Guild D-35

the guild d-35 is a fine instrument, to my ears very similar to an older martin. It is all solid wood, with mahogany back, side and neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, i think, and i was told, adorondack spruce top. mine looks pretty good considering how old it is.. i 'm not sure about how old it is, but it doesn't look bad. the tuners are huge and funny, but work well, and unless they break i'll leave them on. for less than 600 dollars in this condition with a great case and woods and sound and handmade in the grand not too old usa, this guitar gets a 10~

this thing sounds beautiful!!! very very similar to a martin, with a less clear top, and more rounded bass. Beautifully complex for fingerstyle, and nice and thick for flatpicking. i like to play folk, bluegrass, beatles style acoustic sometimes, and early nineties acoustic. i think a lot of those eearly nineties guitarists must have used these, because it sounds good for that. i know a lot of people give 10's like crazy thinking "oh, i bought it, so it must be great" but i think i couldn't live withmyself if i ave this guitar just a measly little 9. so there.

oh, i bought it used. but it plays nicely how i bought it.

this guild guitar is built like i heard all guilds are: like
industrial strength somethings! no worries, this guitar feels like a tank compared to my old yamaha!

i wrote to them with some questions and they quickly responded and were nice and polite. but still, i didn't ask for specific questions or ever have them repait my guitar, so i can't really respond accurately.

i own a yamaha acoustic with rosewood and a telecaster.. this guitar isn't like either at all.. it's not as playable as the slinky yamaha, or as rugged as the telecaster... but it is as tough as an acoustic can be, and i can't imagine a better, more versitile sound.

I had previously posted a submission on my Guild D-35, which can be found at the bottom of this page, and I have a few things to say that have changed since then. First and foremost, I would like to correct myself...in the last submission, I said that the D-35 had a rosewood back and sides, when it is in fact solid mahogany. Everything else still holds true. Sorry about that.

I had a few problems with the Guild, and had it repaired, and now the sound is even better. I had the frets redressed, the neck reset, and the bridge reglued. Some of the cracks were opening up too, so they were sealed. This guitar sounds like a dream, and has projection that can only be achieved with a 22 year old solid top acoustic guitar!!!

I picked this guitar up one day, heard a cracking, and felt the joint that joins the neck and body coming off. It was NOT a nice feeling, so i set it back down, called a guitar tech (John Higgins in the St. Louis area...very excellent guy), and brought it over to him. He examined the neck, said the cracks were opening up, frets could use a redressing, and the bridge could use reglueing. I told him to go all the way and fix it up. The action remains nice and low, the bridge is in place, the redressing helps it stay in tune even better than before, and additionally, even though i loved the sound of this guitar before, after all this was done it sounded more amazing than i had ever heard. Great setup.

One of the strongest guitars ever. It has gone through a lot, and it shows its battle scars, but nothing that affects the intonation, tone, or technique of the player. Built to last.

One of the greatest guitars ever built. Sounds incredible, plays great, built well, looks nice (even with all the dings), and cost less than my textbooks did last semester.

I bought mine in 1977 for $545 Canadian(at the time a Canadian dollar was worth $1.10 US) with a Guild case(I still have the bill of sale)It was made in January of 1976 in Wesbury RI USA. If you have a mirror you can get the date from just inside the soundhole on the bottom E side. Contrary to another review published, the Guild D-35 was made of solid Honduras Mahogany on the back and sides and had a Mahogany neck as well with a rosewood fretboard. The top is solid sitka spruce. The guild tuning pegs are very good but not as smooth as the grovers on the more expensive models. Frets are of the regular variety. 20 of them, 14 to the neck. The body is a dreadnaught.

I play all kinds of music and it is suitable for most. What I don't like is that it doesn't sound as good with medium guage strings as it does with light guage. The guitar is built for lights. The booklet that came with it says 'light guage' and it meanse it. Put anything heavier on and the sound suffers. With the lights it has tone to spare. It's very similar to a Martin D-28 in the sound department which is unusual for a Mahogany guitar. It doesn't have the boomimg bass of the Gibsons. I think that people tend to forget that with good quality guitars no two soung exactly alike.

Mine came with a slight warp right where the neck joins the body. It has never affected the tuning and the action only a little. I like my action a little high so I have never bothered getting it fixed. It's fretted well enough so that you don't have stiff action and you don't get a rattle when you play hard. Other than that the craftsmanship is good

This guitar will withstand anythng. The neck is heavier than any I've ever seen. I think this may be due to a big truss rod. In the 23 years I've had it the finish has stood up well. In fact, so much that a friend told me he was almost afraid to touch it. I have played many gigs without a backup. It is totaly solid and dependable

Guild comes with a lifetime guarantee and they back it up. Mine had an annoying buzz that accompanied a 'G' at the third fret, 6th string and they fixed it no problem. I didn't have to send it to them and wait 40 years either. they contacted the store and I had it fixed in a couple of days.

