I bought a used D20.
Had tried a new one out at one of the local guitar stores several times, found
it kinda dull sounding, left me scratching my head a bit. But then found one for
sale on CL, and hope springs eternal with all things Guild, so decided to roll the dice.
It arrived with scary high action, can't imagine the previous owner, who'd bought the
guitar new, had played it much.
Took it to one of several excellent guitar wizards I work with, he did a killer set-up on it,
got the action dialed in beautifully, lowered the saddle a bit, felt good.
Left hand chording had me feeling the nut was on the narrow side - didn't caliper it,
the spec states 1 11/16". The strings on it were probably original, my go-to
strings are Elixir nano mediums, so on they went.
To my ears, the sound of the guitar overall was kind of twangy and brittle - take the brightness of
a Taylor and do some unknown sonic something to make it slightly annoying - put on Elixir medium
nanos, perhaps?... and that's the sound. Good projection, good volume, fair separation, not
too many overtones, nothing like the party-in-a-box the Westerly D25s can be, but lacking that richness as well.
Also, very different than the D20 I'd tried previously in the store (which almost surely had factory strings on it, probably
D'Addario or something similar).
Bottom line was, in a house with a number of Westerly and NH Guilds in residence, soon realized there was nothing
there that would compel me to choose it over any of the other guitars. Sound is one of those completely subjective things - for someone
else, the D20 that ultimately left me cold might be someone else's little blue guitar pill.
I'd sit down and play the D20 for an hour or so, then shake my head, and put it away.
I'll observe this - the sound was
very distinctive, and unlike any Westerly, Corona, or NH Guild I've played.
Other odds & ends... the coloration of the sunburst finish on mine was gorgeous, but the near-matte finish just looked budge -
gloss would've been a better choice, and for $1400 imo should be. No easy way to get even the smallest blemish out of the finish.
One really odd thing... the satin varnish finish is
really odorous. I mean, it smelled like it'd
been sprayed about three days ago - the guitar was made in 2016.
This from a guy who's literally been around catalyzed paints of all kinds and hot solvents
for most of his life and still is today.
The D20 seemed noticeably lighter in weight than any of my Westerly or NH Guilds. Did not weigh it to
get an official number.
I sold the D20 last night.
Side note - about the same time I picked it up, also bought a Westerly Collection D-120 - I'm keeping it for the time being.
I like the sound better overall than the D20, and I like the generous 1 3/4" nut which works well for my XL hands.
Would I try another Oxnard? Absolutely - I would and I will. As mentioned earlier, there's a Ox D40 in the same shop that
is an absolute sonic bombshell... completely put my NH D40 (now departed as well) to shame!
D20 photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/lvqrGyea09QJNhZK2