Guild GAD-40C

I have only owned one other acoustic, a Beaver Creek, which did the trick for someone who was learning, but really, you can't get much worse, making me especially appreciate this fact after I bought the GAD-40C. The guitar has a nice, simple body finish and style.

So far this guitar has done very well for me in my attempts to create the sound I yearn for, which is heavy and dissonant. I put extra heavy strings on it (17-70, baritone guitar strings actually) and downtuned it to C-standard --- I know what you're thinking - 'is this guy nuts? How the **** is that even possible? What about the tension on the neck? What about intonation? Why the **** didn't he just buy a baritone guitar?' But the fact that it does work is a tribute to the 40C.

The tone is very defined at all frequencies, especially the low end (again, probably because of the strings I put on it). I bought it with the low end in mind.

This guitar works for me, I like high action and the intonation isn't terrible despite the strings I use.

When I first got it, there was a buzzing noise at the sound hole, which I discovered (after taking the strings off and sticking a camera in the hole) that one of the wires was touching the side, which was easily fixed.

I haven't played live with this yet, but it has stood up to my abuse thus far. I can't comment about the pickups or hardware because I rarely play it through an amp.

The finish is great, although I have taken good care of it and not given it a chance to get damaged.

Strap button location is great. They seem solid.

I can depend on this guitar.

No repairs have been necessary.

Other than this guitar I own two Jacksons, a Kelly and a Rhoads. If I had to replace this guitar I would definitely get the same one because I'm worried no other guitar could perform the same way given how I've set it up.

I love the style of the neck and body, and the low sound. The unusual pick guard shape is a nice touch. The whole guitar could be a little more flashy, but that's ok.

To choose this guitar, I played a bunch with my particular (low) sound in mind. There's nothing I wish this guitar had that it doesn't, one small gripe is that the rear strap button doubles as the plug for the cable, which makes it large and difficult to fit on some straps.

I rated this guitar high based on it's price. Solid wood with great looks a nice high gloss finnish, lovely inlay & a nice tweed case. These are the types of things you would expect on a higher priced guitar.

I was looking for a bright sound, that was nice and loud for the true acoustic feeling. I tried many guitars in all price ranges. I found three that had the sound I was looking for. The Larrivee D03, the Taylor 310, and the Guild GAD40C. They all seemed very close in sound. After playing it for a month or two I have found that this guitar shines when fingerpicking. Some of my friends have commented that it seems to overpower their guitars.

Action was a bit high for me, but I prefer it quite low. So I adjusted it and it feels great. No flaws evident. I am quite impressed with the fit and finish considering it is made in china! The spruce top has a nice tight grain, and the back and sides are a lovely dark mahogony.

The finnish is nice and thick, it should hold up well. Tuners are tight and seem to hold tunings well. No complains yet, but I am pretty careful with it.

No problems so far. Cannot rate this category.

I have been playing for about 10 years and enjoy playing all types of music. I love it's loud bright tone, especialy when fingerpicking. It does not need to be played hard, but when you get going and start pounding on it I hear a bit of fret buzz. Probably since I set the action so low. Bottom line is that the Guild had the sound I was looking for, included all the extras, and was a lower price than the others. My choice was easy, I just hope it will hold it's value like the other guitars I tried would.

Made it China. Single cutaway Dreadnaught style acoustic. Scalloped bracing with solid Mahogany sides and back. Solid sitka spruce top. One piece mahogany neck with Indian rosewood fingerboard (12" radius). 20 frets. Indian rosewood bridge. Bone nut and saddle. 25.5" scale length. High gloss (polyester) finish. Grover rotomatic die-cast tuners. Wood bindings. Dovetail neck joint construction. Pearl dot position markers (snowflake designs) and headstock logo (Guild crown logo). Ebony bridge pins. Clear pickguard. Includes arched tweed hardshell case. NO electronics.

It has alot of bang for my buck. You get solid wood construction with scalloped bracing. A nice looking large headstock guitar with a cutaway. I do miss the electronics but will buy some sort of system and install it. Even if it's just a soundhole pickup as I'd rather not do any serious mods to the wood itself. But I bought an acoustic mainly to play it without plugging in so...no big deal in me making the decision.

A little history here. I started my search never having owned a true acoustic guitar before. I wanted to find my soul mate (so to speak) and not look back in regret over my purchase. I've played electic guitars and basses for over 18 years now. I learned alot about acoustics and what my ear likes and dislikes about acoustic tone. This whole process took about 8 months of nearly every weekend spending hours in guitar store after guitar store. Yeah, I got obsessive over it so? lol

I play lots of open droning string chord figures and like more of a melancholy sound. Still learning fingerstyle but play more without a pick and more with just thumb and fingers. This guitar also sounds best played with my fingers as oppossed to with a pick.

I first fell in love with my Guild when I played it. I had been on a search for the "perfect acoustic" guitar. No price was going to stop me from at least trying them out! I was mid-way through my experimenting when I happened upon this little gem. I did the Martin factory tour. Played some real cool looking (some as expensive as hell) Taylor, Martin, Gibson, Larivee, Seagull, Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, Breedlove. Didn't have the chance to play some of the indies like Santa Cruz who I've read have some awesome stuff so take that into account. Still, I did play some top end stuff as well as the mid-range and below even. Even after I played the Guild I still continued on just to be sure. I did some blind testing where I'd have someone else play different guitars while I had my back turned so as not to pre-judge them. When I narrowed the field down it was between 4 guitars. The Guild GAD-40, Taylor 710ce, Alvarez MD-90, and a Gibson Working man's J-45. Kind of neat that I had two Mahogany and two rosewood guitars in the final four. The rosewoods got eliminated primarily because the mahogany's had that crystalline high end that my ear is more drawn too. Plus, when I palm mute the bottom strings I like the way the mahogany compresses (if that's the right word) the sound and chugs along while the high strings balance beautifully on it's back. With rosewood I found a more boomy/boxy thing going on. Not as much definition in the lower notes. Much like a Strat compared to a Les Paul. And I've always prefered a Strat/Tele tone so it all was a great learning experience. I also want to note that I spent many afternoons going back and forth between these four models to make absolutely certain that my choice would be one I could live with.

