All mahogany guitar, why?

[12jermain21]

Now had my Guild M25 Californian Burst for a year. Would like to know what others think of this guitar and what sets it apart?

 

[gjmalcyon]

I see a first post. Welcome! Stick around - nice bunch of folks around here.

Never played that model. My only experience with all-hog guitars is with the wife's '51 Martin O-15. What I like is the note separation I hear.

 

[jedzep]

For me, it's all about mahogany warmth vs. spruce treble expression, and how songs I play fit into these tonal ranges. Having each rounds out my arsenal of 180, or so, songs.

 

[richardp69]

For me, it's all about mahogany warmth vs. spruce treble expression, and how songs I play fit into these tonal ranges. Having each rounds out my arsenal of 180, or so, songs.

I agree with this as well. You get a very different tone/sound from an all Hog guitar vs. Mahogany and Spruce. Not better or worse IMHO, just different and I for one like different.

 

[12jermain21]

I agree with this as well. You get a very different tone/sound from an all Hog guitar vs. Mahogany and Spruce. Not better or worse IMHO, just different and I for one like different.

Hi Richard, thanks for the warm welcome....
I have owned soooo many acoustic guitars over the years. Probably nearing 100 as I’m a luthier and I buy and sell old acoustics. Tone has always been the crucial factor for me. Have flipped Gibsons, Martins and many Harmony and Supertone guitars. Been tempted to keep a few but it’s my work (ha, don’t get paid for the ones I keep. On my journey I have always been searching for “the one” Finally after all these years it’s the Guild M25. Cant say how much I am in love with this guitar Just awesome in tone, looks and feel. Was originally after an older Guild M20 but I’m so glad I stuck to this one. Now I have less trouble selling some beautiful old time guitars.

 

[Westerly Wood]

 

[Westerly Wood]

a fairly well known locally in north texas singer/songwriter came over to our house to sing a song to my wife's friend for her birthday. i was outside doing yard work and had no clue about this. i mean i knew my wife was having friends over, but, i was outside. this dude walks into my yard carrying a guitar, and i am like, hey man, how ya doing? he goes good and just keeps walking to my door, knocks, then is invited inside. i am like, ok, what up?

so i finish up what i was doing and go inside, and this dude is playing this old Gibson acoustic guitar and his voice was just fantastic. real country. so i listened to the rest of the song, as everyone was super quiet. when he finished, everyone clapped and my wife's friend was crying, etc, so i went back outside to finish the yard work.

like 30 mins later, i go back inside and introduce myself to the singer/songwriter. real nice dude, just kind of shy. he was the husband of one of my wife's friends who was there, etc....

so i invite him into the "music" room to show him my acoustics. I had 2 at the time. a Martin 000-18 and the Br (D25 flatback1971). I gave him the Br, and he played a few chords. I remarked how much I liked his old Gibson, he had won it in a song writing contest when he was living in Nashville, trying to make it.

he thanks me and then plays the Br some more, then looks up at me: "I like your guitar better."

so the all hog dreads are good songwriting guitars. to people in the know, who even own better more expensive acoustics, but the old bottom of the line Guild dread, this dude liked better

country player and singer was Zane Williams, for those who are in north texas or in TX in general and have seen him at a bar etc...

 

[Uke]

Well, that was a nice way to start the day!

 

[chazmo]

Hi Richard, thanks for the warm welcome....
I have owned soooo many acoustic guitars over the years. Probably nearing 100 as I’m a luthier and I buy and sell old acoustics. Tone has always been the crucial factor for me. Have flipped Gibsons, Martins and many Harmony and Supertone guitars. Been tempted to keep a few but it’s my work (ha, don’t get paid for the ones I keep. On my journey I have always been searching for “the one” Finally after all these years it’s the Guild M25. Cant say how much I am in love with this guitar Just awesome in tone, looks and feel. Was originally after an older Guild M20 but I’m so glad I stuck to this one. Now I have less trouble selling some beautiful old time guitars.

Welcome aboard, 12jermain21. That's a great story. The M-25 from Oxnard looks like a very nice guitar, and I'm glad you're enjoying yours. Post a picture sometime (you can just drag one into a post). As for tone... Well, you're in good company here on LTG. I dare say without fear of contradiction that most -- if not all -- Guild lovers are drawn to Guild because they love the tone of their guitars. Yes, there are many other reasons, but the sound of a Guild is what it's all about.

 

[Guildedagain]

Great chording, wishing I could get my fingers to do what I want them to when I want them to but they seem to have a mind of their own, really rebellious...

 

[Westerly Wood]

the Br was my only Guild for a number of years. and when i had other Guild dreads, even though i liked the D50 better, i still wound up selling the others and kept the Br. it's just more versatile.

 

[dreadnut]

I'm really warming up to the all-hog archback D15, what a treat! Back in the day a local music shop had one just like this (Cherry red) and I really loved it after playing it. I considered trading my D25M for it. The old guy that owned the music store told me "Oh, you don't want to do that; you'd better keep the one you have." Good advice in the long run.

Now I have both of them!

'76 D25M on the left with a spruce top, all 'hog D15 on the right. Dread is a happy camper.

