Guild DCE1HG

This is a 1997, which I believe was the last year Guilds were made in Westerly, RI. From then on they began to become (sadly) mass produced by Fender in California. I say sadly because the newer Guilds do not even compare to the quality of this guitar...I'm afraid the real Guild reputation is quickly becoming extinct. Anyway this a solid guitar. Like everyone else says, it weighs a ton but who cares? It is a solid peice of work. Tuners are high quality as is the spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The arched back adds to the look and sound of this guitar. Other than that it is a typical dreadnaught cutaway look. Fishman peizo pickup is sweet...together with my Marshall AS100D amp there is nothing better. The Guild feels great in your hands and lap and the sound is even better. I don't know what to say about all the comments of the action being too high...it seems fine to me, but I got mine used, so it might have already been adjusted.

The guitar is perfect for me. I play alot of fingerpicking styles as well as alot of alternate tunings, particularly the darker ones. This guitar is awesoeme drop D or C tuning, the bassiness of it really comes out. Although it is not overly loud when unplugged. In my opinion, you must plug in this guiatar. Once again, the Fishman prefix rules.

I did not get this guitar from the factory, but it was set up fine when I got it, including the action. Everthing remains fine as well. So far no adjustments needed. It stays in tune very well, too. The only flaws were that there was some checking of the finish due to the laquer seeping into the porous mahogany I suspect. The spruce top remains fine and gorgeous though.

Guild (pre-Fender) is unmatched in quality, (except by maybe Taylor). The quality and construction blows away that of a Martin or Gibson and every component in this guitar is solid and well made. I mean the thing weighs twice as much. I do not think I would gig without a backup though, strings DO break regardless of how nice a guitar is.

Never dealt with Guild, and there is no warranty. But so far she has needed no adjustments whatsoever

I have been playing for about 4 years now and I own a Marshall AS100D amp, a Fender 12-string, a strat, and an old DG-7. I have been shopping for a nice acoustic/electric cutaway for awhile now and I feel I have arrived at the ultimate peice, and for under $500!! If it were stolen I would be extremely upset and then buy another one. It totally blows away any Martin that costs twice as much, and I dare say it sounds better than my buddys brand new Taylor 310CE (cost = $1,200). If you are in the market for a nice acoustic/electric than I suggest you get your hands on a older Guild soon before everyone realizes what a find they are.

This cutaway dreadnaught guitar has a solid natural spruce top with laminated mahogany back & sides, the back being arched nicely to accommodate the cutaway. The neck is a single piece of mahogany and thickens out at the nut end (which is more natural feeling than a volute). The 20 fret unbound fretboard & bridge are rosewood, dot markers being either abalone or a good fake pearl! Tuners are gold Grover-style but are stamped with the Guild logo. The Guild logo als appears on the headstock in fake pearl (not such a good job). The finish is a very clean high gloss which requires regular buffing, particularly behind the neck when playing in warm conditions.
It has a Fishman preamp built in (not sure which type but it has volume,brilliance,bass, middle, treble, notch and phase).
The guitar was made in America and is stamped as such behind the headstock together with it's serial number which is better than a sticker which can be removed.
This guitar was shop spoiled - a slight mark on the body (which has since been joined by many others!)- and did not come with anything but a spare set of strings.

I play and teach many styles - from rock through blues to classical - and all styles sound full and warm on this guitar. In fact rock classics sound grand, very "unplugged"! The bass is full and whilst the treble isn't exactly cutting it does sit well in the overall sound - very balanced.
The action is higher than I would normally desire but having got used to it the benefits of volume with sensitivity far outweigh the disadvantage of overfretting.
I very rarely amplify the guitar, but playing in class or in small venues is a breeze as the projection is astounding - I think the arched back helps but this is the loudest acoustic I've ever owned yet it never sounds harsh or tinny.
I like the versatility and clarity.
I dislike the action but as stated above this is a small price to pay for incredible presence.

