The Quintessential Guild Guitar Collection - Opinions

sixx

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
224
Reaction score
34
Location
Arizona
Guild Total
6
I'm a Guild noob and am reading past posts here in an effort to rapidly educate myself. Until that happens (which quite honestly is going to take a while), what would you say is the top 3-5 guitars that a fingerstyle/strummer type player should focus on pursuing that best represents the Guild sound without too much tonal overlap? While I understand that Guild is building some great instruments currently, let's focus on past models (IE. Hartford, Tacoma, Corona, Westerly, Hoboken, etc.)

Basically I'd like to know what models I should be on the watch for that if I stumble upon a good example I should snatch up.

What guits are a MUST to have? :nevreness:
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2006
Messages
397
Reaction score
71
Location
Minnesota
Any pre-1970 solid-back model, though I'm personally fondest of the D- and bigger F- boxes. (I briefly owned a 1970 F-47 that was a disappointment--perhaps because it seems to have been a double-braced 12-string body with a 6-string neck. Never woke up.)

But I've played plenty of later-ownership Guilds that struck me as having that 1960s sound, particularly one F-47 from the Tacoma period. Regular time machine, that one.
 

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,478
Reaction score
7,133
Location
Central Massachusetts
D25, f20, f50, d55, f412

I love Wood's list here, but I'd offer some alternatives for ya'... For the F-50 (which is an arch-back maple), I'd say the F-50R (which is solid rosewood back) is a wonderful (and tonally different) alternative. For the D-55, I'd also recommend the D-50 (which also has a rosewood back)... But, if you chose to go rosewood with the jumbo, you might like a D-40 (solid mahogany) instead with a big sound but big contrast to the F-50R. Finally, while I love the F-412 (arched maple), I'd suggest that you try the F-512 (solid rosewood). I could sing praises to the F-512 all day, but it rules the roost at casa Chaz. If you do prefer a more damped or just different sound, there are smaller F-body and D-body (G-312, G-212) 12-strings to have.

[soapbox] My only requirement for you, sixx, is that you have your 12er set up properly. No 12-string on the planet stays away from people's closets unless it is playable. And, I mean, like butter. That's what you should have, and it's the key to 12-string love. [/soapbox]
 

AcornHouse

Venerated Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
10,217
Reaction score
7,226
Location
Bidwell, OH
Guild Total
21
Are you guys forgetting the F-30? Paul Simon's guitar of choice for many S&G years.
 

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,478
Reaction score
7,133
Location
Central Massachusetts
Can't have everything, Chris. Or, maybe you can!! :) :) F-30 is an awesome choice. I guess I'd say that'd be an alternative for the F-20.
 

AcornHouse

Venerated Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
10,217
Reaction score
7,226
Location
Bidwell, OH
Guild Total
21
Can't have everything, Chris. Or, maybe you can!! :) :) F-30 is an awesome choice. I guess I'd say that'd be an alternative for the F-20.
Or, go with an F-30, and an M-20 instead of the F-20, for that all-hog sound. (If only they'd do a new M-30 Del Rio.)
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,791
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
I'm a Guild noob and am reading past posts here in an effort to rapidly educate myself. Until that happens (which quite honestly is going to take a while), what would you say is the top 3-5 guitars that a fingerstyle/strummer type player should focus on pursuing that best represents the Guild sound without too much tonal overlap?
Sixx, you're gonna have to narrow it down to a preferred tonewood/body because:
3 primary body woods ('hog, maple, rosewood)
3 primary sizes:
Dreadnought, Jumbo, concert
2 primary back constructions: Flat and arched.
There's 18 right there, although to be fair, flatback maple and archback rosewood are pretty uncommon.
Then there's the 12-strings. :biggrin-new:

As of 1997, "Guild Gallery" #1 said "More D25's have been sold than any other Guild"
Pretty sure the big majority of those would be the 'hog archback version since by then it had been in production for 23 continuous years compared to only 6 or 7 years total ('68-'74)for its 2 earlier configurations.
So I'd put that on the top 5 most iconic Guilds list, but an archback and mahogany are not necessarily everybody's cup of tea, it just seems to be an extremely versatile "formula".
Another very popular finger-picking model was the 'hog flatback F30, think Mississippi John Hurt and Paul Simon, and Simon was even responsible for getting Guild to build a some flatback rosewood versions in mid-'70's.
So between those 2 you could cover 2 body types and backwoods, which leaves the other Guild "icon", the F50, jumbo body maple archback.
Dave Van Ronk favored those, for a finger-picking reference, and the formula was so popular Guild even offered a "blinged down" version, the JF30, from '97 to '04.
Another Guild icon is Richie Havens' D40 which opened Woodstock, 'hog flatback dread. Richie's not necessarily known for fingerpicking but in fact the flatback would probably be a better finger picker than its cousin the archbacked D25 due to cleaner note separation.
If rosewood floats your boat then look for D50's or even DV52 as the "low-bling" offerings, D55's as the high-bling offering.
If maple really floats your boat there was an archback maple dread, the G37, which became the D30, but flatback maple dreads are fairly uncommon, I suspect for the same reason that archback rosewood dreads are, that they're inherently less versatile than the other more popular formulas. (Current owners here may disagree, but I think that's gotta be the reason those 2 formulas never stay in production very long. They probably do do the specific things their owners like very well, but just aren't as widely appreciated as the more "mainstream" models.)
For example, Guild did experiment with an archbacked-rosewood jumbo in the late 60's with early F50R's, but quickly reverted to flatback only for rosewood, forever after, in F50's at least.
I can only think of one archback rosewood dreadnought, and it was the DCE5, an A/E that actually got pretty lukewarm owner reviews around here for its acoustic output.
Guild must have known something.
All of the "primary" suggestions are pretty commonly offered on the net.


The one thing I'd like to add to my collection someday is some rosewood.
If I expanded my collection to 5 I think I'd add a D30, and an F40 sized body (16" jumbo vs 17" on F50's) with flat rosewood back, like an F47rce, or maybe an F30R like Paul Simon.
Also let me warn against the popular misconception that maple is somehow too bright or trebl-y.
Not in Guilds, it ain't.
It's actually got the flattest response of the 3 major body woods when Guild builds 'em, with 'hog typically being boldest in midrange and rosewood offering best bass punch...
 
Last edited:

sixx

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
224
Reaction score
34
Location
Arizona
Guild Total
6
So...D25, F20 or F30 or M20, F50 or F50R, D55 or D50, F412 or 512 (buttah setup), D40. Got it! Many thanks
 

sixx

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
224
Reaction score
34
Location
Arizona
Guild Total
6
Sixx, you're gonna have to arrow it down to a preferred tonewood/body because:
3 primary body woods ('hog, maple, rosewood)
3 primary sizes:
Dreadnought, jumbo, concert
2 primary back constructions: Flat and arched.
There's 18 right there, although to be fair, flatback maple and archback rosewood are pretty uncommon.
Then there's the 12-strings. :biggrin-new:

As of 1997, "Guild Gallery" #1 said "More D25's have been sold than any other Guild"
Pretty sure the big majority of those would be the 'hog archback version since by then it had been in production for 23 continuous years compared to only 6 or 7 years total (68-74)for its 2 earlier configurations.
So I'd put that on the top 5 most iconic Guilds list, but an archback and mahogany are not neccessarily everybody's cup of tea, it just seems to be an extremely versatile "formula".
Another very popular fingerpicking model was the F30, which could be had in archback and flatback form, think Mississippi John Hurt and Paul Simon, and Simon was even responsible for getting Guild to build a some flatback rosewood versions in mid-'70's.
So between those 2 you could cover 2 body types and backwoods, which leaves the other Guild icon, the F50, jumbo body maple archback.
Dave Van Ronk favored those, for a finger-picking reference.
Another Guild icon is Richie Havens' D40 which opened Woodstock, 'hog flatback dread. Richie's not neccessarily known for fingerpicking but in fact the flatback would probably be a better finger picker than its cousin the D25.
If rosewood floats your boat then look for D50's or even DV52 as the "low-bling" offerings, D55's as the high-bling offering.
If maple really floats your boat there was an archback maple dread, the G37 which became the D30, but flatback maple dreads are fairly uncommon, I suspect for the same reason that archback rosewood dreads are, that they're inherently less versatile than the other more popular formulas.
For example, Guild did experiment with an archbacked-rosewood jumbo in the early F50R's, but quickly reverted to flatback only, forever after, in F50's at least.
I can only think of one archback rosewood dreadnought, and it was the DCE5, an A/E that actually got pretty lukewarm owner reviews around here for its acoustic output.
Guild must have known something.

The one thing I'd like to add to my collection someday is some rosewood.
If I expanded my collection to 5 I think I'd add a D30, and an F40 sized body (16" jumbo vs 17" on F50's) with flat rosewood back, like an F47rce, or maybe an F30R like Paul Simon.

