What makes you a Guild fan?

[West R Lee]

With me, a big part of it is my perceived underdog status that Westerly built guitars have always contended with, I see bluegrassers and gospel folks that look at you as if you've got severe acne if you sit down with a Guild next to their Martin and Gibsons. I always leave them with surprised looks on their faces.

Let's see, the Guild looks better, sounds better and is a much less expensive guitar than the Martins and Gibsons. The payoff is when one of the old Martin players acknoledges you and your guitar.....sometimes asking where they might get one. :mrgreen:

It's also about the history of Westerly which is so sorded. It just draws me to the guitar like no other, the stories of the guys that know just are so colorful. Guys like Carlo Greco, Kim Walker and George Gruhn just make the Westerly years, and guitars so fascinating to me.

West

 

[taabru45]

The payoff is when one of the old Martin players acknoledges you and your guitar.....sometimes asking where they might get one. :mrgreen:

It's also about the history of Westerly which is sorded. It just draws me to the guitar, the stories are so colorful.

West[/quote]


Tell them they are available from Guild but there would be a $100,000 minimum order if they wanted one. :lol: :lol: :lol: Steffan

 

[6L6]

My love of Guild's started in 1965 when I was a student at the University of Colorado.

At the time I had a roommate who was a fantastic guitar and banjo player (I milked four years of free lessons out of him!). He played a '57 D-28 Martin and a Gibson Mastertone banjo. He also introduced me to Dave Van Ronk, Rev. Gary Davis, and Patrick Sky (all Guild players) and I got hooked on their fingerstyle playing.

One day we took a trip into Denver and hit a guitar shop somewhere out on West Colfax Ave. that sold Martins and Guilds. My buddy told me Guild made GREAT guitars and I took his word for it. Then I played my first Guild at that store (a D-40) and fell in love with it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't come remotely close to being able to afford such an instrument, but Guild immedaitely went to the top of my "wants list". In 1974 I was finally able to buy a new D-40 which I play to this day.

Looking back, I found the playability, projection, sustain, and evenness of tone across the fretboard is what turned me on with Guild. I also loved the cosmetic look of the guitars.

While some here have dinged the Corona Guilds, my experience was just the opposite. I've owned Guild guitars built in every location and each one was a stellar instrument, including my Corona D-50.

6

'06 D-55
'06 D-40BJ
'06 F-412
'74 D-40
'98 MArtin D-45V
'98 Collings D-1
'03 Taylor 214

 

[West R Lee]

The payoff is when one of the old Martin players acknoledges you and your guitar.....sometimes asking where they might get one. :mrgreen:

It's also about the history of Westerly which is sorded. It just draws me to the guitar, the stories are so colorful.

West

Tell them they are available from Guild but there would be a $100,000 minimum order if they wanted one. :lol: :lol: :lol: Steffan[/quote]

:lol: :lol: :lol: I'll do that Taaby. :wink:

West

 

[sitka_spruce]

Tone, playability, & value . . .

In a nutshell. I have yet to find the guitar that has such a fat and chime-like tone that Guild has. It's the guitar in my mind that has it all, sort of an inbetween of the Martin, Gibson and Larrivee. I can sit for hours and just play on and on and get myself high on the sweet tone of a Guild.

Clearly underrated in terms of its build and playability too - and the previous two reasons for buying one contra the price of one makes Guild a clear winner in my book. Getting to think of it, it's been far too long since I played one now (a couple of hours), so I think I'll just spend some time with my six string lady.

 

[Qvart]

Qvart - I've never seen an electric like that; in fact, I didn't know Guild made electrics until joining this forum. Cool engraving!

Those are what got me here in the first place, although my first Guild was an S-90, not an S-100. Now I have three electrics and one acoustic/electric, all since January or so!

I've explained it in more detail elsewhere, but in brief:

I'm a fan of SG's and after seeing Guilds in action I investigated them (I saw a band called Kylesa and both guitarists played post-'95 reissue S-100's. One was a chick too - BADAS*S!)

In short - the Guilds are built like tanks (fewer decapitations), balanced better (no headstock dives), and sound awesome (whether with HB-1's or SD's).

Don't get me wrong, I still love SG's, but I much prefer my Guilds.

Nature boy!!! :lol:

Jealous!

