Guild D-30

This is a 1992 Guild "D30-SB" dreadnought. I'm not certain what the SB stands for but I'm guessing Solid Body. It was manufactured in the USA. It has 20 frets. The body and neck are maple, I believe (the color matches the "fire maple" design as shown on the guild website). The top is maple unlike the solid spruce tops that the current incarnation of the D30 possesses. The fretboard is of mahogany I believe, but don't quote me since I can't find tech specs on this guitar after a bit of websearching, it may be rosewood. Additionally there is an inlay of the same wood running down the middle of the back of the neck. The guild logo, head ornamentation, and fret marks are I believe of mother of pearl or something designed to look similar. The Grover tuners and pegs appear to be brass plate.

I have never heard another acoustic that sounds as good as this one. I play a rather odd finger picking style or accented strumming style. In other words, when I strum the guitar I tend to accent certain strings in order to bring a specific note out of the chord, and thus maintain a melodic component. This guitar is perfect for this, with a rich mellow sound in the bass register, a very very full midrange, and clear, cutting treble. The farther I move away from the bridge, the more smooth and liquid the sound becomes. The harmonics are very pure and easily produced. The neck is virtually perfect - I have perfect pitch, and there is no discernable discrepancy in a pitch played open string or fretted high up on the fretboard. Furthermore, this guitar stays in tune remarkably well even through changes in temperature and humidity, usually requiring only the tiniest bit of retuning after travel. I can't praise the sound of this guitar enough. It was clear and away the best of the bunch that I tried when I purchased it, and I must've tested about 20 guitars against it. My mother, who was with me at the time, agreed that it was the winner, no contest.

Being rather ignorant of proper technique in guitar construction, I am not really qualified to make detailed judgements in this area. All I can say is, it sure did look nice in the showroom :) If there's any beef I have with it, it's that the action is rather high due to a high bridge. I suppose if I wanted to I could have the bridge filed down, but since I am not really into blues guitar (and the attendant pitch bends and finger vibrato), I'm not too concerned and have become rather used to it.

It's hard to make a fair judgement in this area as well. This guitar has been with me for almost 10 years now, and frankly (and to my shame) it has been ill treated. Rarely polished, subjected to radical changes in temperate and humidity multiple times, bumped, banged, laid on the floor, propped up and then tipped over, subjected to duct tape, electrical tape, scotch tape (to attach an acoustic transducer for recording purposes), and basically bearing the brunt of a freewheeling bachelor lifestyle. After all this, it seems to have borne up remarkably well. There are a series of cracks in the finish along the top and around the sound hole. The tuning keys need to be tightened down a little bit, though I have been able to detect no degredation of tuning stability. Also the tuning keys have either oxidized, or as looks more likely, had the brass rubbed off a bit. Maybe I would care if I ever planned to sell this guitar, but I think it likely that I would sell my left arm sooner, and the sound quality remains impeccable. :) So, even though there is damage to the guitar, I am going to give it a 10 in consideration of how much damage there ISN'T after all it's been through!

I haven't dealt with guild in any way shape or form since this guitar was purchased. I don't know whether I filled out a warranty card or not.

I've been playing for about 12 years now, self taught. Never played professionally or consistently, but it has seen plenty of use in that time. If this guitar were stolen or lost (heaven forbid), then I would buy the best sounding guitar I could, no matter the make and model, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if that meant I ended up with another D30. This guitar is a smooth, sweet instrument and I love it dearly. It looks great, plays great, and sounds phenomenal, and all at a rather decent price indeed.

I don't have much in the way of associated gear. A glass slide and a couple of picks which I don't use, an acoustic transducer that is hell to attach to the guitar with any degree of reliability, a nice vocal mic that I intend to acquire a stand for so I can try recording guitar with it, and a yamaha MD-4 player/recorder with built in EQ and mixer, which is really sweet and I need to get off my butt and do something with it. :)

But, as far as guitars go, I've never had a need for anything more than this 1992 Guild D30-SB dreadnought, and I hope I never will.

This is a follow-up to my review of a few days ago. I returned the D-30 I purchased for a refund, and found a brand-new one with no defects to the finish or case for $100 more at a nearby store. After consulting the web for prices on a new Guild hard case (TKL) and finding I would be paying $100 anyway at some point, I decided I might as well pay the difference for a "perfect" D-30. The one I purchased as a replacement had none of the problems to the peghead (none of the cracks to the finish by the Grover tuners), the factory setup for the action was dead on (nice and low), and the case was new out of the box(with an included Dampit humidifier in the case). In addition, the 3-piece maple neck has an incredibly striking curl. I can't say I've ever seen anything like it. This eliminated any concerns from the previous review and makes the action, fit and finish a "10".

Getting one new, just out of the box changed my experience from the previous review. Moral of the story - don't make compromises on something as important as an instrument which you want to be a partner for life - especially such a nice guitar as the D-30. That savings of $100 on a $1000 instrument because of shortcomings like damage to the finish or case may seem important at the time, but if a week or a month from now you become concerned about it . . .

This is a 1999 or 2000 Guild dreadnaught six string acoustic. Solid spruce top, solid maple sides, and arched maple back. Mahogany bridge and fretboard, Grover tuners, high gloss finish. White/black/white/black binding on the top, and white binding on the bottom of the body. Comes with hard (TKL) case.

For acoustic, I basically play a mix of 60s folk and acoustic blues. The sound is what sold this guitar for me - I traded up a basic Road Series Martin guitar which had wonderful bright sound, but for the music I play, when I traded up I wanted a guitar with a slightly more mellow sound. I'm not sure what it is about the Guild, perhaps the arched back, but it just has slightly more full and dark sound (without giving up the high end). The guitars I compared it to were the Martin D-2R and D-16GT, and for a lark the Gibson J-160E John Lennon model. I wasn't prepared to give up a grand and a half more the the J-160, which was fantastic. The Martins both had the great clear Martin sound, but the mellow sound of the Guild (and the nicer finish and appointments) gave the D30 the edge.

The action as I played it at the store was perfect. I prefer a low action and the D30 was dead-on. The finish on the Guild is also excellent, the choice of woods is perfectly matched. The only area where I am very disappointed is that according to the tech at the store, the Grover tuners were ratcheted down a bit tight, resulting in damage to the finish immediately around the tuners. Where the finish is cracked below the tuners is not a problem which will degrade, and the tech says he's seen this on several models including Gibsons. The store gave me a bit off of the price due to this problem (and also damage to the case). If the sound were not so darned good compared to the other acoustic guitars, this would have been enough to dissuade me from buying this guitar.

The guitar appears built like a tank, and the problems described above are the result of the manufacturing process, and not the result of a durability issue. I feel comfortable that the guitar could stand up to live playing. The gloss finish appears more reliable than the "satin" finish of the guitar it replaced.

I have not dealt with Guild, but from what I read they are a responsive company.

I've been playing on and off for 15 years. What sold this guitar is the sound, and it was good enough that I overlooked some issues which otherwise would have directed me elsewhere for an acoustic guitar. This is now my only acoustic. As far as electric, I have a '52 Tele and '62 Strat Fender American Vintage reissues, and also a '97 Rickenbacker 330.