50th Anniversary D-55 - Should I or not?

fronobulax said:

I think too many people focus on the serial number or the alleged "prototype" status and not the specs of the instrument or the instrument itself but no one is putting me In Charge so I will just have to deal with that

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I think in this case it's because there are price dollars at stake, and the seller appears to believe his guitar should be considered the true "first guitar in a production run", but isn't offering validation for that statement.

West R Lee said:

Does "prototype" imply a work in progress? Maybe a first stab at a model that may be improved upon before going into production?

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Traditionally, that's how I thought it was defined, but that Wikipedia definition says that it can mean "'the first one".
So I guess it just depends on what the user means when they use it.
Pretty black and white, eh?
:biggrin-new:

I suppose on this subject, I consider Hans even better than WIKI. Again, at the time, Hans told me that the guitar I then owned was a prototype based on the designation in the serial number. If I recall, it was either AF or FF. Hans also told me that there were indeed other prototypes or that particular guitar. Apparently, back then (the 80's), Guild did indeed sell prototypes.

By golly, there's the ol' prototype.



West

Back to the original question, if I could get it for the price of a standard and a return policy, a no brainer.

Exactly!!

West R Lee said:

Apparently, back then (the 80's), Guild did indeed sell prototypes.

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The often incorrect Guild serial number list actually shows 238 prototype serial numbers between 1980 and 1987 starting with LL and between 1989 and 1993 a total of 87 prototypes with FF serial number, in 1994 four FB serial numbers and in 1995 nine JJ serial numbers. So there was a significant amount of prototypes done and sold as it sounds. I hope Hans will tell us more in his second book.
Ralf

mario1956 said:

Back to the original question, if I could get it for the price of a standard and a return policy, a no brainer.

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I thought you would have already bought it by now; I would have!

Get it and give us pictures, Please!

Wonder if he's made the move? Afford it? Get it.

Wow! Thanks for all the positive comments everybody. And the prototype discussion was interesting as well! I'm hearing about what I thought I'd hear. One or two even spoke up for Corona - great to hear.

So I haven't pulled the trigger yet. This really is a no brainer now as it seems I'm going to get the chance to put my paws on it first thanks to my buddy. Two Guilds are being shipped to him for inspection - the 50th and a Westerly F47CE that is supposed to be "as new". This dealer apparently bought it back from the original purchaser whom he's sold it to. He says the guy just never played it. We'll see. My buddy is interested in that one but......who knows. Could there be 2 coming my way? I'm out of control I tell ya.

I will post some pics when I get my hands on it regardless of the outcome. I'm a little worried about the thicker neck but since it's only been a year since I've had the D35 the only thing I remember about that neck was it was extremely comfortable for me. It'll be nice to be able to compare it to my HD28 and see how good the BR really is. I love this Martin but.....

Anyway - thanks again all. I won't leave you hanging...

Cheers

Jim

Ah, you're right. My old prototype was an "FF".

West

SFIV1967 said:

The often incorrect Guild serial number list actually shows 238 prototype serial numbers between 1980 and 1987 starting with LL and between 1989 and 1993 a total of 87 prototypes with FF serial number, in 1994 four FB serial numbers and in 1995 nine JJ serial numbers. So there was a significant amount of prototypes done and sold as it sounds. I hope Hans will tell us more in his second book.
Ralf

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Ok I said I wouldn't keep you all hanging and I kind of did. Sorry for that. Life got in the way in the form of a layoff and another surgery. Happily I survived both!

I didn't get the anniversary model but just took possession of a 2014 standard antique burst D-55. Finally! I have come full circle.

I did get to handle the 50th and she was beautiful to be sure. Still had the original strings on it so it was a bit tough to understand how the Brazilian should sound compared to the East Indian. Add the fact that Guild/Cordoba had no interest in taking on the warranty even though it had never been sold or registered and I kind of punked out. Not sorry though. This new piece is awesome! This is the guitar I remember.

Thanks again all for the comments.

Cheers

Jim

c4jimmy said:

Ok I said I wouldn't keep you all hanging and I kind of did. Sorry for that. Life got in the way in the form of a layoff and another surgery. Happily I survived both!

I didn't get the anniversary model but just took possession of a 2014 standard antique burst D-55. Finally! I have come full circle.

I did get to handle the 50th and she was beautiful to be sure. Still had the original strings on it so it was a bit tough to understand how the Brazilian should sound compared to the East Indian. Add the fact that Guild/Cordoba had no interest in taking on the warranty even though it had never been sold or registered and I kind of punked out. Not sorry though. This new piece is awesome! This is the guitar I remember.

Thanks again all for the comments.

Cheers

Jim

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Sorry about the layoff. Glad the surgery worked.

Would you clarify your comment about warranty? If the seller is a currently authorized Guild dealer then more detail would be of interest. If they are not a current dealer then the lack of warranty is exactly what I would expect. Thanks. (All of the current dealers I have talked to are offering manufacturers warranties on sales of new Guilds but none of them have any new stock that pre-dates New Hartford and Tacoma either so...)

Jim, that's great. Congrats.

I'm afraid we'll need some pictures of that new, antique burst D-55.

Jim, good to hear some followup on your search. Sometimes we never know the outcome and people disappear. Congrats on the D55. I personally think that a D55 in AB is one of the most beautiful guitars out there!! As has been mentioned, we DO love photos. It's not exactly easy to post them here (host elsewhere and put a direct link into the Insert Image window) but it makes us all happy and excited. :encouragement:

davismanLV said:

but it makes us all happy and excited.

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I get a little nervous when you're all happy and excited..

Congrats on your new D-55!

Congrats on the new guitar. Ain't it awful having to make these decisions. Wishing you good health and prosperity in the new year..........Jim

Thanks all......I'm a happy camper - fat neck and all. Once I figure out the image thing I'll get some pics up. Looks like I need to subscribe to something and provide a URL for uploading.

On a different note, I see a lot of Guilds on the market labeled "B stock". Is this what they used to call a "second"? If so are they marked in some way? I remember my old (old old) D-35 was a second and it was stamped with a 2 on the back of the headstock and on the inside back center brace. Just seems to me there are a lot of them out there which initially made me wonder what was going on in New Hartford - especially since NH was short lived.

Fronobulax - if I can find the email response from Cordoba I'll post it. I have a nasty habit of deleting messages long before I should. Basically they said because it's 11 years old they wouldn't want to warranty it because they had no way of verifying the environmental conditions it lived in for that period of time. I was a little scared of it for that reason so I contacted them. It appeared to be in really good shape and didn't exhibit any obvious signs of dried wood or "warping", if you will. So I wonder how long they let a dealer hold on to one before they black ball it. Doesn't make much sense seeing that you can always find a 2-3 year old 'new' guitar of any brand in most any music store. Maybe they were afraid someone never validated the warranty and now there was a potential claim coming their way. Who knows.......

c4jimmy said:

.... Just seems to me there are a lot of them out there which initially made me wonder what was going on in New Hartford - especially since NH was short lived.....

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I've noticed that too....not sure why so many are showing up with finish checking issues too. I've passed on four NH, due to finish checking issues.

Tommy