 

[walrus]

Welcome, 12jermain21! How about a few pics of your M25?

walrus

 

[walrus]

Really enjoyed that, WW! If you are using your 2.0 pick, then I am even more impressed - your right hand "touch" is wonderful!

walrus

 

[Westerly Wood]

Really enjoyed that, WW! If you are using your 2.0 pick, then I am even more impressed - your right hand "touch" is wonderful!

walrus

thanks for the kind words Walrus! and yes, that recording was the year i switched totally to 2.0 mm picks. it brought the Br to life. i was amazed by the increase in volume and attack. now i cannot play anything thinner, that would be the fall out. but i dont mind they dont hurt my shoulder lol

i must admit, 2.0 mm picks on the F30 are weird. it's not the same. i think it's overkill. but the F30 is more for fingerpicking.

 

[Br1ck]

I would not want to have my Martin 00 15 Custom 12 fret as my only guitar, but I'm very glad to have it. It, like all my others, does things the others can't. For one thing, it takes me back to the 19th and early 20th century. The lack of overtones reward precise rapid picking. Nothing escapes the ears. Aggressive rhythm playing is captured with clarity. It's just good to have in the toolbox, plus it smells so good.

 

[Westerly Wood]

yeah Brick, the older I get, I realize it's good to have more than one acoustic. and if they can all be Guilds, well....

 

[Br1ck]

I have owned two Guilds. One was an F 40 on my way to a Martin. It was very brittle sounding and I never really liked it but it was better than the Ibanez it replaced. My D 35 was a total fluke. Walked into my local shop and it was on the wall labeled as is for $250. I strummed it and even with next to no break over the saddle, I could see some potential, so I bought it. This is what I have today with a total expenditure of $1400. It really could have been any brand. But had it been a D 18, the shop would have done a neck reset, made a bridge, and turned a profit.

I see 70s D 28s and D 18s in the better shops here selling for premium over new, by around $500-800, that the shops bought cheap and did the fixing. They never last long.

My Guild really just found the person willing to spend more than it is worth to fix it. But back to the original question. I hazard to think that one in twenty or thirty people would walk into a store try a bunch of guitars and prefer the sound of mahogany topped guitars. It is something you have to live with to truly get them, and like the Les Paul I bought, maybe you never will.

Martin 00 15 Custom: comfortable and intimate. Lives in the mids.

Martin D 35 Custom: dryer than any Rosewood dread I've played, but still plenty resonant. Rich and lush, but still punchy enough to do bluegrass and rewards, indeed demands goos technique not to smear single note runs. When 70s acoustic is needed, it's the one.

65 Epiphone Texan: this is the guitar that best shows the properties of old wood, with that bass that cuts through, slamming you with that old Gibson goodness. Turns you into Johnny Cash when you mute the bass and it still hits your gut. Plus the ceramic bridge treble zing you won't get elsewere, love it or hate it. Instant Texas songwriter.

70 Guild D 35: Another one that you can hear the age. The best neck of the lot, and the most even and versitile. Strum and it never turns to mush. Bass enough for G runs. Lovely hog back and sides overtones, but clear and distinct. The guy that did the work called it a superb country guitar. A guitar I can and do take anywhere.

I'd still like a 65 D 18 someday. But for my Guild, I'd have one by now. Says a lot for the Guild.

 

[D30Man]

a fairly well known locally in north texas singer/songwriter came over to our house to sing a song to my wife's friend for her birthday. i was outside doing yard work and had no clue about this. i mean i knew my wife was having friends over, but, i was outside. this dude walks into my yard carrying a guitar, and i am like, hey man, how ya doing? he goes good and just keeps walking to my door, knocks, then is invited inside. i am like, ok, what up?

so i finish up what i was doing and go inside, and this dude is playing this old Gibson acoustic guitar and his voice was just fantastic. real country. so i listened to the rest of the song, as everyone was super quiet. when he finished, everyone clapped and my wife's friend was crying, etc, so i went back outside to finish the yard work.

like 30 mins later, i go back inside and introduce myself to the singer/songwriter. real nice dude, just kind of shy. he was the husband of one of my wife's friends who was there, etc....

so i invite him into the "music" room to show him my acoustics. I had 2 at the time. a Martin 000-18 and the Br (D25 flatback1971). I gave him the Br, and he played a few chords. I remarked how much I liked his old Gibson, he had won it in a song writing contest when he was living in Nashville, trying to make it.

he thanks me and then plays the Br some more, then looks up at me: "I like your guitar better."

so the all hog dreads are good songwriting guitars. to people in the know, who even own better more expensive acoustics, but the old bottom of the line Guild dread, this dude liked better

country player and singer was Zane Williams, for those who are in north texas or in TX in general and have seen him at a bar etc...

I know of Zane Williams. Not a bad s/s.. I love that br. Every time I have watched you playing it in a vid you have been impressed. All hog guits can have a very special tone. Perfect for the songwriter in so many ways.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I know of Zane Williams. Not a bad s/s.. I love that br. Every time I have watched you playing it in a vid you have been impressed. All hog guits can have a very special tone. Perfect for the songwriter in so many ways.

thanks D30 for that. Yeah, Zane got a cool voice. He lives off the music. Lots of regional touring. Bars. When we were in north Texas and my wife and his were friends, he’d be gone Thursday thru Sunday on the road, gigging. Living the dream as it were, but got to be hard.