Why are some guitars better than Guild?

[idealassets]

But seriously, Collings, Bourgeois, and Santa Cruz all cost more

Thats true, and another aspect bears out- the shops that own these guitars for sale are usually not willing to hand anyone a sweetheart of a deal to sell them.

what makes a supposedly "high end" Martin, Taylor, Guild, etc. worth 2, 3, 4, or 5 grand?

The higher end Martin's appear to offer better hand workmanship. Often there is more bling on the more expensive Martins. Its all a matter of if that amount of embellishment is nice looking enough for a potential buyer. In my opinion its mostly yes, I think its worth more to get the aesthetics that I like on the guitar.

If a person gets accustomed to a particular guitar manufacturer's production standards, they may not like the feel of another brand of guitar. I particularly like Guild due to their fret radius and neck width. I have a problem with the outside 2 strings "slipping" off the fretboard on some guitars. That doesn't happen on my Guild guitars. So is this an issue of my hand positioning? Probably so. In either case, I've gone with what naturally works the best for me.

 

[JohnW63]

For me, what throws off the comparison is the only time I hear some of those high end guitars is when they are being played by really good players. I haven't the coin to have had various high dollar instruments, so I don't have first hand knowledge. So, do they REALLY sound that much better, or is the musician behind them ?

 

[littlesongs]

Maybe they aren't the fanciest or the most expensive, but Guild has never had to send a service bulletin like this to all of their dealers. 8)

 

[Scratch]

For me, what throws off the comparison is the only time I hear some of those high end guitars is when they are being played by really good players. I haven't the coin to have had various high dollar instruments, so I don't have first hand knowledge. So, do they REALLY sound that much better, or is the musician behind them ?

Visit a high end guitar shop and a/b as many as you can. Not only will it help answer your question, you'll have lots of fun. The down side is chronic GAS... :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

The down side is chronic GAS... :wink:

I've been afflicted with that malady for years and those closest to me seem to understand. :lol:

Joe

 

[Scratch]

The down side is chronic GAS... :wink:

I've been afflicted with that malady for years and those closest to me seem to understand. :lol:

Joe

Seems its those furthest from me who appreciate it more... :shock: :lol:

 

[adorshki]

Maybe they aren't the fanciest or the most expensive, but Guild has never had to send a service bulletin like this to all of their dealers. 8)

That's freakin' hilarious. In fact I'm still not sure if it's a magnificent fake.
Except that bit about "rough handling by freight companies" tends to lend some real credibility to the thing. :lol:

 

[jte]

Maybe they aren't the fanciest or the most expensive, but Guild has never had to send a service bulletin like this to all of their dealers. 8)

That's freakin' hilarious. In fact I'm still not sure if it's a magnificent fake.
Except that bit about "rough handling by freight companies" tends to lend some real credibility to the thing. :lol:

NOT a fake at all. I was a Fender dealer from '77 through '88 and we had that in our service manual. Plus they showed us how to do it at a sales seminar (and highly suggested we do it where the customer couldn't see us). It was a consequence of the sloppy neck pockets and the glossy finish, and the poor execution of the 3-bolt "Tilt adjust" neck. There's nothing wrong with a properly executed 3-bolt neck that uses a tilt adjustment. That design (reputedly by George Fullerton) was also used my Music Man and the early G&L. The difference is that MM and G&L did it correctly...

John

 

[dougdnh]

'Better' can be defined in many different ways - sound, build quality, looks, playability, etc. A few years ago I went around to several guitar shops with a friend of mine who was looking for a nice accoustic for around $1000.
We played many many guitars - Guild (American and Chinese),Taylor, Larivee, Gibson, Tacoma and Martin. Believe it or not, the best sounding guitars (to us) were the Larivee and the Chinese made Guilds (sorry I can't remember the models). He wound up with a Larivee. Was it the 'best' guitar? As far as sound, playability, and workmanship, to us it was, but someone else may have choosen something totally different.

 

[davismanLV]

This kinda ties back in to something I've said before, and others have chimed in. While some guitars are obviously inferior to others, I don't like to talk about different guitars in terms of good and bad, or better and best, or worse. I like to think they're DIFFERENT. I have a Washburn acoustic/electric that's a shallow body made of mahogany laminate with a solid spruce top. As expected it sounds VERY different from my Guild D65s. But sometimes, like right now, I put it in this really strange LOW tuning and it just SHINES like you can't believe. Same with open G. That guitar just RINGS like a bell. In standard tuning..... not so much.

Does that make it a better or worse guitar?

I think it just makes it a different sounding guitar. It's worth a mere fraction of what my Guild is worth, but that doesn't mean it doesn't shine in certain circumstances. I have three very different guitars and while I favor a couple of them, they all have a place in the overall sound spectrum. And that's good enough for me. I expect different things from each of them......:wink:

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

So the better question could be:

Why are some guitars better than [you fill in the blank]?