I've been playing for about 40 years and the Guild has been my main accoustic for 23. I have a Telecaster with a Fender super twin for an electric and a 194? vintage Gibson archtop for the mellow stuff. I would by another one if this one was gone because frankly it is a great guitar. I wouldn't part with it for reasons other than it just being good. It has been with me for so long that it's like one of my best friends. here are lots of guitars that I like and many are as good, or better but this one is for me.

1979 Guild D-35 made in RI. 20 frets, solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, minimal binding. X-braced for larger projection. Grover tuners were placed on the guitar before i bought it and work great. Glossy finish with a "pumpkin" color look on it after 21 years. New Guild bridge pins were placed in this guitar since the old ones looked old and unwieldy. Neck is rosewood as well.

Originally owned in 1979 by a country player named Charlie McKenna. I bought it over ebay from the second owner. I play blues on this guitar, which does well, but not quite as good as some older Gibson models. Guild has been known to give a nice medium range somewhere between Gibson and Martin, and I would say that this guitar does nicely. I fingerpick and play with a flatpick, and this guitar sounds nice with both, but better with a pick I must say. The lows and mediums are very nice on this guitar, the trebles are nothing to whine about, but again....some martins will give you a much clearer treble sound. The action for this guitar is low, which makes for nice easy playing, but not so low so that the frets buzz. No active pickups, I use a Takamine EG-240 for amplified acoustics. This guitar would get a 10 if the trebles came through a tiny bit more.

I bought it recently, and it is 21 years old, so I am not sure what the action was ORIGINALLY like. It is beautiful as it is now, nice and low. The neck shows no signs of warping or bending, but the frets look like they have gone through a lot, but also look like they will last many more years. The finish is beautiful in this guitar, it has aged nicely over two decades. It shows the normal use one would expect for a guitar this age, but perhaps a bit more. The headstock has a chip out of the very top, which is purely a cosmetic flaw, doest not affect sound at all. There is one small crack near the bottom of the guitar, but again, purely cosmetic. The back has a small patch where it seems as if it were hit with something, and the pickguard shows normal ear around the soundhole and so forth. Cosmetically, i would say that my guitar is on the verge of ugly, but it was built well and overall is a beautifully constructed instrument. All that matters is that it's easy to play with the action, and the bridge and nut are aligned perfectly.

This guitar would withstand anything that any acoustic would withstand. I don't see how people mess up their instruments to the point where they are unplayable. All you have to do is put the guitar in its case afterwards (assuming it is a plush hardshell case) and not hit it with anything while it's outside of the case. This is a sturdy guitar, not built like a tank, but built well to withstand normal use. The tuners I believe were replaced before I bought it, but they work fine. The bridge pins were in dire need of replacement when i got this guitar, but that was because the previous owner had it underneath a bed for ten years before he pulled it out. The finish is nice, the only place that shows any wear is around the soundhole because of my agressive strumming. I SHOULD mention that this guitar didn't come with a strap button for some reason, which kind of annoyed me, but i never play acoustic standing up anyways. If you are an acoustic player who gigs live in front of people, you may want to get a strap button installed or check to see if your D-35 has a strap button before you buy. I assumed mine would have one, but it doesn't for some reason. I would gig without a backup, but since I have backups, it doesn't really matter. Different guitars give different sounds. I'd use this guitar to play the blues, but I'd get a Martin D-18 or something similar if I were to be playing fingerstyle Paul Simon.

I have never dealt with Guild directly, so I am not sure. They are a dependable company from what I've heard. It's best I think to get acoustics set up locally anyways rather than have them sent around the country to be looked at. of course if there is warranty, deal with the company!

I have played for three years now, which is not long, but I am a dedicated guitarist and have played piano for 12 years before, and understand music theory up the ass. My Takamine was a laminated top and didn't give a full enough sound. The D-35 is my third acoustic (I also have a carlo robelli NY classical guitar just for fingerpicking). Electrically, I have a Japanese strat which i run through a modded ts-9 to a 99 fender twin. But this Guild D-35 is my main acoustic, and I love it for everything it is. I don't mind not having a strap button, but i could see some people not being too happy without one. If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would be remorseful, and if I could find another D-35 of similar year (one that has aged at least 15 years) for the same price, i would hop on it, but if not, I would save up the cash and bet on a higher-end instrument. I love the action and the rootsy feel of this guitar, along with the pumpkin colored look and the durability. I love just about everything in this guitar. Similar to a mix between a Gibson J-45 and a Martin D-18. That may be a weird analogy, but it gives a tonal range that ranges between these two guitars. Dark and deep enough for the blues, but not too dark. Bright enough for other types of playing, but not a sparkling treble. Oh, and the price included a hardshell takamine plush case, which was nice. This is a wonderful guitar for beginners and recording artists alike. 21 years ago, there was a forty year old guitar veteran playing this, and now there is me, a 21 year old dedicated to his guitar for only three years. And we both loved it, and I am sure anybody would too.