steverok
Member
Hello from South Florida, Everyone. I am excited to share my run-down of this '81 Guild D25M I received yesterday. It is the spruce top with the mahogany stain. Very pleased that the Guild logo appears to be mother-of-pearl. It has an LR Baggs Anthem SL installed, with the wire to the battery dangling loosely, visible through the sound-hole Lol. I own and play a couple Gibson 6-string acoustics, and USA Guild 12-string acoustics. Once I cleaned it up and installed new strings, I notice the guitar has a sparkle that the Gibson's don't quite have, which I love. A very strong and robust sounding axe, indeed. I couldn't put it down yesterday.
A few things. I am questioning how well it is holding its tune. I feel I've had to tune it way more, after the string change, than I would with my Gibsons. I think I will replace these old Grover's with new ones. These look like the only ones that will match the screw holes there now.
www.sweetwater.com
I don't understand why the medium-sized Grover's have a different screw-hole location compared to the mini's. Makes no sense. I swapped out the tuners on my '81 D212 with new Grover mini's, and it was a perfect match, however, not so for the medium size.
The distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the bass E string is right about 4/32", which is about as high as I would want it. The bridge looks like it may be lifting every so slightly in the back, but not enough for me to even slide a piece of paper underneath it. There is a little bellying of the top and not much saddle showing, so, if it moves much more, it may eventually need a neck reset, but it's good for now. Not worried about it. The saddle looks like some thin little plastic-y thing, which is leaning forward in the bridge slot. Plugged in, it sounds quite good, although I do think the Anthem output is not nearly as powerful as with my Gibsons. My J-45 has the LR Baggs Element, which I believe uses the same under-saddle transducer (UST) as the Anthem, however the J-45 has a significantly higher output, as does my Gibson J-100 with the old Fishman Matrix UST. Also, the bass E string on the D25 is coming out low through the Anthem, even with it dialed all the way 100% to the UST side of the mix. I am going to try to find a luthier down here who can craft a new saddle and hopefully sort out the low E output through the Anthem.
I would be interested in hearing any and all of your thoughts.
Cheers,
Steve
A few things. I am questioning how well it is holding its tune. I feel I've had to tune it way more, after the string change, than I would with my Gibsons. I think I will replace these old Grover's with new ones. These look like the only ones that will match the screw holes there now.
Grover 205C Mini Rotomatics Tuners - 3+3 - Chrome
Mini Tuning Machine Heads for Guitar with 14:1 Gear Ratio, 3x3 Configuration, .391" Hole Size, and Included Mounting Hardware - Chrome
www.sweetwater.com
I don't understand why the medium-sized Grover's have a different screw-hole location compared to the mini's. Makes no sense. I swapped out the tuners on my '81 D212 with new Grover mini's, and it was a perfect match, however, not so for the medium size.
The distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the bass E string is right about 4/32", which is about as high as I would want it. The bridge looks like it may be lifting every so slightly in the back, but not enough for me to even slide a piece of paper underneath it. There is a little bellying of the top and not much saddle showing, so, if it moves much more, it may eventually need a neck reset, but it's good for now. Not worried about it. The saddle looks like some thin little plastic-y thing, which is leaning forward in the bridge slot. Plugged in, it sounds quite good, although I do think the Anthem output is not nearly as powerful as with my Gibsons. My J-45 has the LR Baggs Element, which I believe uses the same under-saddle transducer (UST) as the Anthem, however the J-45 has a significantly higher output, as does my Gibson J-100 with the old Fishman Matrix UST. Also, the bass E string on the D25 is coming out low through the Anthem, even with it dialed all the way 100% to the UST side of the mix. I am going to try to find a luthier down here who can craft a new saddle and hopefully sort out the low E output through the Anthem.
I would be interested in hearing any and all of your thoughts.
Cheers,
Steve
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