Best all mahogany dread. Guild,Martin or Taylor

[Br1ck]

That is the poorest excuse for not having a D 25 I've ever heard.

 

[cibby54]

I like the Matrin sound I have a older HD28 and a post 2012 D18 the D15M neck is slimmer than either but I've played a few they sound good. The neck on my new F40 is about perfect for a 1 11/16th inch nut width I'd take that neck shape on anything. My 2 Eastmans a maple jumbo and my E20D have 1 3/4in nut width and chunky necks more so the older E20D. I might try and get the Guild D20 Oxnard if I don't like it I'll send it back. It's a tough choice because everything mentioned here is good but I'm 66 and played since I was 11 and get a little picky on how I want a guitar to sound. Even though I rarely play live anymore I sit in my studio and make minor adjustments if I think I'm not hearing what I want to. Probably all in my head as my wife tells me...Thanks for all the info

 

[Rayk]

I'm going to be looking online for a new acoustic. Since I have 2 Jumbo's one a Guild one maple back & sides and 3 dreads sitka and mahogany and one rosewood . I'd like to add a all mahogany dread. Which of these 3 would be considered the best all hog sounding Guild D20 , Martin D15M , or Taylor AD27 . I like the Guild neck on my F40 although it's 1 11/16th the shape makes it as playable as a 1 3/4in nut width. The Martin neck may be to narrow for me not sure about the Taylor. Feedback is much welcome on this.

Guild, Martin , Taylor and Blueridge.

 

[jfilm]

Does anyone have experience with the Oxnard D-20? The website says "First introduced to the Guild line in 1968", which I assume is actually the D-25 before it changed to arch back- I imagine the neck profile, which the website just says "C shape", is probably not as narrow as the Martin D-15M. Tony Polecastro reviews it on the Guild site, says it's very comfortable to play with a "softer C" profile, and "pretty narrow at the nut end".

https://guildguitars.com/g/d-20-in-natural/

 

[warpedmirror]

I had a d20 from Oxnard for a while but couldn’t bond with it for some reason. The neck felt cramped to me. I actually like the neck on my gad50 MIC guitar much better for some reason. Anyway, my fav all hog is my 2001 Martin 000-15s, the mahogany one they made before they switched off to sapele for awhile then to 000-15sm that they sell now.
I love the 12 fret and 1.75 nut! Such a fingerpicking dream come true!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Anyway, my fav all hog is my 2001 Martin 000-15s, the mahogany one they made before they switched off to sapele for awhile then to 000-15sm that they sell now.
I love the 12 fret and 1.75 nut! Such a fingerpicking dream come true!

There is a 2019 on local CL here. It looks great. $900 too. They are like $1300 new. If I were in market.

 

[kostask]

If you are looking for a smaller bodied all Mahogany guitar, you may want to look at a Harmony H165. Your music would have to work well with a ladder braced, all mahogany guitar, but they are still fairly cheap, and can be pretty good for acoustic blues and some forms of fingerstyle guitar. Backs are one piece of solid mahogany, and they are assembled with hide glue (and copious amounts of it, judging by the glue runs that are on the insides of most of them), and finished in nitro. Only real issue, for some, is the lack of a truss rod, but unless the neck is bowed, or you intend to use very heavy strings, its not usually a problem. Appointments are very bare bones.

 

[Eric P.]

Late opinion here - the best all hog was/is a Collings D1M. A late friend had the first one. Bill Collings waited a couple years to find the "right" mahogany top for it.

Second, and this is just my opinion, would be an older Taylor they did some 4xx and 5xx series over the years with mahogany tops. Really nice tone to them, IMO.

But the best deal has to be the 1980's-90's Guild D15M. Totally under valued. I think they are as good, if not better than the Martin. The arched back helps get more tone out, IMO. (Bias alert - just scored one so am still in honeymoon stage). Also, the necks are very comfortable. Then again, have always liked the Guild necks from that era.

 

[Br1ck]

Thanks for starting this thread, got out my 00 15sm last night and had a blast with it.