FNG
Enlightened Member
Did you buy the guitar in the US?
D-20 made in California. Disappointing build quality
- Thread starter scottwalker82
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scottwalker82
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Aye. Bought it at guitar city in Pearl city Honolulu. But I live in London
Scott, see if you can find a dealer that sells Cordoba guitars and try working through them. My read on the warrantee is definitely NOT that it's void when you leave, just that you have to be careful how you exercise it out-of-USA. That's all. Good luck.
Westerly Wood
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IMHO, they should totally honor the warranty. nuts and saddles do not cause bellying LOL
And you should also tell Guild it was THEM who suggested medium gauge strings.
And you should also tell Guild it was THEM who suggested medium gauge strings.
Br1ck
Senior Member
Several very happy D 20 owners posted over on UMGF recently in the Guitar Critics section.
If I were the authorized UK distributor for Guild, I think I'd take a negative view of the situation. They will probably take a that wasn't bought from us, it's not our problem view of things. My local Martin dealer does not do Martin warranty work if you didn't buy the guitar from them. Entirely justified IMHO, for they know many have tried out guitars there, then shopped for the best price, then expect the best repair shop around to do the warranty work. I, on the other hand, walked my Martin with the binding issue in and received first class treatment.
I don't think even Martin has close to the same warranty out of the US. While I can sympathize with your plight, the OP has 11 posts. One could speculate, wrongly or not, OP joined just to trash Guild, wrongly or not. In true LTG fashion, those with 2,000-15,000 posts are trying to be helpful. Subjecting a guitar to an airline cargo hold in anything less than a flight case is fraught with danger. I suspect the OP will be presented with several unsatisfactory options.
I once had a friend who lived in the UK for a while who on returning home, bought a D 28 to take back. It paid for his airfare. He returned with a cheap pawn shop guitar, so he had a guitar coming and going. Dealt in cash. Everyone happy but the tax man.
If I were the authorized UK distributor for Guild, I think I'd take a negative view of the situation. They will probably take a that wasn't bought from us, it's not our problem view of things. My local Martin dealer does not do Martin warranty work if you didn't buy the guitar from them. Entirely justified IMHO, for they know many have tried out guitars there, then shopped for the best price, then expect the best repair shop around to do the warranty work. I, on the other hand, walked my Martin with the binding issue in and received first class treatment.
I don't think even Martin has close to the same warranty out of the US. While I can sympathize with your plight, the OP has 11 posts. One could speculate, wrongly or not, OP joined just to trash Guild, wrongly or not. In true LTG fashion, those with 2,000-15,000 posts are trying to be helpful. Subjecting a guitar to an airline cargo hold in anything less than a flight case is fraught with danger. I suspect the OP will be presented with several unsatisfactory options.
I once had a friend who lived in the UK for a while who on returning home, bought a D 28 to take back. It paid for his airfare. He returned with a cheap pawn shop guitar, so he had a guitar coming and going. Dealt in cash. Everyone happy but the tax man.
scottwalker82
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Boneman. Aye the bellying had started when I was still in Hawaii.
Br1ck: I joined just to trash guild!? My god man, grow up.
Br1ck: I joined just to trash guild!? My god man, grow up.
fronobulax
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Make sure we know where the line about personal attacks is and please don't cross it it.
I too have seen many trolls who join a product specific board to trash the product. I don't think that is the case here.
We have someone who bought a guitar and thinks there is something wrong that he doesn't expect from a new guitar. It may be that those expectations are in error in which case we might as well try and gently correct the expectations. If there is a problem then we are helpfully offering solutions.
My ignorance makes my opinion somewhat worthless. Right now I think the instrument has a loose brace or two and the observed problem can be resolved by repairing the brace. What is not clear is why the brace is loose. If the guitar had never left the USA I would hope Guild would fix it or explain why it was not a warranty issue. Since the instrument has travelled I don't know what to expect from Guild.
I too have seen many trolls who join a product specific board to trash the product. I don't think that is the case here.
