swiveltung
Member
I guess you might call this a review on the import OM240CE. My old Westerly R.I. F4CE needs frets and I haven't decided what to do yet. . My original intent was to get a short scale like a Taylor Mini as I'm old. I didn't bond with the Mini much though, so I bought a modern import Guild Westerly OM240CE. There are some mixed reviews on these modern import Westerly Guilds and I realize nobody here on LTG is coveting one. But, I bonded with this almost immediately. That seems to be my path with Guild acoustics. It just sounds better and plays easier than anything else I tried in the $300-$1300 range. (Taylor, Yamaha, Ibanez)
The thing is... it's like the modern version of the vintage Guild F4CE I have... Crazy really ...but fretting will take 10 weeks and is expensive ($400-$1000). So maybe this guitar is a fill in until I either get the F4CE refretted or do it myself.
I received the guitar.
-There are no finish blemishes at all, the strings are centered on the fretboard, the nut slots were at about the right height right down close. No nut adjustment required as far as height goes.
-The electronics are in the soundhole, so just tone and volume. Thats all I need, but I did realize one thing... you cant plug the sound hole to avoid feedback on stage! So that's a consideration I missed. We'll see how that works out.
-It's a VERY comfortable acoustic electric, like my old F4CE.
PROBLEM: The strings were way to low to the frets. Surprisingly, it still seemed to play decent down there. The high E measured .025-.030 off the frets at about fret 12-15. Of course there is no adjustment other than using a taller bridge or a shim. I had to get the cheap strings off of it anyway, (they looked like copper not bronze...?) so I found an older acoustic bridge insert off my F4CE that fit perfectly. I had to sand it down a bit for height, but other than that the intonation was identical to the factory insert. That worked out very well.
While I had the strings off, I worked on the fret ends a bit filing the little sharp corners smooth/rounded. I pretty much expected to do that on a new inexpensive guitar.
Overall it seems like a keeper and a good guitar for the $. I can tell it's long scale though, but I can live with that as it's a very 'easy on the hands' guitar otherwise. And the tone with the long scale always seems better to me on the low strings. The neck is medium C, not too thin. The low action is amost like an electric. Everything rings true no buzzing etc.
The thing is... it's like the modern version of the vintage Guild F4CE I have... Crazy really ...but fretting will take 10 weeks and is expensive ($400-$1000). So maybe this guitar is a fill in until I either get the F4CE refretted or do it myself.
I received the guitar.
-There are no finish blemishes at all, the strings are centered on the fretboard, the nut slots were at about the right height right down close. No nut adjustment required as far as height goes.
-The electronics are in the soundhole, so just tone and volume. Thats all I need, but I did realize one thing... you cant plug the sound hole to avoid feedback on stage! So that's a consideration I missed. We'll see how that works out.
-It's a VERY comfortable acoustic electric, like my old F4CE.
PROBLEM: The strings were way to low to the frets. Surprisingly, it still seemed to play decent down there. The high E measured .025-.030 off the frets at about fret 12-15. Of course there is no adjustment other than using a taller bridge or a shim. I had to get the cheap strings off of it anyway, (they looked like copper not bronze...?) so I found an older acoustic bridge insert off my F4CE that fit perfectly. I had to sand it down a bit for height, but other than that the intonation was identical to the factory insert. That worked out very well.
While I had the strings off, I worked on the fret ends a bit filing the little sharp corners smooth/rounded. I pretty much expected to do that on a new inexpensive guitar.
Overall it seems like a keeper and a good guitar for the $. I can tell it's long scale though, but I can live with that as it's a very 'easy on the hands' guitar otherwise. And the tone with the long scale always seems better to me on the low strings. The neck is medium C, not too thin. The low action is amost like an electric. Everything rings true no buzzing etc.
