After 9 months, Schrodinger's guitar is finally here. It took a long time, and while I am not 100 percent happy with some of the visuals, acoustically, it is everything I wanted and more.
First up, the body wood. The back is not very heavily flamed. In fact, in pictures, it looks more like someone ran over a nice piece of plywood with a tire. It looks a little better in person, but not much, and certainly not as eye popping as other examples I have seen.. In addition, the top is not a high end top. I get that Jumbos are big and that it's much harder for them to get a clear top, but these are obviously not bookmatched after further examination, it is possible that these are bookmatched and that the scar on the bass side was removed during sawing/finishing while some of it remained on the treble side, and on the right treble side near the edge, there is a slight flaw from a small branch, or someone left something on the wood and it compressed slightly in that area prior to cutting, plaining, and finishing. Aside from that though, the grain is tight (very tight in the center) with very little runout. The sides though are flamed nicely and are a standout feature. Considering that most of what I will see is the fretboard and the sides of the guitar, I am okay with how it looks, but yes, I was expecting something a little higher quality in the looks department for a 4000+ guitar. IMO, I think Guild has dropped its standards.
What it lacks in looks though, it more than makes up in how it performs. I had it pleked and had a professional setup done on it. The action is spot on and I can easily barre the frets with very little effort. Yes, you know it's a 12 string, but it's no more difficult to play than any of my 6 strings. In fact, this will force me to get better as my finger placement has been a bit sloppy at times, This instrument will require me to be more accurate.
That said, it is a jumbo guitar, so it is big, and it is heavy. That's okay for me as I am a big guy (6' 2"), so it fits me easily, but I could see someone with shoulder/elbow problems or a smaller build struggling to play this. Maple is a hard, dense wood, and the construction methods Guild uses means it's even heavier. This thing weighs in at 5lb, 14 oz, so while it's no Les Paul in terms of weight, it's one pound heavier than a Taylor 814ce, and almost a pound and a quarter over the Martin D-28 in terms of heft, so if you are going to use this on stage, make sure you have a nice wide strap to help spread the load this will put on your shoulders.
The sound is crisp and clear, with high and sweet treble and shimmer, and a bass that is solid, bold, and not at all floppy or loose. It can play soft and delicate, or you can kick it up and let it fill an auditorium unamplified....all without buzz or sounding strained. This thing is an absolute cannon. And the sustain, my lord that thing has sustain for days. After playing my last chord, I just sat there and listened and I swear I could still hear it 15 seconds later, just ever so softly. No other acoustic I have played has had even half this amount of sustain.
I've owned some good guitars, but none of them has offered the power, the clarity, the range, or the precision that this one does, much less all of them at once. Once I played it, I no longer cared about any perceived flaws in the wood. This is a players guitar. If the F-55 is anywhere close to this, then I should have gotten that over the Taylor 814ce I have. I still love my Taylor, but it doesn't have the range that the F512 has.
Oh yeah, this is a keeper.
