Guild Acoustic Guitars: Are they any good?
Don Bartecsko
Your opinions wanted!!!
Don.
Jeff Greenwald
In article <4qcu20$3...@news.injersey.com>, Don Bartecsko <bla...@injersey.com> wrote:
>Your opinions wanted!!!
One man's opinion....
Imagine the following scenario: You're playing the "unplugged"
version of some heavy metal wannabe band's song about some
disgruntled loser in the game of life that no one will remember
3 months from today and the lyrics just happen to "touch" an
unsettled gentleman sitting 2 tables away from you with a half
dozen empty beer bottles on his table and a hunting knife stuck
in his boot.
The man yells some undecipherable obscenity at you, pulls the
knife out of his boot and decides he's going to get both of you
on the evening news.
Now, if I had to defend myself against someone coming at me with
a hunting knife and had to choose between a Guild or another well
known brand of acoustic guitar as a weapon of defense, I'd pick the
Guild. I would hazard to guess that another brand would break after
the first blow against the knife wielding attacker while the Guild would
provide one with the opportunity to unmercifully beat the attacker
until he came to an agreement with you that he should have left his
knife in his boot. Then at worst the Guild would only suffer minor surface
scratches from where it came in contact with the knife. At which point
you'd still be able to play and finish your song (although you might want
to retune...)
Seriously though, I do own a Guild (a jumbo) and I think it's a very
good guitar. A bit heavier than some other brands, but the weight
doesn't bother me (it might others because it is quite noticeable.)
It's a very playable guitar and I've noticed that my upper arm
strength continues to improve the more I play the guitar and
carry it from place to place. (I'd guess that combined with it's
case, the thing probably weighs close to 10lbs. if not more...)
I've had the guitar for several years and the sound continues to
improve with age and play. Guild may not carry the "prestige"
that a Martin or a Taylor does, but in my _opinion_ they're still
very good guitars. (But then, so are most Martins and Taylors)
So, yeah, Guilds are good guitars in my opinion. They're built
very well and from what I understand are pretty good bargains
when it comes to finding a used instrument for a good price.
Now, I haven't seen/played any of the "Fender era" Guilds yet,
but I would hope that Guilds would remain at their current level
of quality since the recent acquisition of Guild by Fender.
That's probably more opinion than you wanted, but you asked...
Happy Pickin'
Jeff
GuitarJonz
Older ones can be great. The newer one are not impresssive IMHO. I've
got a '77 D25 that sounds mellow mahogany, plays pretty well and takes
alot of abuse, it's my beater for hacking around. I got mine last year
for $250 w/o case with a few scars, mostly from heavy strumming, so it had
been played alot. Got a nice set up, sounds great. I'd check out a 70s
Guild before a new one. They're a bargain when compared to same period
Martins. Just play alot of examples, if you can, and one will jump out at
you.
George4908
About 4 out of 5 Guild acoustics that I pick up, I put down immediately,
generally for being dull and lifeless. But once in while I pick one up
that is great. Moral: play lots of 'em.
Robert McArthur
old. When I play them in the shops they seem awfully heavy. That
makes me think they are over braced. They also sound for the most
part far too muted. That said, there is a certain quiet charm
about a D-55, though I think there are better instruments
for the money. John Renbourn's "The Hermit" was recorded on
a D-55,
though he now plays Franklins.
Joe Bethancourt
George4908 <georg...@aol.com> wrote:
: About 4 out of 5 Guild acoustics that I pick up, I put down immediately,
: generally for being dull and lifeless. But once in while I pick one up
: that is great. Moral: play lots of 'em.
Music stores don't change strings enough, and tend to use lights when the
instrument requires mediums.....this is probably the reason for the "dull
and lifeless" thing.
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Joe Bethancourt
I have used a matched set of '74 F-50Bl and F-412Bl since I bought them new,
and must opine that they are the best stage guitars I have ever used. GOOD
sound (when used with the right gauge strings) and darn near indestructible.
