Played an Oxnard F55 Yesterday

txbumper57

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Hello everyone. While I had the pups in the vet yesterday I had the chance to go down to my Luthier and drop of a few guitars that needed some maintenance and one that needed some super sweet upgrades. While I was in the shop I got a chance to play a New Oxnard F55 in Burst finish that they just got in stock. I know awhile back I got the chance to play a new Oxnard D55 and was not that impressed with it as it sounded kinda tinny with some serious finish issues. I did catch some flack for that review but hey I call them like I see them. I was hoping that was an Isolated incident with that particular D55 so I gave the F55 a whirl and a quick once over.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Oxnard F55. First off it did have that Guild Tone to it where other Oxnard models have missed the mark a bit in my opinion. It had a wonderful tone to it and played pretty good right out of the box. The fit and finish was excellent and I was unable to find anything wrong with the finish on the guitar where as the D55 had some crazing already at the joints and a piece of wood notched out of the bridge. The finish was a bit tacky feeling still all over the guitar which tells me the Nitro was recently sprayed. The neck geometry was good but the action was a bit high the further up the fret board you went. Still no big deal as there was plenty of saddle to lower it and nothing a truss rod adjustment couldn't help. The tone was nice and full with a pronounced low end that wasn't muddy. The mids and highs were extremely pleasing and it had a nice accompaniment of overtones that I have come to expect from a Rosewood Guild Jumbo. By far it was one of the best sounding guitars in the store right up there with some Santa Cruz models, High End Martins, and High end Taylors. The only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the narrower nut width which left it feeling a bit cramped when played as it was right on the money at 1-11/16 and the neck profile seemed a bit slimmer than I care for personally. Both of my New Hartford F50R models are a bit wider at 1.725" even though they were listed at 1-11/16" and the neck profiles are a bit fuller as well. It warms my heart to see Oxnard start finally getting things right as this was a quality guitar hands down.

In comparison to my New Hartford models I feel that the New Hartford F50R's have a bit more Clarity and a more defined bass presence than the Oxnard model as well as more touch response when finger picking but I am sure the Oxnard model will get better with more play time and a bit of age to it. Personally I think a String Change would really open up the Oxnard F55 model but then again that is purely personal preference.

Bottom line, Would I get rid of my New Hartford F50R's to run out and by a New F55? No chance. Do I feel that the Oxnard F55 is better than my New Hartford F50R's? No, but they are in a similar neighborhood. If I didn't own the New Hartford models would I consider the Oxnard F55 to fill the Jumbo Rosewood roll in my arsenal? Absolutely. If you get the chance to test drive one I would definitely give it a go. Kudos to Oxnard for making a quality Guitar. Hope everyone is having a Great Week!

TX
 
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Rayk

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Well awesome I was waiting for your opportunity to come ..

Remember that the bracing is different between the two . I would enjoy a chance to see the differences .

Next string change I’ll take a bunch of pics if you or someone else would post pics to we could compare;)

I was thinking of trying Monals next 😁
 

Bonneville88

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Played the same guitar 7 hours ago - sounded great and played wonderfully, was drop-dead gorgeous... very impressed!
 

Rayk

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Played the same guitar 7 hours ago - sounded great and played wonderfully, was drop-dead gorgeous... very impressed!

Sweet ! Have you guys jammed together ? Didn’t realize you were close to Tx .
 
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