General Music Chat

well, that'd be "new OLD gtr day".

mr. ups man has delivered the 1975 GUILD D50 that i won on ebay. i changed the strings as the old ones were kinda hurting. so far (i've got 14 days to send her back) she's definitely a keeper!

it has the nice big bottom that you'd expect from a 40 yr old dreadnaught w solid rosewood sides and back, with an ebony brdg and fingerboard.

just enough dings and scratches that i won't have to stress about any more coming her way (not really anything i spend much time worrying about).....and really sweet tone top to bottom. and she's loud! most vibalicious.

it has a K&K Pure Western p/u installed that sounds real good. (uh, oh...does that i can only play Western music on it?)

i haven't even messed w a preamp yet...just straight into the board and it's quite representative of the gtr's tone...only louder. i bet it's gonna sound great using my PARA Acoustic DI.

frets are exc. good neck angle. no lifting at the brdg or heel, and untypical of most old Guilds.....no binding issues or shrinkage of the headstock veneer. the action is low but a little higher than i prefer. for now i'm gonna leave it where it is.

ok. that's about enough wasting time with you deadbeats.....the D50 beckons!

and a cpl of family shots....enjoy the gear porn

Very nice! Kind of reminds me of my Martin D-28. Of course a D50 is...22 better. Enjoy.

LOL....math challenged as i am, that took me a minute to get!

yep, Guilds were always the poor man's Martin/Gibson. but something about that underdog/overlooked stepsister bit has always appealed to me. well, that.....and the fact that they made some really good gtrs and basses!

Thanks.

40 years old, that wood has opened up, must sound fantastic!

Nice guitar! Guild was building some solid instruments during that period. The K&K will need a decent preamp with some EQ to sound it's best or an acoustic amplifier. A lot of guys like to dual source the K&K by adding a small internal mic and a stereo jack. Also in an emergency you can paddle a boat with it.

Nice guitar! Guild was building some solid instruments during that period. The K&K will need a decent preamp with some EQ to sound it's best or an acoustic amplifier. A lot of guys like to dual source the K&K by adding a small internal mic and a stereo jack. Also in an emergency you can paddle a boat with it.

Thanks Jon. K&K talks up how a pre-amp isn't necessary w these as they have more output than other passive p/u systems. And it does sound quite good straight up, but i believe all passive p/u systems DO benefit from a good preamp ( i'll be using my PARA Acoustic that i've had good luck w on my mandolins).

I do believe you and i have spoke and shared a few emails back in Dec when my wife and i were renting a place on Anna Maria Is. We were both lamenting the nasty and childish behavior of the stooges on c-list who were giving Bob the bass player grief.

Thanks for your post and welcome to Bandmix! I hope you stick around...it'd be nice to have another musician around these parts who enjoys talking gear and music.

I definitely remember talking with you. I wish I wasn't so busy when you when you were in town. I've been on bandmix for a few years now though I don't use the forums much. I've made some useful contacts and gotten a decent amount of work from the site. It's a good supplement to the usual craigslist slog and other networking.

I've got a K&K in my mandolin and I think the placement isn't ideal because I have to EQ the crap out of it to get a decent sound. I like it more in the guitars I've heard. I suggested a preamp more for the EQ and utility than for a signal boost. If you tend to plug in to the same systems and get a good direct sound or have a soundman consistently you might be OK without one. Plus you get to shop for another piece of gear which is always fun. I've got a friend who uses the K&K with a minature AKG mic with his alvarez dread and runs both signals through a DTAR Solstice. It sound amazing even through crappy systems.

ALthough K+K say you don't need a preamp with it, I've read complaints (on the acousticguitarforum.com site) where people couldn't get tone-volume out of it without one.

ALthough K+K say you don't need a preamp with it, I've read complaints (on the acousticguitarforum.com site) where people couldn't get tone-volume out of it without one.

it's been out on two gigs so far (NEITHER of them did I get to play it!). first was our "Pizza gig" where our fiddle gal and banjo man were using it thru a small PA at lower "restaurant" volume. it went direct into the board and sounded great. nice EQ and plenty of volume.

then on Friday i brought it out the truckstop for our frontguy to use. it's a big place, and we play w mucho volume....covering the room from the stage with our amps..nothing in the PA but vcls and kickdrum.
there was plenty of volume from the gtr to hang in there, but that pickup really does give a very accurate depiction of the gtr's "acoustic tone EQ".

and the gtr has a lot of low end booty w not too much sizzle on top. it's a dreadnaught. we couldn't really get it EQ'd w enough "cut" and "sizzle" to make it work so Jack ended up going w his usual axe.... a GIBSON Chet Atkins "solid body acoustic".

so smaller gigs it looks like it'll go right into the PA.....anything where we're pushing volume to the PARA Acoustic DI we go for some more EQ options.

I definitely remember talking with you. I wish I wasn't so busy when you when you were in town. I've been on bandmix for a few years now though I don't use the forums much. I've made some useful contacts and gotten a decent amount of work from the site. It's a good supplement to the usual craigslist slog and other networking.

well, the mrs. and i will be back on Anna Maria Island in December and i'll have my vibes, bass, mando, and a gtr with me. perhaps we might meet up then!