Alright then, so what happened was I ended up taking both the Alvarez and the Guild home with me. I had the option to return either one and knew in the end I would have to pay for just one. I choose a rosewood and a mahogany guitar to compare them in my own environment at home where I will play the majority of the time. Such as on my porch in the summer or my living room in the winter. I also wanted to get my family and friends opinions. EACH and every one of them like the way the Guild sounded over the Alvarez (which is also a solid wood/scalloped bracing guitar). What happend to the Taylor and Gibson? Good question. The Gibson was lacking in one area that kept bugging me. That was in the high end. While the high notes sounded round and full they I missed some of that crystal clear zing (you like that description?) that the Guild has in spades. Oh, and yeah I even had salesmen change strings on all these guitars and tweak the action too. I was a royal pain in the butt I'm sure but the costomer is always right. As for the Taylor I felt that the Alvarez (made of similar woods including an Englemann spruce top) was too close in tone to worry about paying $1500 more for the name or the electronics. I'm not worried about resale as I've said I want this to be my life long acoustic.

So in the end the Guild won out for no other reason than the tone was nearly exactly what I want to hear. Which brings me to my last observation. Yes, I feel like I will stay with my Guild

Other than the clang I describe above I'd say the action is very low and even across the fretboard. The gloss finish shows the beautiful grain nicely. The bindings are all top notch looking. The nut and bridge all look straight and clean. No fret ends sticking out anywhere. Nice and smooth tuners. Near perfectly bookmatched top back and sides. Did I mention the grain patterns are beautiful to look at? Yummy stuff! Everyday is a cheat day! (a little workout humor)

Don't know about how wel it will stand up yet. Other than to say that I've hammered it pretty hard (and soft) this last month and all is well. It's solid wood construction and dovetail neck joint speak well of it. Finish is a plus for protection reasons as well.

Won't rate it yet. Maybe in the future I'll give an update.

No contact with company. No comment.

Playing for over 18 years now. Own a baseball bat '82 Strat (my first love and favorite electric), a reissue '69 thinline tele. Also have owned many MANY others in my time such as PRS, Gibson, Ibanez, and many basses as well. The only other guitar close to an acoustic which I still own is a Yamaha APX 12-string with a composite body. It sounds lame unplugged though.

If it were stolen or lost? I'd have to do a search all over again. And that would suck. Each acoustic guitar within the same models can sound so very different. So I can't say I'd buy this same model again. Sure, I'd try one or two though, of course! But this one had "it" for me.

What I love the most about it is the crystal highs and powerful yet balanced lows and the way they all come together regardless of the dynamic playing imposed upon it.

What I hate about it? I don't hate it at all. I don't like the clanging when I really strum it heavy. But it does go away when I use some palm mute and I haven't really had it set up properly yet. Other than that I not in love with the case or the lack of electronics. Both can be corrected however.

In closing I'd highly recommend you try all types of guitars before making a purchase. You may find a Guild GAD-40 that sounds crappy and wonder what the heck I'm talking about. It's all in the wood and construction of each individual guitar that gives them all a unique voice. That's the really cool part about acoustics more so than electrics IMO.

Overall it is a fantastic value, my Guild is.

Oh, and I so dig the oversized headstock on this thing!

D-40C -Mahogany sides and 2 piece bookmatched back seperated with a herringbone inlay. cutaway style with solid spruce top. Small thin wood inlaid binding front and back. Mahogany neck/rosewood fretboard and bridge.Mother of Pearl 'snowflake' fret markers as well as Guild logo over crown over stylized "reverse Bishop" inlay. Grover kidney knob tuners. Came with a beautiful tweed HSC that is arched top even though inst. is'nt. Orig. however.

I'm a rythym player mostly and as soon as I tuned this pup up, I was looking to discard my F. Hashimoto that till now was my comparison standard. The Hashimoto is super and pretty also, but the sound I get from the Guild is so much more mid-rangey with bass and treble galore depending how you attack it. It overall just strikes me as clearer sounding for my style.

Very well finished[has a clear pickguard] I frankly was chagrinned to find out it was manufactured [or as stated:Handbuilt in China] but hey! if this the quality they're producing..I say-Keep em coming!
Oh yeah, the action is the best I've seen in many a moon for a stock acoustic! Looks like a bone saddle also.

Brand spanking new when I received it. Still had moisture dessicant in accouterment box. Looks like she'll stand up.

Being a Guild product in name, I can't forsee any problems that a "marque" brand would ignore.

I'm ecstatic over this guitar because of-1. I now know what I;ve been looking for in acoustic sound. 2. It was a steal at the price and I can unload my Hashimoto and perhaps besides paying for this inst., having enough for another bargain!
It fits right in with the '71 L.P. Custom and Tele custom -A real "GOLDEN TRIANGLE!"