GAD or so called better

[dpicker]

I have tried Several guilds D35,CV-1C, breedlove Pro series's several Martins (SWOMGT,00016), Taylors (314.712,510), S6 Seagull, Takamini,Ovation and many more. maybe it is my untrained ear or the GAD30 Guilds are such a great guitar but i don,t see very much difference in the sound. a mater of fact i think the GAD beats most of the guitars i have listed. i have noticed that some of them listed have a softer more pleasant sound but i think that is just brightness (sharper tones), or even wood or string differences. so to some it up i think my quest for that best guitar is over for awhile because i have it with my GAD30.the nice part of this story is many of those guitars i mentioned cost over three times more than i paid for the GAD30. now thats a nice ending to a story.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I don't think that other guitars are necessarily "Better" than GAD's.
But they are "Worth" more than GAD's.
And they always will be.

 

[capnjuan]

Congratulations dpicker; hope you enjoy your GAD for many years to come! cj

 

[Dr Izza Plumber]

Remember that GADS are built to Guild Specifications, so they will out perform many higher priced axes.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I spent some time playing Guild GAD 50 for the first time last night. I was very impressed. the price was outrageouly low for the tone i was hearing. matter of fact, i was so amazed, another guy there bought one based on my euphoria. i might be getting one as well. under 600 out the door, and to get similar tone in the martins there, i would need to pay 3 times as much. china, shmina.....i think i am going GAD.... :mrgreen:

ps: the one that is left is the wonderfully hideous orange burst GAD50, and it's gonna be mine....

 

[bdeclee]

I am extremely happy with my JF-48. The tone is outstanding! It rings and rings. After reading reviews on Harmony Central and other places, I was convinced to buy. Mine came from eBay; I paid around $650. It is an outstanding guitar and an outstanding value too. I might add the fit & finish are excellent (except for the pickguard, the edges of which are rough and need sanding). And it comes with a way cool case too!

Barbara

 

[capnjuan]

I don't think that other guitars are necessarily "Better" than GAD's. But they are "Worth" more than GAD's.
And they always will be.

Hi TMG; I don't think it's a matter of 'worth more' or 'worth less'; it's about being worth what was paid and GADs are clearly worth the money; that is, value received for dollars paid.

 

[Siwash]

I've got one of those hideous orange burst GAD50s. I like that description. . . but note that in my opinion the regular plain ones just seemed too deathly whitefaced for my taste.

I compared it to a guy's DV-52 and mine was louder. Does that say anything about GADs or was I lucky or was that a plunker DV-52? I don't know. I just know I was happily surprised.

The only drawback to the guitar, I think, is the poly finish. The guitar gets tons of compliments all around, even from my luthier. So it goes.

 

[dpicker]

the thing i have a problem with the GAD is i have noticed that many of the high end guitar builders (Collings, Santa Cuz) and many more are going to the 1 3/4" nut. the Gad only has a few with the wider nut width, i know they have to keep some 1 11/16" but i would think they would offer more 1 3/4" or do the upper end builders have it wrong. i don't think so? just my 2 cents.

 

[jwsamuel]

But they are "Worth" more than GAD's.

No, they "cost" more than GADs. but that does not mean they are "worth" more.

I had a GAD-30. I sold it to buy a Guild F-30 Aragon. Now, I wish I had the GAD-30 back and had not gotten the F-30. The F-30 was more than twice the price of the GAD-30 but I think the GAD-30 felt better and had a nicer tone.

More expensive does not always mean worth more.

Jim

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

When I say worth more, I mean resale value only.
How much did you get out of your used GAD. Your used F-30 should retain more of it's original value than the GAD, if you decide to sell it.
I have Westerly JF-30-12 that I purchased new about 10 years ago.
It is worth more today, if I were to sell i, than what I payed for it new.
I don't see this happening the same way with my GAD-JF-48.

 

[dpicker]

Taylor Martin guild- i have sold 2 martins and one Taylor in the last 2 years. The martin SWOMGT i took a $400.00 loss and the Martin 000C-1RGTE AURA a $200.00 loss and the Taylor i had for three weeks it was a 712 in like new condition. i paid $1285.00 for it and sold it for $1050.00. The guild i have is like new and i have $550.00 in it and it sounds better than all those martins and Taylor. if i do sell it i will bet i will lose alot less money than those other sales. i am not trying to start an argument it is just the exact facts. thank you Doug

 

[Siwash]

This swap-out guitar thing is something I'm not familiar with, in terms of my thinking toward guitars.