Yes, I own or have owned Martins, Mossmans and a long list of others over
the years, but the Guilds are the best, IMHO.
I have kept an eye on their newer ones, and find no fault in them at all.
Aguyathome
Guilds golden years were from the late '50s to the early to mid '70s when
they were owed by it's originators. That was a magical period that
produced a lot of wonderful instruments. It has lived on with some
'spotty' success and has made some good instruments (on and off) over the
past 20 some years.
Keith Dunnigan
I know that Guild used to be considered the best 12 string guitars, back in
the early 70s and were played by John Denver among others. I think these
days Taylor and Takimine make some nice 12 strings though.
Keith Dunnigan
Scott R. Shank
In article <4qh1jf$f...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu>, rm...@tenet.edu says...
>
>In article <4qfuvh$2...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, georg...@aol.com
(George4908) says:
>>
>When I play them in the shops they seem awfully heavy. That
>makes me think they are over braced. They also sound for the most
>part far too muted.
Just my $0.02, but having disassembled a couple of Guilds, they are hardly
over-braced (lighter than most non-scalloped Martins). Their weight seems
to come from thicker-than normal sides and backs and *very* heavy neck and
tail blocks. Rosewood Guilds are heavier still.
I thouroughly disagree with the comments regarding lifelessness. It's
probably been pointed out already that most guitars come with dreadful
strings that stay on the guitar til it's sold. This is part of the problem.
When I bought my Guild D6 I had $2500 in my pocket to buy a rosewood guitar
for bluegrass. Instead I came home with a new $740 mahogany.
To the person who commented on post-Fender quality issues, Fender hasn't
touched anything at Guild yet. Still made in New Jersey. I think current
Fender management has decided to avoid the "CBS" problem this time.
GGJaguar
ssh...@execpc.com (Scott R. Shank) wrote:
>To the person who commented on post-Fender quality issues,
>Fender hasn't touched anything at Guild yet. Still made in New
>Jersey. I think current Fender management has decided to avoid
>the "CBS" problem this time.
Check the label on your D-6. Guild guitars have been made in
Westerly, Rhode Island since 1967 (actually production was
gradually phased out of Hoboken to Westerly from '67 - '69).
Their offices remained in Elizbeth, NJ until 1972.
I also agree with Georg...@aol.com that only a very small
percentage of Guild flat tops sound great. Most are boxy
sounding. The tone is good, it just doesn't develop and bloom on
these guitars like a Martin does. Still, the ones that do have
great tone are REALLY good. Guild archtops are another story -
highly underrated.
GG
BLK TFR
a light oiled finish. I love the way they feel and sound acoustically,
very even, but the pickups are very brittle sounding. I have tried Sunrise
pickup with some improvement, but eventually concluded that its a
different animal. My collings, Takamine, and james Olsen run circles
around the guilds.
Lou Ferguson
Yes definitely my D25M is the best freind a guitar player ever had.
21 years now for me.
The curve on the back produces the richest tones. Lou. Ferguson
T E I X E I R A
Larry at The 5Th String in Berkeley, CA. told me he stopped carrying
Guild because of the poor quality in the top end models.
DT
Jon Snyder
That's interesting. I was looking at a Guild F4CE small body cutaway
yesterday. The attraction is that it has a solid top, back, and sides,
and was on sale for around $850. I didn't like the sound unamplified,
but amplified it had a really warm tone.
If you (or anyone else reading this) have any comments on that model in
particular, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks.
-Jon
Timothy Kelly
Hi All,
20-25 years ago, Guilds were it, easily the best sound, martin were
good doorstops compared to the Guilds then. They had all sizes of
bodies, woods, etc.
Now they are hard to find, not a lot of guild dealers in us.
Buy the guitar because you like the way it looks, sounds, and feels,
dont worry about the name on the guitar.
Some of the most popular brands give the worst sound for the buck.
Buy for sound, not brand.
Happy Sounds
Timothy Kelly
MidiVox
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Jon-
I've had a Guild F4CE for about 18 months now, and I've found
that it's a really versatile and (relatively) inexpensive guitar.
