sitka_spruce
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- Jun 6, 2007
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Introduction:
One would almost think guitarist Willy Porter aimed a bit high when he got himself involved with Guild in the Contemporary Series development process, which eventually led to this; his signature model. Designed to have a voice broad enough to handle rhytm and soloing Porter style in one instrument and, essentially "be a keeper" in mr Porter's own words, could this be the do-it-all guitar I've been looking for for so long? Having to by the instrument sight-unseen and not a string strum, I decided to go with this model.
Build and features (4.5/5):
Some may say a hallmark of a quality instrument is a dove-tail (or scarf) neckjoint, this because making a dove-tail is a timeconsuming and hence costy affair. Bolt-on necks can, if concieved and executed right, transfer vibrations just as good as a well executed dove-tail, but will sound vastly different; brighter. For instance Taylor, Collings and Bourgeoise, to mention a few, use bolt-on necks exclusively.
The approach Guild has taken with the Contemporary Series is a highly advanced one where graphite has been utilised to make the neck an easily detachable, yet integral part of the instrument. Quite a daunting task to take on since rigidity and servicability/ detachability are on either end of the scale - or used to be.
It's basically sprung out of the same mold as the F40 Valencia with floretine (sharp) cutaway, featuring a sitka top over fiddle back maple back and sides, with a graphite reinforced mahogany neck and Madagascar RW bridge and fingerboard. The madagascar RW is also used for the faceplate and rosette. Ivoroid bindings (that look fab - take it from me). Abalone and MOP inlays of the fretboard (abalone dots that are hard to make out)and faceplate, the latter with the new love-it-or-hate-it G-shield. Tuners are of the smooth, open back variety, nut and saddle of course are bone, as are (some of) the string pins.
So far no features out of the ordinary for a Contemporary Series. What set this guitar apart from the others are the more subtle rosette and P/W binding and backstrip package, making it a fine blend between new and old. Last but not least the string pins for the treble strings have been changed from bone to ebony, more of that later on.
The build quality measures up to any of the other great brands but compared to e.g. Martin you get all the fancy PW features for way less money. Choice of wood is more relative to the pricelevel while by no means being inferior.
Tone and action/ playability (4/5 (largely due to the neck issue)):Having played it for 2 weeks exclusively, the top having really shook loose and done the intital opening up tonewise a few things are revealed. The typical Guild 'wroong' in the mids and bass is all there (perhaps not so much Caterpillar tractor-truck engine but more of a purring Chevy big block), as is the rounded and slightly compressed, bell like, response of the top. The maple lends a firmness and transparency to the tone of the instrument as is expected. Here ends most things we know and can relate to from decades of guitar manufacture from Guilds plants around the US.
It doesn't have much of that 'baat-baat', truck-horn type of sound most of us would associate with Guild. The treble never rolls off that abruptly. Instead the neck construction gives the instrument a spacious high end without being pinned as bright. Pushing the envelope even higher is the Madagascar RW that lends a nice, ringing, bright-but-not-piercing quality to the tone, in effect a rather light and soothing treble playing chords.
Giving it that last bit of shimmer are the ebony string pins. The difference becomes clear playing the third and forth string in succession. Should one somehow find the definition a tad too much, digging in hard or using fingerpicks perhaps, a simple mod would be replacing these with bone. For soloing and 'soft tip fingerpicking' I appreciate the increase of twang these provide though. There's a clear 'knocking two pieces of firewood together' thing happening playing the unwound strings with that touch of 'clang' in the attack.
I intentionally will leave the pickup and microphone system out in this review, this of two reasons: I haven't bothered to fit the bag for holding the battry and the songs available on the WP homepage (http://www.willyporter.com) recorded using this system I feel make the rounded tone of the instrument rather synthetic and all of its character is vanished. It could just as well have been a Godin nylon hybrid. I'm rather excited about the microphone though, and will experiment with using i maybe in conjunction with a K&K pure pickup system.
The nut is the 1-3/4" all Contemporaries have that is a welcome feature for many fingerpickers and guitarists with larger size hands or otherwise prefer this width of nut. The full 25.5" scale over a glossy neck gives it something of a Gibson feel, however the narrow waist and rather low profile body make me think of it more of a close friend or a piece of clothing rather than a bulky, 16" wide acoustic instrument. The low profile, however, doesn't make it that loud you sometimes might wish it was.
