Guild acoustics?

[rocket88]

Hi, i'm thinking of buying me a dreadnaught or jumbo and I'd like to have a Guild. Since there seem to be alot of knowledge here I'd like some help in the jungle of models. I'd like a classic model no cutaway models.

Please let me know what you think I should look for. Mabe someone here has something for sale? Let me know!!

thanks / Johnny

 

[killdeer43]

Johnny,

You'll probably get as many humble opinions here as there are members. My first question to prospective buyers is always, how much do you have/want to spend? Then come the questions about whether you want to buy new or used/vintage, your choice of woods, what kind of music you play, etc. Lots of questions, but only you have the answers.

Many here will recommend that you consider a good 1970's Westerly D25. I have a '79 and it frequently blows away the competition (real or imagined), and it's great for flatpicking and fingerpicking. It's an easy guitar to fall in love with and it's a real workhorse.

E-bay, Craigslist, usually have a good number of new/older Guilds for sale, and also look in the FS/FT section here to see what's for sale. This is the place to talk Guilds, IMHO.

Happy hunting....it's a jungle out there, :wink:
Joe

 

[gretschbigsby]

I'd concur with Killdeer... the 14 fret dreadnaught is the most versatile guitar design there is, in my opinion. This fact alone probably accounts for why it is the most common guitar shape-- it does everything pretty well. That being said, as my playing styles have evolved over the years, I tend to like smaller guitars-- 000 sized or mini-jumbos. But if you are just getting into this, a dreadnaught might be the way to go.

For a long period of my life, I absolutely LOVED Jumbos. That is a great guitar body, too, especially if you are into strumming and rhythm playing, although they certainly sound nice flatpicked and fingerpicked.

Good luck!

 

[JerryR]

Apart from D25, also consider D35, D40, D50 and D55.

 

[Scratch]

You'll get lots of opinions here from hard core Guildaholics. Hard to go wrong with a DV-52 (rosewood) if you can find one. A nice Westerly-built will run around 1K. The D-40 (mahogany) is also one heckuva Dread... Depending on age and condition, anywhere from 800.00 for a vintage Westerly in good condition to $1,200/2,000 for a Tacoma-built (2005-2008). The new ones coming out of New Hartford are priced much higher. Good luck in your quest, have fun, and welcome (back) to LTG...

 

[6L6]

The good news is that you'll be happy with ANY Guild you buy!

Another vote for a 14 fret dreadnaut.

6

 

[Tunes]

Johnny,

Another vote for yer basic dread. Ya just can't go wrong with this bod, and there are a LOT more to choose from.

If your looking for a Guild, you've certainly come to the right place. Look in FS/FT segment of this site - although sales are not that common (we love our Guilds and hate to part with them), fact is it happens. You will certainly get a guitar that has been well cared for. If we were't fanatics about Guild we would not be here.

Other places to look include the ubiquitous clist and eekbay. Needless to say there are both advantages and disadvantages, but if you are an experienced player you can certainly get some GREAT bargains out there in Guilds. There are still generally undervalued in the marketplace, and these days it's buyers market.

This site http://www2.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cgi? ... ld&cat=mus is called a "mash" site, and automagically brings together all current listings from ALL craigslists and ebay onto one location. Cewl. It certainly helps you see at a glance what's out there.

The community here also does a great job of trolling the regular places for deals, so looks at the Members Cove under ebays/craigslist/gbase offerings for notable finds. We also tend to post outragious asks and dubious deals here, so it's also a great reference if you see something that might be too good to be true.

Anything D25 and above is going to be a great dread, but if you want rosewood and spruce you will have to search for D 40, 50, 55 or 60. The D-55 is considered by some to be the "flagship" dread that Guild produced, and the extra bling tends to drive prices up. Other Guilds are less known and can be had for good prices.