(I bought it originally because the relatively thin
body, and a sentimental attraction to the Guild nameplate)
Unamplified, with a fairly fresh set of light-gauge D'addarios,
it surprised me: only a little quieter than my old Guild D-35,
and a good bit brighter. Amplified, and EQ'd to bring out the
bass and the highs, I like it even better. So far, no
complaints. (But for $850, they'd best be throwing in a case!).
--Nick
--
Nick Lombardo
John Gorsky
I have a JF-55 jumbo that is great. Guild makes some exceptionally nice
guitars, but the quality control is sometimes lacking. I had to play a lot of
them to find a great one - and it is phenominal. A good Guild is pure magic. I
hope they get their act together and iron out the workmanship flaws. Case in
point: I saw an all Koa "presentation model" hanging in a store. $4K list.
It looked beautiful from a distance, but up close it was a disaster - sloppy
inlay work, and multiple finish flaws. This should never have left the
factory.
Oops, I'm rambling. I'll get off my soapbox now.
John
In article <31DEA3...@csi.compuserve.com>, jsn...@csi.compuserve.com
says...
Michael J. Muilenburg
John is right - I had to shop for about a year to find a "great" Guild JF-55,
but I saw even more lower end Guilds that could use a bit more quality control.
I observed the same trend with Gibson, Taylor and some of the Martin models.
It was hard to compare many of the same small shop guitars (Larivee, Collings,
etc.) since there are not too many of them hanging around in shops.
The moral of the story is that you need to shop until a particular guitar
jumps out at you and won't let you leave the shop without it. It really has
nothing to do with brand or price.
My $0.02 worth.
Michael.
John Gorsky wrote:
>
> I have a JF-55 jumbo that is great. Guild makes some exceptionally nice
> guitars, but the quality control is sometimes lacking. I had to play a lot of
> them to find a great one - and it is phenominal. A good Guild is pure magic. I
> hope they get their act together and iron out the workmanship flaws. Case in
> point: I saw an all Koa "presentation model" hanging in a store. $4K list.
> It looked beautiful from a distance, but up close it was a disaster - sloppy
> inlay work, and multiple finish flaws. This should never have left the
> factory.
>
> Oops, I'm rambling. I'll get off my soapbox now. John.
>
> In article <31DEA3...@csi.compuserve.com>, jsn...@csi.compuserve.com
> says...
> >
> >T E I X E I R A wrote:
> >>
> >> Larry at The 5Th String in Berkeley, CA. told me he stopped carrying
> >> Guild because of the poor quality in the top end models.
> >>
> >> DT
> >
> >That's interesting. I was looking at a Guild F4CE small body cutaway
> >yesterday. The attraction is that it has a solid top, back, and sides,
> >and was on sale for around $850. I didn't like the sound unamplified,
> >but amplified it had a really warm tone.
> >
> >If you (or anyone else reading this) have any comments on that model in
> >particular, I'd love to hear them.
> >
> >Thanks.
> >
> >-Jon
--
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Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.
Robert McArthur
In article <31E67E...@mmm.com>, mjmuil...@mmm.com (Michael J. Muilenburg) says:
I own a Guild Pear wood D-55 circa 1968. It's a good guitar. I saw
Richie Havens' with one
on the cover of his first album and had to have one. I think in the
interveining 28 years
2 things have happened. Guild quality has gone down hill and
for the price other guitars have ascended. My advice (which is worth
exactly $.02 -- this is based on my peronal assesment of the market and
isn't meant to be definitive for everyone) is:
a. Get a Martin D-1 if you are in the $700
price range
b. Get a Larrivee L-05 if you are in the $1000
price range
C. Get a Larrivee L-09 if you are in the $1200
price Range
D. Get a Breedlove RD rosewood if you are in the
$1700 price range.
One source of good buys is to mail order from Elderly Instruments--they
have a web page. Play them first where you can find them, of course.