1975 Guild D25C
I found this one in the Trading Post (classified ad newspaper) in Sydney Australia in 2002. It had been severely abused and had obviously done a lot of gigs. When I bought it, it looked as though it had been kept behind the deep fryer in a fish and chip shop for years - it was covered with a film of greasy dust. But I loved the sound so I bought it anyway. It took me about a week to clean it up.
This was Guild's cheapest model in the '70s as far as I know. This model was introduced in 1968 and at that time they were all-mahogany guitars with tortoise binding on the body. In 1969 the gold silk screened logo was introduced on the peghead (see photo below right). From 1976 the tops were spruce, the backs were arched with no bracing on the back and they had black body binding (see the photo at bottom right). Mine is one of those.
But according to the link below, the serial number indicates that it was made in 1975, even though this style was not officially introduced until 1976. Maybe this was a prototype (unlikely) or serial numbers are stamped on necks a while before the guitars are assembled.
By a weird coincidence the serial number of this one was only about 150 away from the Guild F50R that I had bought new in 1977. Given that Guild made only so many guitars in that year, averaging 300 or so per week, the indications were that these two were made within a few days of each other! Or at the very least their necks were stamped within a few days of each other.
I added a Fishman pickup system in about 2007. Normally I wouldn't get a hole cut in a vintage guitar but this one really wasn't worth anything as a collector's item and it was far more useful to me with a pickup in it. From early 2009 I mainly used it for lap style slide playing, using a nut extender to heighten the action.
I sold this to a guy in Adelaide South Australia in February 2010, making a pretty substantial loss on the deal.
More Info
- Guild serial numbers
- The Guild Guitar Book by Hans Moust, 1995, Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 0-634-00966-4
- Guild web site
- Westerly Guild Guitars web site
