Madeira A-18

Straight up dreadnought acoustic. no pickup. Separate, closed-back tuners. Dates to the 70's or so, these are imports from Japan. The tuners are what finally crapped out on me and it has been tough to find these exact ones.

I love the sound, tho I learned to play on it, so this affects me. I think it's loud and defined in a way I like. I prefer it to most of the expensive acoustic guitars I have played in guitar stores, although it is hard to have the same emotional experience in a guitar store, so some of the feelings about the "sound" may actually be sentimental.

Never had any problems at all with the neck, and the action is damn good for a guitar in this price range. No fret buzz or anything.

This thing was dang old when I got it, and I played it for hours daily, and it travelled a lot of places with me before those tuners had it. I don't blame them, man that thing has seen a lot of use since I got it over ten years ago.

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Nothing else will do - I wouldn;t be happy with a nice expensive acoustic - they don't sound that much better to me and there's somehting comforting about having an old, underrated guitar. I plan to take good care of it from now on and I keep an eye out for these on ebay all the time.

This is a very nice Madeira acoustic guitar with pickup. Model A-18. "Adjusted and distributed exclusively by GUILD." (On the label inside of the sound hole). Steel string dreadnaught. It is in good condition, with only normal wear and tear. Not too fancy of an instrument, but held together well. I paid about $225, including a nice hard shell case.

Sound is "just okay." The sound gets dull rather quickly, but it could be my choice of strings(?). It buzzes a little, but I strum rather hard. I probably should take it in for a "tune up." While I have tinkered with it a bit, the action needs to be adjusted by a profession. When I plug this guitar in to an amp, it screams! I attribute that to the Barkus Berry pickup. (I recommend them!)

I bought this guitar "used" off eBay. It was packaged and shipped carefully, in a hard shell case. There are no cracks or splits. No chips, dings or dents. Some minor wear, on back and sides, hardly noticeable, probably would polish out. Fret board has no noticeable wear spots. The guitar is in good condition. HOWEVER, the dots on the fret board are sunken in, not flush. I have never seen that on a guitar. I was a little disappointed with that! But, I'll get over it, as it does not affect the playing or sound.

The instrument is probably about 20 years old, I guess. Maybe older? In the 1970's and early '80's, Guild imported and distributed Japanese-made acoustic guitars, electric guitars and mandolins under the Madeira name. I don't know exactly when Guild stopped importing them. It is held together rather well, and I figure it will last another 20 years or so. I'm not a professional (yet), but I have played "live" with it in jam sessions.

Never dealt with the company. They don't make 'em anymore, either. I don't know what support is available, if any.

I owned another Madeira in my youth. Mid-to-late 70's. It was a great guitar, much better than this one. But, I don't recall the model number. (It was a beautiful blonde guitar, and I installed the Barkus Berry "Insider" on it, too. It really screamed!) I bought this A-18 guitar for sentimental reasons, I guess. I'm not too disapointed. I would most likely buy another Madeira, if I found a good one at a decent price. I WOULD NOT buy another A-18, though. One is enough. If it got lost, stolen or destroyed, I would look elsewhere.