My review of the NEW OXNARD F55e

ClydeTower

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Congrats Clyde and Great Write up! I am really glad this is working out for you and I hope you get to enjoy it for a long time to come. Good to hear that Oxnard is turning out a quality product. :encouragement:


TX

TX, do you have a scale handy? I'm really curious as to how much the F55 vs F50R weighs.
 
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merlin6666

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Thanks John. Now that we have an Oxnard MIA trad specimen in the fold, I'd love to compare the specs with those here that have either an Orph jumbo or F50R.

How about it TX? Willing to take a few pix?

Orpheum specs are still on guild website:

http://guildguitars.com/g/orpheum-jumbo/

But for interesting details like bracing patterns and sizes more effort would be required. Some people shine bright lights through the tops and then take pictures to trace the patterns. I just got fresh strings on mine so won't be doing fiddling inside any time soon.
 

ClydeTower

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Orpheum specs are still on guild website:

http://guildguitars.com/g/orpheum-jumbo/

But for interesting details like bracing patterns and sizes more effort would be required. Some people shine bright lights through the tops and then take pictures to trace the patterns. I just got fresh strings on mine so won't be doing fiddling inside any time soon.

Hey Merlin,
You have an Orpheum jumbo? Lucky son-of-a-gun!

Quick question about the binding on your Orph: Where the fretboard meets the body, just above the soundhole, is the binding cut as 45 degree miter joint or straight at a 90 degree angle?
On my New Hartfords, the binding is thicker and cut at 90 degrees on the corners. On the Oxnard, the bindings is thinner and cut at a 45 degree angle.

Just curious...
 

txbumper57

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Sorry Clyde but no scale and not setup for the internal photo shots. I do have both the NH F50R's and a NH Orpheum Jumbo but all of my free time lately has been taken up by raising the pups. I doubt I will be able to get around to any kind of measuring or picture taking anytime soon. I did play my F50R for about 5 minutes the other day but other than shipping a few guitars out to new owners that is the most guitar action I have seen in the last few weeks. Maybe someone else here with either of the models can help you out.

TX
 

Kitarkus

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Nice purchase!...that is a 'big boy' guitar. Enjoy it endlessly.
 

merlin6666

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Quick question about the binding on your Orph: Where the fretboard meets the body, just above the soundhole, is the binding cut as 45 degree miter joint or straight at a 90 degree angle?
On my New Hartfords, the binding is thicker and cut at 90 degrees on the corners. On the Oxnard, the bindings is thinner and cut at a 45 degree angle.

Do you men fretboard binding? On this picture it looks like straight cut:

imageproxy.php
 

adorshki

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I doubt it, Clyde, but hey.... Gentlemen's bet. :)

I like it too, but I suspect it really is just a plaque, and glued on.
Just seems like it'd be a whole lot easier to make & install 'em that way, looks like a laser-etching.
Then just glue it in.
And velcro-ing 'em would seem to defeat the s/n function, no?
Also doubt that's a bolt-on as they already have traditional dovetails in the Traditional D40 and the D55, although, it doesn't say it's a dovetail on the website....hmmmm....
 

chazmo

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My gentlemen's bet was on the weight, Al. No point in stirring the pot on the neck joint. I'm sure it's dovetail/glued or someone's head is going to roll. The plaque is probably glued on, as you say, but I am interested... It could've been branded in before the body was assembled, and thus actually be in the neck block. If so, that implies something different about the serial number mapping to day of manufacture... As we know, Westerly ink-stamped a date on neck blocks (or was it heel blocks) that was *not* the date of final assembly that the paper labels of Tacoma and New Hartford were.
 

ClydeTower

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Do you men fretboard binding? On this picture it looks like straight cut:

imageproxy.php

Yes I meant the fretboard binding. So the binding on the Orph looks the same as on the other New Hartford builds. Interesting.
If you get a chance on your next string change, pop in your phone and take some pics of your bracing. I'm curious if there are any similarities...

Thx Merlin!
 

chazmo

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Clyde, I never looked at my Orpheum's bracing, but I do remember all the Traditional and Standard series guitars in New Hartford used CNC-cut braces (I think almost exclusively red spruce) out of one of the smaller cutting machines on the floor. I recall at one point being told that that machine could make way more braces than were necessary to supply the shop, so they didn't run it very often (relatively). Orpheum braces may well have been hand-carved, but I kinda' doubt it.
 

ClydeTower

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Clyde, I never looked at my Orpheum's bracing, but I do remember all the Traditional and Standard series guitars in New Hartford used CNC-cut braces (I think almost exclusively red spruce) out of one of the smaller cutting machines on the floor. I recall at one point being told that that machine could make way more braces than were necessary to supply the shop, so they didn't run it very often (relatively). Orpheum braces may well have been hand-carved, but I kinda' doubt it.

Ya, the braces on this F55 are definitely CNC machine cut. What did Ren mean when he said he planed to incorporate Orpheum DNA into the next trad series is hard to know... Maybe Drew Haines knows?

Anybody here ever talk to Drew?
 

twocorgis

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Beautiful guitar CT! I just put my Orpheum jumbo on the scale, and it read 4.4 pounds. It's by far the lightest jumbo body I've ever hoisted, and even my luthier remarked about the same.
 

ClydeTower

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Beautiful guitar CT! I just put my Orpheum jumbo on the scale, and it read 4.4 pounds. It's by far the lightest jumbo body I've ever hoisted, and even my luthier remarked about the same.

Thanks Sandy!

Argh! The battery on my scale just died... gonna have to pick one up at the hardware store.
 
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Wow! Beautiful guitar Clyde! And your write-up was great!
Your level of enthusiasm and excitement shines through as well.
So happy for you. You finally got a rosewood jumbo burst...AND it's a brand-new Oxnard-built to boot! Talk about a win-win!
With warranty! And the case looks stunning. (How does the humidification thing work?)

Congrats and play it in good health. Nice pics of the house too! ;)
 

ClydeTower

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And the case looks stunning. (How does the humidification thing work?)

Inside of the case:

IMG_3495.jpg


From the website:

"The HumiCase built-in climatic control system will protect your guitar’s playability and beauty for years to come. Each HumiCase comes with custom-designed HumiPods that only require distilled water to activate. When used properly, these pods will uphold a consistent and safe humidity level for your instrument."

Its basically a sponge uncased inside the top part of the case. Instinctively, I'd be worried about water coming into contact with the guitar. I usually use Boveda 2-way humidity packs, but might give this Humipod thing a shot.
 

PittPastor

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Love the write-up. Whew! I think that is the first Guild Lover who loved any of the new Cordoba Guilds. So happy to read a positive review.

Quick question, you said your F55 has a more "modern" sound... how do you define that? And do you think the fact that the top hasn't opened up yet might change it down the road?

As for the humicase, I bought one for my D40C, and really love it.

The sponge is probably a wee bit more cumbersome to wet when it dries out, but I like the fact that I don't have to put anything between the strings. I just wish they would have sprung for the $5 more and put a meter on it so you could read where the humidity was when you opened it to play. I have a meter on my D'Addario and it tells me the high and low for the week as well as current humidity at the touch of a button. That's a nice feature.

But I have never had any problem with the sponge dripping at all, FWIW.
 

GAD

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What a beautiful guitar in a beautiful home.

That case, though! Wow!
 
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