 

[dane]

Johnny,

Another vote for a dreadnought here, but it’s a model that I doubt anyone else will mention…the D-46 blond. I think it’s one of the best kept secrets in the acoustic guitar world. The sides and back are made of ash and has a very distinctive look that turns heads every time I pull it out of the case. The sound is warm and well balanced making it a great instrument for finger and flat picking as well as strumming. Plenty of volume too. As far as I know Guild was the only manufacturer that ever built an acoustic with ash, and after having this one for the past twenty plus years I really wonder why more makers haven’t used ash, and why more guitars haven’t been produce from it. Even though the D-46 had a fairly short production run at the Westerly plant, (maybe 1000 units total) I still see them a few times a year listed on ebay and Crags List for a reasonable price range of $600 to $1200 depending on condition. I also suggest using 80/20 bronze strings on this guitar…it just loves them. If you get a chance, check one out. You’ll be glad you did. :mrgreen:

Dane

 

[killdeer43]

Wow, that's a beauty, Dane.
Is that the same headstock we see in your fantastic avatar?
Any way you slice, that D46 is a fine looking Guild. Makes me want to 'go shopping.' :wink:

If you score one of these, Johnny, I'm sure you'll be one happy picker.

Joe

 

[GardMan]

I'll concur with just about everything everyone else has said... a dread is a good place to start (but so's just about any Guild).

The arched back D-25s are a good place to start... often found for $500-600 on eBay. Don't overlook the arched maple back G-37s and D-30s. I got my G-37 for $550 off eBay a couple years back. Really nice, sparkly tone. D-35s seem to be the lost cousins, sometimes... they have a bright, sassy mahogany tone, and I have seen them sell for less than $500 on occasion. D-40s are a step up in mahogany. If your looking for rosewood (deep, rich sound), many think the DV-52 is the best bang for the buck... they can often be found for a grand. I paid just about the same for my '76 D-50 in top notch condition... and only a little more for my D-55 (with some cosmetic challemges, but no playability issues).

I also will sing praises of the ash D-46... mine's a little older than Dane's, with a rosewood strip down the back. However, mine loves John Pearse phosphor bronze lights!Dave

 

[southernGuild]

Great responces guys....I agree with the above as well. Get a Guild....and your journey begins! dreads ARE indeed a fine start.
Gardman...Ive just looked at your "all my Guilds" for the first time. VERY NICE GREAT photos...and of course A GREAT BUNCH OF GUITARS. WOW....YOUR ear would be a great tester of the various tonewoods.....and your collection could keep me indoors for a LONG TIME!! :lol: WELL DONE!!! There must have been alot of joy in building THAT collection. Hats off to ya! :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

Johnny,

For your consideration while you're shopping and to keep the GAS fire burning, we here at LTG will attempt to tantalize you:

L to R: D25M, D6, D4-12, D50, D15.

And there's plenty room left for other non-essentials, like chairs, tables, lamps, etc. :lol:
**BTW, the D15 is for sale and listed on FS/FT.

Joe

 

[killdeer43]

Great responces guys....I agree with the above as well. Get a Guild....and your journey begins! dreads ARE indeed a fine start.
Gardman...Ive just looked at your "all my Guilds" for the first time. VERY NICE GREAT photos...and of course A GREAT BUNCH OF GUITARS. WOW....YOUR ear would be a great tester of the various tonewoods.....and your collection could keep me indoors for a LONG TIME!! :lol: WELL DONE!!! There must have been alot of joy in building THAT collection. Hats off to ya! :wink:

My sentiments exactly, Southern. Dave's layout is the finest hereabouts. And the guitars aren't too bad, either! :wink:

Joe

 

[JimbowF212]

Well, as far as a Dread it depends on the kind of music you will play most. If you will be doing a lot of flatpicking especially in a Bluegrass context then you will want a Rosewood bodied guitar especially if you might also do some fingerpicking. A rosewood bodied guitar will have a bit more sustain and punch. Most of Guilds Rosewood dreads are 2 piece back like a Martin D-28 which will give your a bit different tone then a 3-piece back, which will lean to the bass a bit more then a 2 piece back and the rosewood will also lean toward the bass response more then Mahogany. Now as a general rule a jumbo bodied guitar will tend to be more balanced between the bass and treble giving it what is termed a more mid-range tone but they also have a tendancy to be boomy as well depending on the woods used. I hope this helps. Now I would say a D-40 or D-50 or D-55 would due nicely and if you want a Jumbo I like the F-50R or JF-55 and I suggest you look at the ones made in Westerly as I feel they are the best Guilds ever made. JMHO.