We have someone who bought a guitar and thinks there is something wrong that he doesn't expect from a new guitar. It may be that those expectations are in error in which case we might as well try and gently correct the expectations. If there is a problem then we are helpfully offering solutions.
My ignorance makes my opinion somewhat worthless. Right now I think the instrument has a loose brace or two and the observed problem can be resolved by repairing the brace. What is not clear is why the brace is loose. If the guitar had never left the USA I would hope Guild would fix it or explain why it was not a warranty issue. Since the instrument has travelled I don't know what to expect from Guild.
JohnW63
Enlightened Member
I would want more info from the luthiers. "What don't you like about the bracing?" Too light isn't bad if they hold their shape and are properly attached to the places they are supposed to be.
Opsimath
Senior Member
Welcome to LTG.
So sorry that your entrance is accompanied by a new Guild issue. Wishing you the best in getting the problem identified and resolved to your satisfaction!
So sorry that your entrance is accompanied by a new Guild issue. Wishing you the best in getting the problem identified and resolved to your satisfaction!
Br1ck
Senior Member
I've seen it done, time and time again. Do you know there are people getting paid to post bad reviews on pretty much any product or service you can imagine? Notice I made very clear, twice if I recall, by the phrase speculate, real or not, that I could not in any certainty, deduce any truth. Fact as I know it, in general and more often that I'd want, someone does in fact join a forum just to trash a product or company they are unhappy with for whatever reason.
The origin of your guitar in the climate it was in, and the transportation of the instrument to an entirely different climate, on it's own casts some valid doubt as to genuine manufacturer's defect in materials or workmanship. Throw in the fact that Guild sells to an authorized Guild UK distributor with probably a very different warranty policy , one that technically your guitar does not qualify for, and I believe you chances of a satisfactory outcome are small. You would be at the Guild UK distributor's mercy. I do not know, but seriously doubt the contract signed by the distributor says they have to honor a US warranty for a guitar they did not sell. It sucks. I can sympathize, but there it is.
geoguy
Senior Member
I think the OP's photos speak for themselves . . . I would also be disappointed if a nearly-new guitar deformed in that manner.
Now that we're exiting the heating season in the northern hemisphere, presumably the guitar is not in a particularly arid environment (in the UK).
Guild's webpage does spec light-gauge strings for this instrument . . . so perhaps switching to a lighter-gauge string might both improve the sound & allow the soundboard to revert back to a more-normal shape.
Now that we're exiting the heating season in the northern hemisphere, presumably the guitar is not in a particularly arid environment (in the UK).
Guild's webpage does spec light-gauge strings for this instrument . . . so perhaps switching to a lighter-gauge string might both improve the sound & allow the soundboard to revert back to a more-normal shape.
wileypickett
Enlightened Member
It seems we're all puzzled by how much your top has warped. It'd be unusual to find such warping on an older guitar, but on a relatively new instrument? Weird!
Of course show it to a good repair person first to make sure the braces haven't failed. But if everything is "good" inside the guitar and you can't get satisfaction from the Guild representatives where you are, you might consider this:
I have them in several older Guilds whose tops had bellied over time, and they work. (Though none of my guitars had tops as warped as yours.)
They not only restored the bellied areas behind the bridges to their original shapes, but they also flattened the areas in front of the bridges, around the soundhole, a problem that often accompanies bellying.
If all else fails, it could be an effective solution to your problem.
Good luck and let us know how things turn out -- we're a curious bunch!
Of course show it to a good repair person first to make sure the braces haven't failed. But if everything is "good" inside the guitar and you can't get satisfaction from the Guild representatives where you are, you might consider this:
I have them in several older Guilds whose tops had bellied over time, and they work. (Though none of my guitars had tops as warped as yours.)
They not only restored the bellied areas behind the bridges to their original shapes, but they also flattened the areas in front of the bridges, around the soundhole, a problem that often accompanies bellying.
If all else fails, it could be an effective solution to your problem.
Good luck and let us know how things turn out -- we're a curious bunch!