I believe all Guilds come with high action and whilst I've lowered mine a tad I think the sound may be compromised if I adjust it too much.
The finish is good -no untidy joints or fret ends.
The staining of the mahogany is quite dark which is a shame as the outer laminate is very pretty. The spruce top is flawless and is currently a dark blonde - I'm hoping it will darken with age as my other spruce top guitars have over the years.
The whole package is very well done although the pivoted battery compartment on the preamp buzzed at first - fixed with a small shim of foam.
I particularly like the thickened neck - I've played voluted neck before & found them "unusual" (eg: Martin).
The bridge isn't compensated but the intonation is spot on to my ears (don't use tuners)- I use 11thou strings which are quite light.

This guitar is built like a brick shit house. I've given it a few dings and considering my daughters like to bang it about as well it's doing fine.
High gloss shows damage quickly anyway.
I play a few open tunings and do not shy from retuning mid gig - no problems with this beastie.
I don't know anyone who gigs without backup but if caught short this is the one to trust.

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I have been playing 30 years and currently own an assortment of 8 acoustic & electric guitars. My absolute favourite is a Tacoma PM20 with full abalone trim - a truly beautiful and melodic instrument - I bought the Guild so I could reserve the Tacoma for home use only - however I have found it hard to put the Guild down!
It retailed at #895 but it had a slight mark & I paid #680 for it - bargain or what. I know it's supposed to be an inferior model to the all solids but it stands up well against them and will probably oulast them, having laminated back & sides.
If it was nicked I'd get another - for the money it's a lot of guitar.

Made in 1994 in USA, solid spruce top turned a beautiful honey gold with age, laminated mohogany back and sides. Gold grover tuners. Nice smooth finish, you KNOW you have a fine instrument in your hands. I bought this guitar used for $575 a steal! Guild/Fishman factory electronics.

Sounds great in all ranges pluged or unpluged. Rich full sound with plenty of bass, which I like. With the fishman preamp pickup you can make this guitar do anything. I put on a set of bronze ex-light EXP15 D'Addario coated strings and would pit this guitar against ANY Taylor Martin, Gibson on the market!

Every part on this guitar is of the highest quality in craftmanship and hardware. I set the action low, no string buzz, ALWAYS stays tuned.

As other have said: built like a tank. The finish is thick and durable very dependable.

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Had the stuff I wanted. Really solid tuners, great intonation, Fishman preamp. Beautiful red guitar with perfect finish.

Plugged in, this guitar sounds as close to perfect as any guitar I've played. The Fishman really does the sound justice, and better still is punchy enough that I can play it with a large loud band and still come through the mix without sounding like trash. Acoustic sound is also strong, although not nearly as good as plugged in. It's quite full and loud, but doesn't have the ringing midtones of my friend's Martin or even an older Yamaha dreadnought I've played. I'm hoping it will improve and mature with age, we'll have to see.

Everything came beautifully set up, since I bought it used from a good guitar player who had it all set up nicely and barely played it. After playing it a while I have only a few minor complaints. The endpin jack is constantly loosening on me, no matter how tight I tighten it, within a few days of fixing it. Also, the access to the battery in the preamp is extremely handy (just flip the preamp over) but can buzz a little when I palm mute hard on low chords. Nothing too bad, and I'm sure the endpin jack can be fixed, I just don't know what I need to do.

Built like a tank. I love it! This thing is so heavy you could play baseball with it. I've bumped it against music stands and stage floors and the like without a scratch. I always gig without a backup.

Never dealt.

Not the guitar I set out to buy the day I went looking, but for the price it was just a better guitar than the Seagull I had been playing. The guitar has grown on me since I bought it. I've been pleased and haven't regretted buying it! Sounds nicer even than the Martin's I tried for about $500 more. If you want an guitar you play with a band, especially through a PA, this is a good bet!

i've owned two of these. one was a 97, one was a 99. standard acoustic electric, w/ fishman preamp, mahogany, high gloss body and rosewood fretboard. hardshell case.

here's the problem, both of the one's i've owned sounded very hollow and overly bassy to me. it lacked any treble punch or the boomy type of sound i craved. i figured since i've played other guilds that did have this sound, that this would as well but i was wrong. plugged in its very nice, but strictly acoustic it left alot to be desired, that's why both were sold. why did i buy two? well b/c i figured i got a dud the first time around, and granted the 2nd one was better, but still have the same lifeless sound.

guild is an outstanding company and everything they make is high quality. there were no real complaints here. if anything the guitar was too heavy, but to me that constitutes real quality work. the action was a little high and tight on both however

its a guild so it seemed extremely reliable. i've used it live without a problem and this is where it shined, i just didn't like the unplugged sound.

never dealt w/ guild.

seems like a great value and is a very solidly built guitar. however the unplugged sound, high action and tight action made me sell both guitars. in the same price range i recommend trying out seagulls and other lesser known brands that to me share the same features but have a better overall sound.

This is an all American made electro acoustic made in '99. Solid Spruce Top,Arched Mahogany Back,Rosewood Sides,Mahogany Neck and a Rosewood Fretboard and bridge.It has a Fishman Acoustic Matrix pickup and the Fishman Prefix Pro Preamp.The preamp has volume,treble,middle,bass and brilliance controls.Also has a notch filter which eliminates feedback effectively.It has a high gloss finish the HG at the end of the model name.It has a cutaway which allows access to the high frets but dosen't lose any acoustic quality...i think?.Tuners are made by Guild and are gold.Got a free Guild case with this guitar ....

Ok the type of music i play is a little diverse ...blues,jazz,acoustic rock and some folk and it's great for all of these styles.I run the guitar into a korg ax1g multi-processor which i had lying around the house from my "electric" days and i use the processor to shape the sound a little,add some compression and a tiny squinch of delay.The effect unit is handy in that i can change the sound of the guitar quickly for solos and i can get a nice "dobro" sound from the guitar also.It's not noisy what so-ever.Unplugged this guitar is loud and full.The high end,maybe,could have a little more sustain but that would be absaloute perfection and this guitar is not far from the "perfect" guitar ...honest.It has a sort of mellow sound acoustically. I had problems with other acoustic guitars in the past trying to play solos while the other guy in the duo is playing rythym....trying to hear the solo was difficult but this Guild certainly projects itself well.Plugged in the guitar also shines.I definitely believe that to get a good "plugged-in" sound from an acoustic firstly the guitar must sound good acoustically as i have found out in the past.I used to own a narrow body electro and the acoustic sound was shite...anyway on with the review ...phew! Let me put it this way ....it sounds like an acoustic when amplified.

The factory setup was fine.The action was a little high but not difficult to play.I usae this guitar for playing slide as well so it had to be a happy medium between high and low action.when i started playing acoustic when i was 9 i used a high action Karina which was a heap of shit really but the ould fingers grew a lot stronger because of this.Am i waffling ???Well let me say that the action is fine and playing fast leads aint a problem. Didn't have any problems with the pickup ...lovely sound. I have the guitar a while now and i haven't seen any flaws.

This guitar is one of the heaviest guitars i've ever had the pleasure of owning.It is built like a tank.If it fell on your toe you would know about it!The hardware is gold so it will stand the tests of time.I would gig without a back-up only because the wife wont let me get another one!ha ha

Haven't dealt with the company as of yet.

I've been playing 21 of my 28 years so far.I still have the Karina acoustic which i hold onto because of sentimental value.I have a Jackson PS-2 which i mess around with just for fun....I'm gone big into acoustic music now.One little grievance i have for the Guild is that it only has one strap button and i'm a little paranoid about drilling a hole in it....but i mostly play sitting down anyway so it's not much of a problem.I'll not give it a 10/10 because that would be perfection and we all know that perfection is not of this earth ... well so they say!