My D25 story

[dreadnut]

I know I have posted this before, but I think it bears posting again...

So I'm practicing with the church band. The music director had recently bought an 800 series Taylor dread, that not cheap. We were standing in a circle, I stood next to the music director with my old D25M. The standup bass player, a local college music prof, came strolling over to me after the practice and said "That is the most beautiful sounding guitar, it really has outstanding tone!" Obviously a natural connoisseur of guitars, LOL

The music director was not amused, haha. True story.

 

[Westerly Wood]

the arched back really wins the day. Taylor 800 dreads are great, though I prefer the 700 series.

 

[adorshki]

If I had it to do all over again I probably woulda bought the D25.

 

[dreadnut]

I'm still playing the D25M, it is officially 45 years old this year, a 1976 Bicentennial Guild1

 

[adorshki]

I'm still playing the D25M, it is officially 45 years old this year, a 1976 Bicentennial Guild1

Mine's only 25.

 

[dreadnut]

When I got my first job after getting out of the Navy, I was on a quest for a nice acoustic. Actually I went shopping for a Martin or a Gibson Gibson was still located here in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Then I saw the dark red Guild D25M. It just seemed like a fine instrument compared to the others so I bought it. I've never regretted it.

 

[geoguy]

A music-store sales guy recommended I try a D-25M that was hanging on the wall, also back around '76. At first I was uncertain about the soundboard's color, but after a couple of strums?

Sold.

 

[Andrew79]

I was playing my D25M only last night and thought: this is probably the best sounding guitar I own. I put it down to the arched back. I absolutely love mine. Will never sell it.

 

[dreadnut]

Yeah, these old entry-level D25's have quite a legacy.

 

[Stratboy]

Got to agree,my old 79 D25M is my absolute favourite, sounds great, plays great, looks shabby! What could be finer. I already had a Martin, a Lowden, a Gibson and two Breedloves when I found my D25, probably wouldn't have bought them if I had bought the D25 first (well maybe would have bought the Breedloves, and maybe the Martin D15, and maybe the.....................)

 

[Br1ck]

It seems to me that I just can not escape Taylors. I just came back from music camp, and it was probably 75% Taylors, many from the lower end, but even up the food chain they had no distinctive character, unless no distinctive character is there sound. Almost everything else sounded better to me. The high end Taylors sounded way better, but still.....the 16 and 15 series Martins had tone, to say nothing of the older D 28s and even one 20 year old Collings that was spectacular. People must like the sound though, or the marketing. My old 70 D 35 sounded as good as anything. I'd have swapped it only for the old Collings.

 

[wileypickett]

I thought I'd found my ultimate 12-string -- a Taylor 855 jumbo -- till an ad for a Guild JF30-12 turned up on my local Craigslist. I didn't know the brand -- the price was 1000 bucks -- I looked at the pics and let it slide.

But the ad reappeared a week later and I noticed the seller had dropped his price by 100 dollars. This he kept doing each week the guitar didn't sell. When it got down to 600 bucks, I decided to "at least" go check it out.

That was my first Guild, and my last Taylor. Got a house full of Guilds now, including that original JF30-12. The 855 is long gone.

This is not to slight Taylors -- people like what people like and to each their own. And we benefitted from at least one of Taylor's innovations -- I think it's due to the popularity of Taylor's '90s 12-string neck profile that most 12-string makers, inlcuding Guild, began making their necks similarly.