I don't buy a guitar with the resale value being a factor; instead, it's like picking out someone to go on a long trip to the Grand Canyon with. . . someone you stick with for the long-haul. I'm not a guitar-spinner; maybe I'm too emotional about my guitars.

 

[dpicker]

I am not a guitar swaper or spinner eather, i am just looking for a good sounding guitar at any price and if i can find one in the $500.00 range that sounds as good or better than the higher priced guitars then the search is over. i even had a Guild CV-1C that was heavy and i don't think sounded as good as my GAD30. So now i have a guitar that i can ride off into the sunset with, and that is a good thing. Doug

 

[dpicker]

The search isn't over yet. i am looking for a good elect. classical also. i am looking at the guild line and hoping to find an all solid wood classical elect in the $600.00 range.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Taylor Martin guild- i have sold 2 martins and one Taylor in the last 2 years. The martin SWOMGT i took a $400.00 loss and the Martin 000C-1RGTE AURA a $200.00 loss and the Taylor i had for three weeks it was a 712 in like new condition. i paid $1285.00 for it and sold it for $1050.00. The guild i have is like new and i have $550.00 in it and it sounds better than all those martins and Taylor. if i do sell it i will bet i will lose alot less money than those other sales. i am not trying to start an argument it is just the exact facts. thank you Doug

I'm sorry if I came off like I was arguing with you.
That isn't my intent.
I have upgraded my guitars over the years starting with a ply top Yamaha, moving up to a Takamine 12 string soild top, then to a Guild D25-12 and finally to my JF-30-12 string.
I did this because it was the only way that I could afford to get better guitars, even though I took a loss in value as I traded up.
I have found out the hard way how much of a loss you will take on imports compared to American guitars.
Remember that I also said that my American made guitars went up in value only after about 10 years of ownership.
I don't expect my Gad to do the same.
I hope that I will be wrong though.
Thanks for your replies everyone.
This is why I started my thread in the first place. I wanted your thoughts and input.
TMG

 

[dpicker]

Taylor i took on offense, i was just pointing out that i am not buying guitars as a hobby. i was just looking for the right one at the right price. i do think there is a better guitar than my Guild GAD30 out there but not enough difference in sound to warrant spending allot more money. i would have kept the Martins or Taylors if i thought they sounded better than the guild. i will try a Collings and a Santa Cuz some day, but i have to get my playing ability up quite allot before i can thank about trying them out. thanks for the conversation i enjoyed it. Doug

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Taylor i took on offense, i was just pointing out that i am not buying guitars as a hobby. i was just looking for the right one at the right price. i do think there is a better guitar than my Guild GAD30 out there but not enough difference in sound to warrant spending allot more money. i would have kept the Martins or Taylors if i thought they sounded better than the guild. i will try a Collings and a Santa Cuz some day, but i have to get my playing ability up quite allot before i can thank about trying them out. thanks for the conversation i enjoyed it. Doug

Dpicker, you are looking at some very nice guitars.
I love the sound and the craftsmanship of Collins Guitars.
Have you ever looked at Greven Guitars?
Very pricey, but well built guitars.

 

[dpicker]

No i haven't looked at the Greven guitars but i will. right now i am going to have get my quality of playing up before i can justify buying a high quality guitar. if i ever do get good enough to warrant a great guitar i will own one. thank you Doug

 

[dreadnut]

Hey, whatever blows your hair back, as we used to say :lol:

My D-25 was my only guitar for about 25 years. Got married shortly after acquiring the Guild, had five kids, buying houses, cars, diapers, groceries, shoes, etc. Another guitar? Are you kidding?

I was fortunate to have enough money to grab my DV-52 off ebay for a good BIN price a few years ago because I'd never have been able to afford one otherwise. Spending $1,000 or more on a guitar isn't really in the cards for me, I still have kids at home :roll:

But you can still get nice used vintage Guilds, or new GADS, in my price range, you choose