Calling guitar experts: Solid Wood acoustic guitars

[Light]

I believe I may have given you the impression that I was knocking the old Guilds.

I was arguing that they were overbuilt but I didn't mean to indicate they they were bad guitars. I wouldn't call them amazing but I agree that they were and are fine guitars. They may well be the best values on the vintage market. Examples often sell on e-bay well within the OP's price range.

+1 on the 12-strings-
My 12-string is a '73 Guild F212. It is a much better instrument than the custom Taylor it replaced.

I wouldn't say they were overbuilt (at least, not the `70's ones), but that they were built to be played HARD. Whack the shit out of a Guild, and they just keep giving it back to you. Play a Taylor that hard, and it sounds like geese farting. Both styles have their place.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Milnoque]

I wouldn't say they were overbuilt (at least, not the `70's ones), but that they were built to be played HARD. Whack the shit out of a Guild, and they just keep giving it back to you. Play a Taylor that hard, and it sounds like geese farting. Both styles have their place.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

I just had a Ritchie Havens flashback.

 

[HD_Dude]

Now that's important.

We're getting down to the bare bones of the matter.

Many of us get a beautiful top-name guitar, put on light gauge strings, and baby it. Play it in our home studio, for friends at parties, and for family and friends on holidays. It's a big and wonderful part of our lives....at home.

But the above comments are so true. Professionals get a guitar and play it hard on stage every night.

Out of the case, put on new strings, put on the strap, mic it or plug in your internal pickup and stand in front of the mic and you are on.

Later, the sweat-covered guitar goes back in the case without even a courtesy wipe-down...and it's tossed in the bus or the van until tomorrow night.

Look at Dylan. That's one tourin' dude...and he plays big fat Gibsons.

Gibsons, Guild, they're like the four-wheeler F350's.

And they probably use medium or heavy gauge. That's hard core.

 

[pohaku]

Just to be slightly pedantic (OK, really stupidly pedantic!), they are STYLE 15 guitars. The model is "D15" or "OOO45," etc. The number is the STYLE. (Sorry, just being a bit of a prick. It's a hard habit to break.) But yes, the Style 15 guitars are probably the best value on the market, IMHO.

And just because I haven't seen anyone say gainsay it yet, whoever was knocking `70's Guilds hasn't a clue what they are talking about. Back in the 1970's, Guild was making the best acoustic guitars on the market. They were of a particular style, but they were AMAZING instruments. And they were probably making the best production 12-strings ever made. Just when Gibson and Martin started throwing the game, Guild came in and started hitting home runs. If Anomaly Design had a great `70's Guild, he is going to have a VERY hard time replacing it with a new guitar. Personally, I'd do my damnedest to try and find an old Guild for a replacement.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Thanks Light. I was wondering whether to use Style or Model, but was too lazy to look up Martin's web page at the time.

I'm currently looking at a 70s F-112. Plays amazingly well. Not a huge body (which I like). Sounds great. And cheap in the scheme of things. Finish sucks, but hey, who hears that anyway. You are right, though, Guild came on just about the time that Gibson and Martin let quality slide as they cranked up production.

 

[Light]

Look at Dylan. That's one tourin' dude...and he plays big fat Gibsons.

If you're talking about Bob, he is and has always been a Martin man, to the best of my recollection. They've done at least one, and I think several signature models for him. But that is what the D28 IS. A big monster of a box that you can bang the shit out of. Just watch a bluegrass rhythm player some time.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[philboyd studge]

If you're talking about Bob, he is and has always been a Martin man, to the best of my recollection. They've done at least one, and I think several signature models for him. But that is what the D28 IS. A big monster of a box that you can bang the shit out of. Just watch a bluegrass rhythm player some time.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

HIs earliest John Hammond recordings were with a Gibson but yeah, he's played Martins for the most part.

Personally, I've been more prone to Gibsons and Guilds over Martins but I bought a D-21 Special about six months ago that's hard to put down.

 

[YeshuasFan]

Dylan uses both Gibson and Martin guitars. He also plays a Fender Strat for his electric stuff.
As for Guild--John Denver made his rep using Guild guitars. Until the 1980s when he started using other makes, the only guitars you would ever see him using on stage were Guilds.
Last comment and then I'll drop out--one make that has not been mentioned is Breedlove. They make some great guitars with street prices in the range mentioned. They make some great sounding guitars that [IMO], sound equal to, if not better than, anything Martin or Taylor has to offer in the same price range--at least to my ears. YMMV.