West R Lee
Venerated Member
Personally, I don't think "bling" necessarily translates into better sound or a better guitar, but I do think an effort was probably made to build those guitars with more bling, or those that might have been considered upper end models with better woods, whether those woods were selected for sonic properties or for it's looks. I think there are plenty of great low end Guild guitars, but generally speaking, I think what was perceived as better woods for whatever reason was probably selected for the high end models.
It's interesting to me that I've owned so many Guild East Indian rosewood guitars over the years, all with the side/back wood looking pretty much the same, and my Collings is an East Indian rosewood guitar and looks unlike any rosewood I'd ever seen on a Guild, or a Martin or Taylor for that matter. The back/side EIR is much tighter on the Collings with no wide grain stripes. Now I'm not sure what that means sonically or in terms of quality, but that's the way it is. : ) BTW, the Collings has no "bling", it's actually a very plain looking guitar, but to me elegant in it's simplicity.
West
It's interesting to me that I've owned so many Guild East Indian rosewood guitars over the years, all with the side/back wood looking pretty much the same, and my Collings is an East Indian rosewood guitar and looks unlike any rosewood I'd ever seen on a Guild, or a Martin or Taylor for that matter. The back/side EIR is much tighter on the Collings with no wide grain stripes. Now I'm not sure what that means sonically or in terms of quality, but that's the way it is. : ) BTW, the Collings has no "bling", it's actually a very plain looking guitar, but to me elegant in it's simplicity.
West