The nut could be lowered to ease the effort for the chording fingers and the saddle leaves much room for lowering the action if desired. The latter is of little use though since the fretboard extension clearly has a negative bowing going and consequently the action is at its highest around the 12th fret. This causes buzz taking advantage of the increased reach the cutaway offers. The graphite spider that bears up the entire upper bout being designed to prevent distortion of this portion of the top in the long run not being able aid for a flat top when new is an enigma to me.
Verdict (4.5/5):
So, did Willy Porter get the kind of intrument he aimed for? Evidently the WP sign is an understated, beautiful instrument that is well built and has the bottom end of a Grand Concert into which the high end of a smaller instrument is blended. I'm sure it would replace many babys' nickelodeons, which it resembles tonally to some degree, and is soothing enough to actually even make the proudest of parent fall asleep - all this meant in a good way. No frequency band is accentuated particularly. Does fingerpicking well without sounding archetypically folky, does flatpicking with a nice drive without sounding dry and rather harsh. It certainly met my criteria for this purchase.
Would I like to have the purchase reversed, if even the least bit? No. The issue about the neck obviously lowers the over all impression, as does the fancy but nearly invisible markers of abalone inlaid into the fingerboard. I think I'm rather hooked on Contemporaries, to tell you the truth, as I find with these Guild have done away with those tiny details I never liked about what's now known as Traditional Series guitars. Having said that a brand new Contemporary sound nothing like what a 20-30 yo goode olde Guild can offer and the door is not shut tight on buying a Guild of traditional design in future. Btw who knows what this darling will sound like in a few decades? Probably will hold up well over time, though, that much is true.
Credits:
The guitar was strung with JP 80/20 Lights and tested in my livingroom, my office and my kitchen, sometimes played against walls and inside corners for full reflection. It was tuned to concert tuning, frequently using capo at the first or second fret to facilitate assessment of the properties of the wood used for the fretboard.
Please provide me with any feedback and feel free to ask any questions.
One would almost think guitarist Willy Porter aimed a bit high when he got himself involved with Guild in the Contemporary Series development process, which eventually led to this; his signature model. Designed to have a voice broad enough to handle rhytm and soloing Porter style in one instrument and, essentially "be a keeper" in mr Porter's own words, could this be the do-it-all guitar I've been looking for for so long? Having to by the instrument sight-unseen and not a string strum, I decided to go with this model.
Build and features (4.5/5):
Some may say a hallmark of a quality instrument is a dove-tail (or scarf) neckjoint, this because making a dove-tail is a timeconsuming and hence costy affair. Bolt-on necks can, if concieved and executed right, transfer vibrations just as good as a well executed dove-tail, but will sound vastly different; brighter. For instance Taylor, Collings and Bourgeoise, to mention a few, use bolt-on necks exclusively.
The approach Guild has taken with the Contemporary Series is a highly advanced one where graphite has been utilised to make the neck an easily detachable, yet integral part of the instrument. Quite a daunting task to take on since rigidity and servicability/ detachability are on either end of the scale - or used to be.
It's basically sprung out of the same mold as the F40 Valencia with floretine (sharp) cutaway, featuring a sitka top over fiddle back maple back and sides, with a graphite reinforced mahogany neck and Madagascar RW bridge and fingerboard. The madagascar RW is also used for the faceplate and rosette. Ivoroid bindings (that look fab - take it from me). Abalone and MOP inlays of the fretboard (abalone dots that are hard to make out)and faceplate, the latter with the new love-it-or-hate-it G-shield. Tuners are of the smooth, open back variety, nut and saddle of course are bone, as are (some of) the string pins.
So far no features out of the ordinary for a Contemporary Series. What set this guitar apart from the others are the more subtle rosette and P/W binding and backstrip package, making it a fine blend between new and old. Last but not least the string pins for the treble strings have been changed from bone to ebony, more of that later on.
The build quality measures up to any of the other great brands but compared to e.g. Martin you get all the fancy PW features for way less money. Choice of wood is more relative to the pricelevel while by no means being inferior.
