I'll start by saying I am one of those old Guild lovers that was well bent out of shape by the "Westerly Series" label applied to Chinese made guitars with the Guild name. Anyway, I found myself jonesing for an F-30 with the 1 11/16" neck nut and a cutaway. You can refer to my post (F-30 Aragon cutaway?) to see how that search went. Essentially the the guitar I wanted did not exist.
So in a moment of extreme weakness born of frustration, I pulled the trigger on a Chinese made OM-240ce, used from Reverb. I no sooner paid for it than I began to regret it, feeling like a traitor to the high standard of Guild guitars that I am used to. I had nightmares about tuning it up and having it implode as I played.
So needless to say my expectations were low when the thing arrived. Well, I tuned it up and began to play it and the damn thing didn't implode but it sure did not feel or sound like any Guild I had ever played. It is light as a feather so I expected a bright tone. But this thing was harsh and not at all pleasing to my ears. The tone, coupled with sharp fret edges that raked skin as I slid up the neck, and a bad set up that resulted in a lot of buzz left me feeling like I got what I deserved by lowering my standards and buying the Un-Guild. So I put it back in its rather nice soft case and tried to sell it locally on CL for $350.
After a month with no response to my post I decided I would apply my luthier skills to at least make it play well. So I dressed the fret edges, and set the action to a nice low, buzz free playability. It still sounded like crap to me but I did enjoy the ease of playing up the neck afforded by the cutaway. And because it was now easy to play I left it on a stand in my music room and over time played it more and more.
So here's the kicker. In my 53 years of playing guitar I have never experienced one that opened up so quickly and so much. I'm talking about one month of playing it almost daily and the difference is amazing. The harshness is gone while the brightness remains. The tonal character is still nothing like a real Guild but it has become quite pleasing. It sounds more like a friend's Taylor OM than like my other Guilds. But his Taylor cost around 5x what I paid for this.
Then I tried plugging in the pickup to see how that sounds played through my Bose system. Predictably, the Vol and tone pots were crap. They offer no graduated control . It is all or nothing with each of them. So I plugged it through an external preamp with EQ that gave me control and got decent sound out of it.
So that's my story and now two months into playing it the sound continues to improve. That or my ear is degenerating in a way favorable to this tonal character. Now if it will hold up over time ( no bets due to the almost flimsy lightness ), I will be forced to revise my opinion favorably with regard to this whole "Westerly Series" thing.
Who'd a thunk it?
So in a moment of extreme weakness born of frustration, I pulled the trigger on a Chinese made OM-240ce, used from Reverb. I no sooner paid for it than I began to regret it, feeling like a traitor to the high standard of Guild guitars that I am used to. I had nightmares about tuning it up and having it implode as I played.
So needless to say my expectations were low when the thing arrived. Well, I tuned it up and began to play it and the damn thing didn't implode but it sure did not feel or sound like any Guild I had ever played. It is light as a feather so I expected a bright tone. But this thing was harsh and not at all pleasing to my ears. The tone, coupled with sharp fret edges that raked skin as I slid up the neck, and a bad set up that resulted in a lot of buzz left me feeling like I got what I deserved by lowering my standards and buying the Un-Guild. So I put it back in its rather nice soft case and tried to sell it locally on CL for $350.
After a month with no response to my post I decided I would apply my luthier skills to at least make it play well. So I dressed the fret edges, and set the action to a nice low, buzz free playability. It still sounded like crap to me but I did enjoy the ease of playing up the neck afforded by the cutaway. And because it was now easy to play I left it on a stand in my music room and over time played it more and more.
So here's the kicker. In my 53 years of playing guitar I have never experienced one that opened up so quickly and so much. I'm talking about one month of playing it almost daily and the difference is amazing. The harshness is gone while the brightness remains. The tonal character is still nothing like a real Guild but it has become quite pleasing. It sounds more like a friend's Taylor OM than like my other Guilds. But his Taylor cost around 5x what I paid for this.
Then I tried plugging in the pickup to see how that sounds played through my Bose system. Predictably, the Vol and tone pots were crap. They offer no graduated control . It is all or nothing with each of them. So I plugged it through an external preamp with EQ that gave me control and got decent sound out of it.
So that's my story and now two months into playing it the sound continues to improve. That or my ear is degenerating in a way favorable to this tonal character. Now if it will hold up over time ( no bets due to the almost flimsy lightness ), I will be forced to revise my opinion favorably with regard to this whole "Westerly Series" thing.
Who'd a thunk it?