FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The D-55 started life in 1968 as the D-50 Special and was available only by special order. It first showed up in the October 1968 price list and was called the D-55 TV Model. The basic design recipe was a rosewood dreadnaught body, ebony bridge and fingerboard and top-of-the-line inlays. The D-55 underwent some subtle, but noticeable, changes over the years. The padauk neck of the early version was change to mahogany neck around 1981. Bracing was changed from tapered to scalloped sometime in the 1980s and samll details like tuners, pickguard, binding and rosette also changed over time. Perhaps more than any other 6-string model, the instantly recognizable D-55 has been an icon and remains Guild's flagship acoustic guitar. The guitar shown here has earlier features such as padauk neck and tapered bracing. Unlike bass heavy Martin dreadnaughts, the D-55 has a balanced tone from top to bottom.

 Body:  Hollow; solid 2-piece Sitka spruce top, solid Indian rosewood back and sides; 7-ply bound top and back

 Finish:  Natural, nitrocellulose

 Neck:  3-piece padauk/maple/padauk, set-in; triple bound ebony headstock overlay with pearloid logo and G-shield inlay

 Fingerboard:  Ebony, single bound; mother-of-pearl block markers with abalone inserts

 Number of Frets:  20

 Pickguard:  Black

 Bridge:  Ebony with bone saddle

 Nut:  Bone

 Tuners:  Grover Rotomatic, gold

 Scale Length:  25 5/8 inches

 Neck Width at Nut:  1 23/32 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout:  15 13/16 inches

 Body Depth:  4 3/4 inches

 Weight:  5.9 lb