Feeling pretty annoyed with her at the time, I sold (er, more like gave?) the guitar & amp to a co-worker, who had a kid just learning to play guitar, in exchange for roughly $400. (*bangs forehead on desk, repeatedly*).

That, my friend, is a damn shame. I would be on cloud nine if I snagged one for that price! Oh well, c'est la vie. Hopefully it was put to good use and taken care of!

 

[danerectal]

Feeling pretty annoyed with her at the time, I sold (er, more like gave?) the guitar & amp to a co-worker, who had a kid just learning to play guitar, in exchange for roughly $400. (*bangs forehead on desk, repeatedly*).

That, my friend, is a damn shame. I would be on cloud nine if I snagged one for that price! Oh well, c'est la vie. Hopefully it was put to good use and taken care of!

That's what I paid for my most recently acquired S-100. After a bit of work and selling the aftermarket parts that came with it, I probably only paid $200.

 

[FinallygotaGuild]

I have always LOVED the way a Guild sounds. I have played a few in my day but never owned any until the last month or so. I have a D40 Ritchie Havens Signature and a 1974 F212 I won on ebay. 8) These two sound really nice. I may never go back to any other brand again. :shock:

 

[Steelpickin']

Welcome! You are gonna like it here!
You will be fine as long as you dont listen to anything I say :wink:

 

[JerryR]

Welcome! You are gonna like it here!
You will be fine as long as you dont listen to anything I say :wink:

Hi - and Steel is always worth listening to :!: But as for Graham or CJD Player......... :mrgreen:

 

[JerryR]

Welcome! You are gonna like it here!
You will be fine as long as you dont listen to anything I say :wink:

Hi - and Steel is always worth listening to :!: But as for Graham or CJD Player......... :mrgreen:

There is also a guy goes by the name of West-R-Lee - when he says he can't play, dont believe him :wink:

 

[Phlytyer]

Tone, playability, & value . . .

Lugged around a low-end Sigma 12er for years. On a whim, I stopped at a Guitar Center about 8 years ago and fell in love with a blonde. What a sound and the action was mah-velous.

 

[jte]

The guitars...

Well, I managed a guitar store from 1977-1988. And before that, I wasted a good part of my high-school and college days in that store. The owner was a long-time Guild fan. So when I started playing guitar and didn't know anything, I played Guilds, Gibsons, Martins, Yamahas, Ovations, Alvarez, etc. etc. And the Guilds always sounded great. Some Martins were too dry, most Gibsons had no real tone, and the Guilds were consistent.

Then when I managed the store, and I worked on a lot of guitars, I learned that Guilds were stupidly well-built. And they were consistent no matter who owned them, or when they were made. Plus they had the absolute most stable necks of any guitar with adjustable truss rods.

At some point shortly after I got into retail I played a used F30R. I didn't know what it was at the time, but a few years later (they were discontinued, but our sales rep told me when they made a small one-time batch). THAT was the sound of an acoustic guitar for me!

I've loved the D-25, D-25 12, D-35 (there's one in town I still want!), D-50s, and my two favorites were the D-40C and the D-44 with the ash body.

When "super-Strats" became popular and we didn't want to deal with the plywood junk that said "Kramer" on them, Guild came out with the Aviators and Detonators. Just wonderfully made guitars with great necks, locking trems (which I still despise, but that's what the market wanted), and great sounding PUPs. A lifetime warranty in a US made guitar that was competitive with imported guitars. Loved 'em. And that was when the Pilot Bass came out,which we sold a lot of considering the price and our market area (small, and reall uninformed- I had two people who were knowledgable guys ask me who "made the Fender knock off" when I had my Music Man amp in the store...).

Since then, I've seen Guild be sold a few more times, and I've seen FMIC totally mis-manage the name and the marketing. But the guitars still sound perfect to me.

John

 

[Willy]

Here's a link to John Denver in London - is this the one referred to earlier in the thread? Don't know but it's good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc41gKw0iQ

Kat,

Welcome. I became a Guild fan in the late 60's when they moved into the next town over from where I grew up (3 miles from Westerly). I had been playing a few years and got my hands on a T100D while in high school and was hooked. Yeah, John Denver was part of it, so was Tommy Smothers - I loved that D55 of his. I've owned a lot of guitars but my Guilds have been my favorites.

Bottom line: best sounding guitars ever in a quiet room late at night!

DISCLAIMER: I also worked for Guild so I can't be called an unbiased observer.