Tone and action/ playability (4/5 (largely due to the neck issue)):Having played it for 2 weeks exclusively, the top having really shook loose and done the intital opening up tonewise a few things are revealed. The typical Guild 'wroong' in the mids and bass is all there (perhaps not so much Caterpillar tractor-truck engine but more of a purring Chevy big block), as is the rounded and slightly compressed, bell like, response of the top. The maple lends a firmness and transparency to the tone of the instrument as is expected. Here ends most things we know and can relate to from decades of guitar manufacture from Guilds plants around the US.
It doesn't have much of that 'baat-baat', truck-horn type of sound most of us would associate with Guild. The treble never rolls off that abruptly. Instead the neck construction gives the instrument a spacious high end without being pinned as bright. Pushing the envelope even higher is the Madagascar RW that lends a nice, ringing, bright-but-not-piercing quality to the tone, in effect a rather light and soothing treble playing chords.
Giving it that last bit of shimmer are the ebony string pins. The difference becomes clear playing the third and forth string in succession. Should one somehow find the definition a tad too much, digging in hard or using fingerpicks perhaps, a simple mod would be replacing these with bone. For soloing and 'soft tip fingerpicking' I appreciate the increase of twang these provide though. There's a clear 'knocking two pieces of firewood together' thing happening playing the unwound strings with that touch of 'clang' in the attack.
I intentionally will leave the pickup and microphone system out in this review, this of two reasons: I haven't bothered to fit the bag for holding the battry and the songs available on the WP homepage (http://www.willyporter.com) recorded using this system I feel make the rounded tone of the instrument rather synthetic and all of its character is vanished. It could just as well have been a Godin nylon hybrid. I'm rather excited about the microphone though, and will experiment with using i maybe in conjunction with a K&K pure pickup system.
The nut is the 1-3/4" all Contemporaries have that is a welcome feature for many fingerpickers and guitarists with larger size hands or otherwise prefer this width of nut. The full 25.5" scale over a glossy neck gives it something of a Gibson feel, however the narrow waist and rather low profile body make me think of it more of a close friend or a piece of clothing rather than a bulky, 16" wide acoustic instrument. The low profile, however, doesn't make it that loud you sometimes might wish it was.
The nut could be lowered to ease the effort for the chording fingers and the saddle leaves much room for lowering the action if desired. The latter is of little use though since the fretboard extension clearly has a negative bowing going and consequently the action is at its highest around the 12th fret. This causes buzz taking advantage of the increased reach the cutaway offers. The graphite spider that bears up the entire upper bout being designed to prevent distortion of this portion of the top in the long run not being able aid for a flat top when new is an enigma to me.
Verdict (4.5/5):
So, did Willy Porter get the kind of intrument he aimed for? Evidently the WP sign is an understated, beautiful instrument that is well built and has the bottom end of a Grand Concert into which the high end of a smaller instrument is blended. I'm sure it would replace many babys' nickelodeons, which it resembles tonally to some degree, and is soothing enough to actually even make the proudest of parent fall asleep - all this meant in a good way. No frequency band is accentuated particularly. Does fingerpicking well without sounding archetypically folky, does flatpicking with a nice drive without sounding dry and rather harsh. It certainly met my criteria for this purchase.
Would I like to have the purchase reversed, if even the least bit? No. The issue about the neck obviously lowers the over all impression, as does the fancy but nearly invisible markers of abalone inlaid into the fingerboard. I think I'm rather hooked on Contemporaries, to tell you the truth, as I find with these Guild have done away with those tiny details I never liked about what's now known as Traditional Series guitars. Having said that a brand new Contemporary sound nothing like what a 20-30 yo goode olde Guild can offer and the door is not shut tight on buying a Guild of traditional design in future. Btw who knows what this darling will sound like in a few decades? Probably will hold up well over time, though, that much is true.
Credits:
The guitar was strung with JP 80/20 Lights and tested in my livingroom, my office and my kitchen, sometimes played against walls and inside corners for full reflection. It was tuned to concert tuning, frequently using capo at the first or second fret to facilitate assessment of the properties of the wood used for the fretboard.
Please provide me with any feedback and feel free to ask any questions.