This is a very helpful post for me, sir, ty. And as luck would have it, I AM jonesing for a folksie, bluesy small body so the F30 may have just landed in my crosshairs. Short scale? I'll research and see the specs.
 

Antney

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
510
Reaction score
176
I would buy a westerly d50 and take the balance of the money and go to Italy for 10 days
 

AcornHouse

Venerated Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
10,217
Reaction score
7,226
Location
Bidwell, OH
Guild Total
21
This is a very helpful post for me, sir, ty. And as luck would have it, I AM jonesing for a folksie, bluesy small body so the F30 may have just landed in my crosshairs. Short scale? I'll research and see the specs.
Having done my own search for a short scale F-30, I can give you guidance there. Hoboken F-30s from the 60s are short scale. When they moved to Westerly, they switched to long scale. There is a brief period at the end of the Westerly era (maybe '98-00?) when they went back to shortscale. The rest (Corona, Tacoma, New Hartford) are all long scale again.
The 60s ones are somewhat available, usually in the $1500-2000 range if they're in decent shape.
The late 90s ones are hard to find (luckily I nabbed one), but are about $1000.
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,957
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Massachusetts
If it's the "Quintessential Guild Guitar Collection", can't I have one of each? Oh wait, Kurt already does...

walrus
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,791
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
This is a very helpful post for me, sir, ty. And as luck would have it, I AM jonesing for a folksie, bluesy small body so the F30 may have just landed in my crosshairs. Short scale? I'll research and see the specs.
You're welcome, and just after I posted that I realized I might have been confusing F20 and F30 variations.
I can't actually remember if F30 was ever made in an archback configuration so corrected the post.
I do know F20's were offered in both scale lengths and flat 'hog and arched maple backs, but they're a tad bit smaller than F30's in the body.
I should also add thata 'hog archback D25 is a magnificent strummer.
Archbacks enhance overtones and sustain, making for very lush sounding chords. But they were only ever built in 25-5/8 scale.
 

Bonneville88

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
2,695
Reaction score
1,255
Location
St. Louis, MO
Guild Total
40
I guess I've kinda sorta been working on such a collection... more or less
journeying through the different Guild tone woods and body styles... on this continuing
adventure, thus far I've found enough compelling sonic variation even between same or similar models - jumbo arch-back maples,
dreadnought arch-back maples, dreadnought arch-back hogs... I've just kept on going.
Have yet to try: Rosewood flat back jumbo, hog arch-back jumbo, hog flat-back dread, maple flat-back dread... or
any of the small-bodied flat or arch-back F20s & 30s...:smile-new:
 

Neal

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
4,857
Reaction score
1,627
Location
Charlottesville, VA
I have owned a bunch of Guild acoustics, and here would be my vote to cover the tonal palate:

-Late Hoboken or early Westerly ('68-'73) D-25 all-mahogany flatback
-Tacoma-era ('05-'08) F-30 Aragon (red spruce top over mahogany)
-New Hartford F-50 STD ('10-'12). Sitka spruce over flame maple.
-D-55 from either Tacoma or New Hartford. Sitka over rosewood with red spruce bracing (or a similar era F-50R).
-Hoboken or early Westerly D-40 ('63-'73) or D-35 ('68-'73). Sitka over mahogany.

Extra credit...an F-512 from any era.
 
Last edited:

txbumper57

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
7,577
Reaction score
58
Location
Texas
In order for it to be the quintessential Guild Guitar collection you would have to throw in a Few Electrics as well. An American Made Starfire 3,4,5, or 6 would be a must. Also you should have a Big Full Hollow body American made Guild such as an X150, X175, X350, X500, X700, or any of the others I have left out. Then a possible chambered Guild like a 50's/60's M75, 80's/90's Guild Nightbird, or a 90's/2000's Guild Bluesbird. Finally a Guild Solid body such as a 70's M75, M80, 60's Thunderbird, Polara, one of the many 80's Shredder style Guilds, and probably the most known of the solid bodies a S100 from the 70's through 2001. Granted this is just an abbreviated list as there are many models I have left out but I believe Guild Electrics are an essential part of the World of Guild Guitars. Have a good one!

TX
 

Neal

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
4,857
Reaction score
1,627
Location
Charlottesville, VA
Except Sixx qualified his remarks by asking about guitars for "fingerstyle/strumming".

I can't see a shredder being played fingerstyle...maybe GAD will post a video.
 
Top