1978 Guild D-55 Dreadnought Guitar

Guild flattops of the fancier persuasion are always snappy dressers, and I'm sure the owner of this guitar appreciates that. I mean -- how about the inlay in the board of this fella and its multi-ply binding throughout? That's class. I mostly see it on the jumbo models out "in the wild," though, so it's nice to see one of their rosewood-backed dreadnoughts toting the stuff.

I'm the sort of person that a Guild is not a good match for as they're the kind of guitar that needs a lot of heavy-handedness to get the best tone out of them. They've also got a long scale length and a fairly shallow radius to their boards -- both things my left-hand protests. Still, I totally get why folks are into these -- they're fast to play when properly adjusted and they're punchy as all heck. Their mids-focused voice rips right through other guitars in a band or jam situation, which gives them a little edge.

Work included:  a bridge reglue plus a general cleaning-up and setup. I would've leveled and dressed the frets, too, but it was not on the agenda. Action is spot-on 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, the neck is straight, and the truss works as it should. String gauges are 54w-12.

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/16"

Body length: 19 7/8"

Lower bout width: 15 3/4"

Upper bout width: 11 1/2"

Side depth at endpin: 5 1/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid Indian rosewood

Bracing type: x-braced, medium-stiff

Fretboard: ebony

Bridge: ebony

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~16" radius board

Condition notes: the finish is mucked-up around the bridge from a bad old reglue job and also from having to move it farther aft on the body to ensure proper saddle location. It has an aftermarket undersaddle pickup installed and the bridge pins and saddle are non-original.