 

[dane]

Wow, that's a beauty, Dane.
Is that the same headstock we see in your fantastic avatar?
Any way you slice, that D46 is a fine looking Guild. Makes me want to 'go shopping.' :wink:

Thanks Joe, and you have some nice eye candy in your collection too. And yes... my avatar is the D-46 headstock. I noticed you changed yours. I’m working on a new one too...but don't worry Joe, it wont look like yours I promise. Still… kind of funny how that happened.

 

[killdeer43]

Thanks Joe, and you have some nice eye candy in your collection too. And yes... my avatar is the D-46 headstock. I noticed you changed yours. I’m working on a new one too...but don't worry Joe, it wont look like yours I promise. Still… kind of funny how that happened.

I just created a new avatar to 'show off' my new guitar and decided to give it some air. Nothing but fun on these pages. :wink:

Joe

 

[GardMan]

Gardman...Ive just looked at your "all my Guilds" for the first time. VERY NICE GREAT photos...and of course A GREAT BUNCH OF GUITARS. WOW....YOUR ear would be a great tester of the various tonewoods...snip...There must have been alot of joy in building THAT collection. Hats off to ya! :wink:

Thanks! It has been a lot of fun chasing them all down... and I do enjoy playing them all! Each one sounds different... in ways that are hard to put into words...
Dave

 

[marcellis]

I love that D46. You can't go wrong with any Maple Guild.

As far as Mahogany goes, I prefer the D25 to all other Hog Guilds.
I owned a D40. It sounded anemic until I heard a guy pound on it with a pick
like Richie Havens. It never sounded good with my playing style. But he made it ring.
So I traded him that guitar for a statue.

If you go the D25 route - you must decide whether to opt for the flat-back solid Hogs (early 1970's) &
current GAD's, or the hump-back solid hogs.

Hump backs are louder. I prefer the tone & overall feel of the flat-backs.
Most around here prefer the hump-backs.

The GAD's have gone back to the flat-back solid-hog design.

 

[spiderman]

Johnny
As you can gather from the list there are many favorites, right now there seem to be many 70's D25s on Ebay, in fact I just bought one there, all mahogany arch back, for less than 0.7K including shipping its hard to go wrong assuming the guitar is sound. I'm probably overly paranoid about top cracks, but as soon as I see that in a listing I drop consideration of the guitar. Minor stable side cracks are less of an issue to me, my JF55 has one. I also take any non-new guitars to a trusted luthier for evaluation and a setup, so that adds ~$100 to the cost, which I figure as an add-on to my bid limit on Ebay.
Since I am small I was concerned about buying a Jumbo. Despite the huge presence of stringed instruments in Lawrence KS, I could not find a single Jumbo to try on for size from any maker. On a trip to Mayo Clinic I walked into a music store a couple of blocks away (there are two actually) and hanging high on the wall was a GAD-JF30. Visited the shop every day for 5 days, found it fit well and bought it at a good price. Since then I have picked up the JF55 on Ebay as well.
My advice is go to a shop that sells many guitars so you can try on different models for fit. The trend these days is more towards orchestra size, so dreads and jumbos are easier to find at a good price. Also if you see an online listing post it for comment in the Members Cove>Ebay etc. and ask for comments from fellow LTGers, you will get excellent advice, I did.


Harmony H-173 bought in 1960 (retired)
Alvarez AC60S 2008
Eastman AC320ce 2008 BOOKMATCHING BOOKMATCHING WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BOOKMATCHING!
http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store/sh ... id-Cutaway
GAD-JF30E(blonde) 2008
JF55 1997
D25M 1974

 

[taabru45]

Wow, that's a beauty, Dane.
Is that the same headstock we see in your fantastic avatar?
Any way you slice, that D46 is a fine looking Guild. Makes me want to 'go shopping.' :wink:

Thanks Joe, and you have some nice eye candy in your collection too. And yes... my avatar is the D-46 headstock. I noticed you changed yours. I’m working on a new one too...but don't worry Joe, it wont look like yours I promise. Still… kind of funny how that happened.

Separated at birth? :lol: :lol: Steffan