- Joined
- Nov 22, 2023
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 26
- Guild Total
- 2
Hi all, new to the forum but wanted to share my story of how I acquired my new lifelong partner... a 1963 Guild Duane Eddy 400. Hoping documenting my journey can help someone down the line, as I struggled to find all the answers in one place!
I've always loved DynaSonics and hollowbodies, but never actually owned this combination until recently. Scrolling through ebay listings, I saw a DeArmond T-400 and was blown away by how beautiful it looked! Several deep dives through this forum convinced me it was a good idea to buy it, even though it had 2ks instead of proper DynaSonics... When it arrived, I fell in love the design, fully hollow and slightly wider than most hollowbodies. I bought it primarily to play Chet (poorly) on, but quickly fell in love with Duane Eddy's music after investigating the progenitor of this design. I kept going back to the T-400 and then started digging for an original...
Through a number of coincidences, I ended up with a cherry red DE-400 from 1963. Mahogany body, open book headstock, and REAL DynaSonics! The guitar was in ridiculously good shape, with one owner who bought it new back in the day. Apparently it was repsrayed at some point, maybe a new clearcoat? But it felt and sounded great so could not pass it up. The mahogany helps to tame the DynaSonics (or maybe it is all in my head). But regardless, this is my new favorite combination!
However, there was some problems that are typical of older Guilds... The plastic veneer on the headstock is slightly lifting, which I can live with for now. But the finish was starting to chip and lift on the treble side of the neck. Luckily, no paint was lost... but one wrong move could have been a disaster! After talking to my old guitar tech, I felt comfortable applying some fresh nitrocellulose lacquer from Northwest Guitars (UK). I used a natural fiber (hog hair) brush to apply several coats on flaky part of the neck. Waited a week or so to wet sand it down to match the original finish, going from 800 to 1200 to 2000 grit using neoprene foam and leather sanding blocks. I finished it off with hand rubbing some 3M Finesse It to bring everything to a gloss and... it was perfect! The cracking, chipped finish melted back into place and I've never had a nicer feeling neck, it looks fresh from the factory. So after being afraid to play the guitar for months... I now cannot put it down!
Anyways, thanks to everyone on the forum for documenting all these issues and solutions! I would not have been able to resurrect my Guild without your help.
Before (left) and after (right) applying lacquer, sanding, and polishing:
Close ups:
DE-400 and T-400:
I've always loved DynaSonics and hollowbodies, but never actually owned this combination until recently. Scrolling through ebay listings, I saw a DeArmond T-400 and was blown away by how beautiful it looked! Several deep dives through this forum convinced me it was a good idea to buy it, even though it had 2ks instead of proper DynaSonics... When it arrived, I fell in love the design, fully hollow and slightly wider than most hollowbodies. I bought it primarily to play Chet (poorly) on, but quickly fell in love with Duane Eddy's music after investigating the progenitor of this design. I kept going back to the T-400 and then started digging for an original...
Through a number of coincidences, I ended up with a cherry red DE-400 from 1963. Mahogany body, open book headstock, and REAL DynaSonics! The guitar was in ridiculously good shape, with one owner who bought it new back in the day. Apparently it was repsrayed at some point, maybe a new clearcoat? But it felt and sounded great so could not pass it up. The mahogany helps to tame the DynaSonics (or maybe it is all in my head). But regardless, this is my new favorite combination!
However, there was some problems that are typical of older Guilds... The plastic veneer on the headstock is slightly lifting, which I can live with for now. But the finish was starting to chip and lift on the treble side of the neck. Luckily, no paint was lost... but one wrong move could have been a disaster! After talking to my old guitar tech, I felt comfortable applying some fresh nitrocellulose lacquer from Northwest Guitars (UK). I used a natural fiber (hog hair) brush to apply several coats on flaky part of the neck. Waited a week or so to wet sand it down to match the original finish, going from 800 to 1200 to 2000 grit using neoprene foam and leather sanding blocks. I finished it off with hand rubbing some 3M Finesse It to bring everything to a gloss and... it was perfect! The cracking, chipped finish melted back into place and I've never had a nicer feeling neck, it looks fresh from the factory. So after being afraid to play the guitar for months... I now cannot put it down!
Anyways, thanks to everyone on the forum for documenting all these issues and solutions! I would not have been able to resurrect my Guild without your help.
Before (left) and after (right) applying lacquer, sanding, and polishing:
Close ups:
DE-400 and T-400:
