Guild DV-52

1996 DV-52 NT HG dreadnought acoustic, made in Rhode Island (USA). Solid spruce top, solid rosewood sides & back. One-piece mahogany neck. Ebony fretboard & bridge. Small MOP dot inlays give it a nice vintage look, as does the abalone rosette. Has the Guild "Chesterfield" logo inlay in the headstock. High gloss finish is very attractive. Gold Grover tuners look good and work well.

I play mostly solo folk and acoustic rock in coffeehouse settings, and in a praise and worship band at church services a couple times/month.
The DV-52 is supposed to sound like a "vintage" instrument (hence the "V"). Since I've never played any vintage guitars, I can't say much on that. I DO know that this is a fine sounding guitar.
Deep, rich bass response and excellent volume and projection. Treble is a bit weak, but I'd expect that from a dreadnought. I don't play up the neck on acoustic so I avoid cutaways--not to mention that a cutaway kills the bass!
This instrument doesn't have a pick up. Guild sells some of their acoustics with Fishman Matrix systems, but I've yet to encounter a piezo pickup that actually makes the guitar sound like an acoustic. For live work, I either mic it (which sounds very good) or use a Dean Markley Artist transducer that sticks on the top. The DM Artist is a cheapo pickup (I paid $30) but it sounds good for a transducer. I don't care for magnetic soundhole pickups--too electric for my taste.

Factory set-up was satisfactory. There was one small "dent" in the top when I bought it, probably from being knocked around or played in the store. Hasn't caused any sound problems as far as I can tell.
I think it came set-up with 12's. I use a regular 12 set, but replace the (1) with a 13 and the (6) with a 56. I use a lot of alternate tunings and the larger strings hold their tone better when tuned down. The 56 also gives better bass and volume when tuned standard.
The neck is 1-11/16 (I think), a nice width for chord work and fingerstyle.
In the two years I've owned it, I've had the truss rod adjusted a few times, the saddle shaved (to lower the action a hair), the frets dressed, and a strap button installed on the heel of the neck. One of the frets was lower than the others, which created some annoying buzz. The fret dress solved that.

I've played the guitar several times a week for two years, gigged with it a bunch and it's held up fine. I have a fairly heavy right-hand technique and have never felt reluctant to thump on the top.
Of course, a good acoustic requires special care. I use a Damp-It during the dry winter months and try to be careful of temperature changes when I'm travelling with it.

Lifetime warranty--can't beat that.
I've contacted Guild/Fender a couple times through e-mail and have received prompt, helpful replies each time. No major support issues though (fortunately).

I've been playing for about 12 years. This is the first "quality" instrument I've owned and I'm very pleased with it. This model easily competes with comparable solid wood Taylors and Martins but is a few hundred bucks less. A great value in my book.