 

[cjd-player]

Great news, TMG

Glad you're liking her.
As I've said before, they are sweet guitars.

 

[Pike]

Now you have to remember that I have owned my Martin D-35 sense 1981 and this is the guitar by which all other guitars are judged.

Wait till your D55 breaks in TMG, if she's anything like mine, she'll be sounding better than a Martin. And I'm a Pennsylvania native who loves my Martin.

 

[drive-south]

Congrats on the new D55. I love mine.

I'm curious about this comment:

"I had to leave it with my luthier to get the saddle re-glued before I could bring it home to play"

Reglue what? Since when is the saddle glued into the bridge on any Guild guitar?
Perhaps you meant the nut, not the saddle.

drive-south

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Sorry, it was the bridge that needed to be re-glued.
The guitar had sat in a closet in it's case for over 2 years.
Lack of humidity and being left tuned up caused the bridge to pull up slightly.

 

[pickoid]

Fantastic looking guitar, TMG. Geez, what a beautiful thing. Congrats again.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Thanks, pickoid.
I took the D55 to the jam last night and it was great.
Plenty of volume and the tone was excellent.
I never had a problem with hearing my own guitar.
This is just what I have been looking for.
What a beautiful guitar!

I can't get over how well this guitar sounds all the way up the neck.
The intonation is right on!
I use a capo a lot at the jams and capo on the 5th fret when a song is being played in the key of C.
It makes a nice change from the other guitars in standard C tuning.
I don't have to re-tune like I usually do with some of my other guitars.

The Dred body is comfortable, so I can play longer without needing a break.
One of the jammers didn't believe that I was using medium gauge strings, because it frets so easily.

It was probably a good thing that I never got to try a D40 or D50.
I can't afford another guitar!!!
TMG

 

[Graham]

Congrats TMG.

I don't own one but have played a few from different builds and have not heard a bad one.

 

[GardMan]

.It was probably a good thing that I never got to try a D40 or D50.
I can't afford another guitar!!!
TMG

Naw... the bug has bit you now, Dale! There's no going back... next thing you know you'll be looking for that mahogany or maple jangle (not to mention ash!)... just for something a little "different" than what the other boys are playing!
Dave

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

That's exactly why I'm happy that there are none close to me.
I don't even look at the Guilds on ebay now.
ASH? Now that sounds very interesting!
Thanks a lot Dave! :evil:

 

[Tunes]

That's a fine guitar at a great price. Best I can find at the moment is $1,650 U.S. for a Westerly D-55 Guild. This is my next guitar - just as soon as my wife says I can buy one. :wink:

Took a quick look at your pics - looks great. The back appears perfectly bookmatched. Wonderful.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Thanks, Tunes.
I see that you own a Martin D-35.
So do I. [1981 purchased new]
I feel very fortunate to own these 2 special and fantastic guitars.
Good luck in your search.
May you find just what you are looking for,
TMG.