Heath
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Honestly, in my mind a warranty is a warranty. People live in Hawaii and also in the UK. People travel. It would be pretty uncool if Guild said, well you were in a difficult climate and moved to a different climate, therefore we won’t honor the warranty. If that’s the case, maybe they shouldn’t sell guitars in Hawaii. 
RBpicker
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Did you buy it direct from Guild, and not through a dealer? Could it have been exposed to very dry conditions, or excessive temperatures between the time it left Guild and you received it? I have two new Oxnard Guilds (one is a D20), and both are impeccable in build, playability and tone.
im really sorry you’re experiencing this. It’s extremely frustrating, I’m sure. I hope you can get some resolution.
roger
im really sorry you’re experiencing this. It’s extremely frustrating, I’m sure. I hope you can get some resolution.
roger
JohnW63
Enlightened Member
He bought it in Hawaii and traveled to the UK, is how I read his story.
I doubt that even in the storage area of the planes would cause that much of an issue, since it's not there very long. As long as the baggage handlers don't toss it about !
I would really humidify the guitar, in it's case for a few weeks. Sure you can take it out, but always put it back. If no braces have come loose, and the people who have checked it out for you SHOULD have seen that, if they did a proper inspection, then it may come back into shape.
I doubt that even in the storage area of the planes would cause that much of an issue, since it's not there very long. As long as the baggage handlers don't toss it about !
I would really humidify the guitar, in it's case for a few weeks. Sure you can take it out, but always put it back. If no braces have come loose, and the people who have checked it out for you SHOULD have seen that, if they did a proper inspection, then it may come back into shape.
marius
Member
The pictures in the original post don't appear particularly alarming to me. I have seen much worse on dry guitars that just needed humidification to straighten themselves out.
For lack of a better term, lets call the space between your improvised straight edge and the guitar top "relief". When looking at your "relief" on the bass and treble side and comparing it to my 2019 M-20, the profile of your guitar top is very similar to mine, although it does have a little more "relief". Even the difference between the two sides is unsurprising considering the placement of the tone bars.
Granted, a M-20 is not a D-20, but I'd expect similar construction methods based on like tonewoods and similiar vintage. As @JohnW63 suggests, if there are no loose braces some deliberate humification may well straighten things out.
For lack of a better term, lets call the space between your improvised straight edge and the guitar top "relief". When looking at your "relief" on the bass and treble side and comparing it to my 2019 M-20, the profile of your guitar top is very similar to mine, although it does have a little more "relief". Even the difference between the two sides is unsurprising considering the placement of the tone bars.
Granted, a M-20 is not a D-20, but I'd expect similar construction methods based on like tonewoods and similiar vintage. As @JohnW63 suggests, if there are no loose braces some deliberate humification may well straighten things out.
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bobouz
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Was the guitar detuned before the flight? If not & strung with medium gauge strings, a lot could’ve been going on during transit. Even on the best of days, moving a guitar from one climate to a very different climate (both outdoor & indoor) can pose risk factors. Hawaii to London would no doubt qualify, and add in whatever conditions the guitar was exposed to on a very long flight, perhaps with multiple plane changes & layovers. I would think there’s a fair probability that the guitar’s build quality was not sub-par, but certainly a qualified hands-on assessment is in order. It’ll be quite interesting to see how Guild responds to this, since the move really does add a tricky layer to the circumstances.
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scottwalker82
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The guitar was detuned before travel. But like I said. It was bulging before I left Hawaii. I've sent out a few emails to different guild addresses, so wait to see what comes back. Got one from a UK guild dealer asking for pictures. Going to get some proper straight edge pics, as was previously suggested. Think they might think I'm a bit of a idiot if I send the pictures with my dinner mats on them.
Neal
Senior Member
Scott, can you loosen the strings and get a cellphone inside the soundhole to snap some photos of the top from the inside? It would be helpful to see the X-braces, bridgeplate, and tone bars, to judge whether they are all intact and firmly glued to the top.