Patience pays off - The D140 - Thumbs up

[F30]

So I recently got a D140 lately with a few issues but loved the feel and sound (with a capo due to poorly cut nut)
My usual course of action is adjust truss rod, play it, let it rest, play it some more, let it acclimate for at least a day,
and then fine tune until it stabilizes - It came from a completely different environment and temp.

Then work on the nut. Again cut a little and play it in, cut a tad more play it in. And finely some fine tuning of the cuts and lube.
Only then I work on saddle and saddle height if needed. I can always go a step further with bone nut and saddle at some point.
It really is a joy to play now and the open cowboy chords are - in tune.

Now that the guitar is set up and playing much better I can say that it is a very balanced Dread. May be partly due to the Mahogany
back and sides. It certainly reminds of an OM with a bigger sound and the wider 1 3/4 nut works very well for me. The bass notes sound
velvety and ring nicely with the other strings not over bearing by any means. It really feels like a Larger OM balanced sound.

I would certainly recommend this guitar to OM players looking for larger dreadnaught or companion to their OM and are on a budget.
I bought mine used and got a great deal. Certainly every guitar has its own voice but I've been very impressed with the Westerly Collection guitars.
But get it set up properly. Makes a world of difference.

 

[portsider]

Great story. The Westerly Collection is a gold mine for players like you who have the skills to do their own setups. Even at brand new prices, they are generally a steal. The setup is all that has been wrong with ant that I have played.

 

[F30]

Still in recovery from surgeries at home so since I finally got the guitar playing well I thought I'd work on the fretboard a bit.
Haven't even changed strings either while doing all the initial tweaks.
So a guitar that has had almost 5 years of play you would expect some wear.
Here is with the strings off and you can see the fretboard wood and fret divets.
Nothing serious but since I was on a roll......

 

[F30]

I first leveled and crown the frets and it was mostly on the first five or so frets. Checked relative level to the rest of fretboard and then polished down to 4000. I didn't really like the cheap Grover style bolt bushing tuners and opted for the the open Back Grover 18:1 tuners in nickel. I believe the latest model D140s are coming with this style of more vintage tuners now.
Here is after the conversion with Stew mac conversion bushings and most of the fret work done.
I actually sanded the face the headstock down to 4000 and then polished to get rid of the elephant foot bushing marks from bolt bushing washers. Cleaned up nice.

 

[F30]

Here are the 18:1 Grovers from the back.

 

[F30]

Now the Fretboard straightened out, new tuners and strings - I can really enjoy the guitar.
Waiting for my 79' D40 to arrive and trying to stay busy.

 

[F30]

For anyone interested I used fret doctor fret board oil sparingly and 600 paper to get the fretboard wood to a smooth finish.
Finished the frets after polishing work with Neverdull and polished again.

 

[jwsamuel]

Great story. The Westerly Collection is a gold mine for players like you who have the skills to do their own setups. Even at brand new prices, they are generally a steal. The setup is all that has been wrong with ant that I have played.

You don't have to know how to do a setup for them to be a good deal. I just had my old GAD-30R set up by a local luthier for $114.00. It plays better than it ever has. Add $114 to the cost of a new Westerly Collection guitar and you still have a great value.

 

[portsider]

You don't have to know how to do a setup for them to be a good deal. I just had my old GAD-30R set up by a local luthier for $114.00. It plays better than it ever has. Add $114 to the cost of a new Westerly Collection guitar and you still have a great value.

Absolutely, but if you can do it yourself they are a steal.

 

[jwsamuel]

Absolutely, but if you can do it yourself they are a steal.

If you have to buy the tools you need to do it yourself, it makes paying someone to do a setup a lot more attractive.

 

[portsider]

If you have to buy the tools you need to do it yourself, it makes paying someone to do a setup a lot more attractive.

We're going around on this, potato potahto. Have had a guitar in for a fret job for over 4 weeks now, It's a two or three hour job if I had the skills.