New Resonator Day

GAD

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I ended up with the R30 that's been online a couple of times. My first New Hartford Guild!

Aside from the pickup jack glue messing up the finish, it's in great shape. It sounds like a strangled cat when I play it, so hopefully that changes soon. :nevreness:

My first impression is that this model was WAY overpriced when it came out.

Guild-R30-Resonator-Top.jpg
 

SFIV1967

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Nice Reso! Congrats! So you got a R-30 and Sandy and TX have a R-30S.

Pricelist increased especially between 2012 and 2013 from $ 2,299.99 to $ 2,999.99 MSRP, not sure what the street price was.



Ralf
 
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GAD

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In my 2013 catalog they only list the -S models, so the price increase would make sense if they went from laminated to solid woods.

Hey - you passed 10,000 posts! Did we have a party? We should have a party.

Edit - this is incorrect. My daughter has my catalog book so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage at the moment. Please stand by. :watermelon:

Edit 2 - my first line should say in the 2014 catalog...
 
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twocorgis

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I don't think they're overpriced at all Gary. My cousin Woody Pines (who plays a resonator almost all the time) pronounced it the best resonator he's ever played, and he's in my will! Jason McIntyre told me that he enjoyed making them more than any other guitar he had a hand in in New Hartford, which isn't faint praise. Now that you have your first NH Guild, may you end up with seven of them like me! Best guitars to ever wear the brand.
 

shihan

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Looking forward to the review on this one. One of the few acoustic guitars I have an interest in owning someday.
 

txbumper57

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Congrats GAD on a great Guild. I agree with Sandy Completely, I love my R30S! It is hands down the best resonator I have ever played and being the "S" models are made from solid wood just adds to the instrument in my opinion.

TX
 

GAD

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I don't think they're overpriced at all Gary. My cousin Woody Pines (who plays a resonator almost all the time) pronounced it the best resonator he's ever played, and he's in my will! Jason McIntyre told me that he enjoyed making them more than any other guitar he had a hand in in New Hartford, which isn't faint praise. Now that you have your first NH Guild, may you end up with seven of them like me! Best guitars to ever wear the brand.

Maybe the squareneck or solid wood models are better, but I would not consider this one a $3000 guitar by any measure. It's not that it's a bad guitar, and to be fair I don't know what the street price was on them. To be even more fair, I don't have a lot of resonator experience aside from playing a very old National in a New Hampshire shop years ago so I should probably go find some more to play and see how this one compares. My statement comes from handling hundreds of guitars (mostly Guilds). Hell, maybe this one is a bad example but I think the MSRP reflects the cost of doing business in the US more than anything else.

I will say that it absolutely sounds like it should so no complaints there.
 

idealassets

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That's a nice guitar.

I had high hopes for Guild when they first introduced these Resonator models. When was it, about 2010? There are some multi-instrument resonator players around here that were excited about them, but not one of them bought one in order to get the Guild reso out front where it could even be noticed. Its a pity because the Guild legacy might have been different if the name was out there where it should be.
 

twocorgis

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Maybe the squareneck or solid wood models are better, but I would not consider this one a $3000 guitar by any measure.

Well, I don't think any of us paid anywhere near that much for one, and I wouldn't pay $3000 for any guitar, except maybe a nice vintage Gibson round shoulder. With what I paid for mine, I'm very satisfied (even if my luthier is still pissed at me), and think I got a great deal on a superb instrument.
 

wileypickett

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One of the times we took the LMG factory tour, several Guild resonators were in various states of being assembled and I got to see the inner guts of the guitars up close.

Having repaired a few Dobro resonators and one or two other brands, I can unequivocally state that the quality of Guild's parts and their attention to assembly and detail, etc., was miles ahead of anything I've ever seen in another brand.

When you consider what vintage Dobro resonators go for and what you're actually getting for your buck (open one up and take a look sometime -- junk wood, hacked together), I'd put my money on a Guild anyday.

The proof is in the pudding of course -- how the guitar sounds -- but in terms of workmanship, two to three grand seems pretty reasonable, at least to me.

Glenn
 

GAD

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All good points. I think my initial impression comes down to the coverplate and tailpiece, which frankly feel like sheet-metal junk. Maybe that's part of the resonator "thing" - I honestly don't know.

Here's the crux of my problem: The MSRP for the D55 (natural) in 2013 was $3899.99. The D40 was $3,299.99. I don't see how this R30 had an MSRP of $2999 compared to those guitars. The D55 is billed as the flagship model and the R30 is the entry model in the resonator line. Every D55 I've ever handled has been a work of art. This R30 is just not on the same level. I know they're not the same price or the same design, but it seems to me that the D55 is worth it while the R30 just doesn't make me feel that way.

I think that the price tag is simply a reflection of a hand-made instrument made in the US. The only US-made guitar I can find with a lower MSRP in the 2013 catalog is the F20 standard at $2799.99 (which is still solid wood, BTW). Gotta go to the GADs to get anywhere near $1000. Sadly, I think that's more the issue than anything else.
 

GAD

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Hey all the marketing material for these gutiars state that they have Reflect-O-Voice which consists of an internal sound reflecting plate...

Does anyone have pics or a description of what that actually is? Because I see nothing that resembles that description in this guitar.
 

wileypickett

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I'd love to see photos of the insides too -- maybe the next time someone who owns one changes strings, you could pop off the resonator cover and take some photos? Kind of a big ask, I know!
 

GAD

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Oh, that's cool!

walrus

Of the four Guild resonators, the R30 is the only one that's a biscuit bridge. All the others are spider bridges where the cone faces up and the bridge sits on a spider-web-looking contraption on top of it. Which means I really need an R35 or R37 now. :watermelon: The R33 is also mahogany and I'd like to change it up. Plus I think the maple and koa models are just prettier.
 
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