D-25/GAD D25 Comparison

[Bill Ashton]

I'll stick my toe partially into the frey...

I own a Gibson J-30 that I bought new in 1994. I wanted the J-160E they had desperately, but it sounded just awful as an acoustic. The J-30 however was and is a fantastic playing and sounding guitar. Certainly the spruce top/mahogany body sound. But
it must have been made Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM. Nice finish but the
fretwork and general finish of the neck is quite poor. A $1200 guitar in
its day, don't know what that would be now.

When "auditioning" a number of Guilds before my purchase last week,
I tried a D25, not because I considered buying it, just because it was
there. Played nice, sounded very much like my J-30. My only complaint
was that the finish was so stinkin' thick! But that said, I would recommend
this guitar in a heartbeat, as it was just a nice piece.

I walked out of the store with a GAD-30PCE and it was without a doubt the
absolute best sounding guitar they had...from Martins, Alvarez Yairi, Yamaha,
Dean (ugh!), Fender and Jay Turser (UGH, UGH!) acoustics. I never intended
to buy, just auditioning to keep my ears fresh to the local market if you will.
The GAD spoke to me like the J-30 had 15 years before...

I'll leave the Gibson for my kids to fight over. I bought the GAD to PLAY...

 

[Graham]

When I joined this forum it was to get info on the Guilds as I knew them, which was a GAD-50.

Sounded great to me, finish was very nice, better than the Epi Masterbuilt I played and anything else in it's price range.

Some folks here went off on the Guild on the Headstock thing and the Chinese thing and the American made is the best made thing....

To me, at the time, Guild on the headstock led me here. Be it a GAD or an American Guild, brand loyalty paid off.

For those that say that because it's Chinese is doesn't have the craftsmanship that American built guitars have and it should be labeled something else, I say turn in your Sony TV, Panasonic DVD, Pioneer Receiver, etc and we'll rebrand them Amerisony, Amerisonic, Ameroneer, etc.

Gads are what they are, an entension of the Guild (FMIC) family, like it or not. I have played some very good sounding ones. I have also played some not so stellar sounding American Guilds.

I'm just tired of the whole thing.

Ohh, and I'm kinda cranky tonight. :shock:

 

[Scratch]

When I joined this forum it was to get info on the Guilds as I knew them, which was a GAD-50.

Sounded great to me, finish was very nice, better than the Epi Masterbuilt I played and anything else in it's price range.

Some folks here went off on the Guild on the Headstock thing and the Chinese thing and the American made is the best made thing....

To me, at the time, Guild on the headstock led me here. Be it a GAD or an American Guild, brand loyalty paid off.

For those that say that because it's Chinese is doesn't have the craftsmanship that American built guitars have and it should be labeled something else, I say turn in your Sony TV, Panasonic DVD, Pioneer Receiver, etc and we'll rebrand them Amerisony, Amerisonic, Ameroneer, etc.

Gads are what they are, an entension of the Guild (FMIC) family, like it or not. I have played some very good sounding ones. I have also played some not so stellar sounding American Guilds.

I'm just tired of the whole thing.

Ohh, and I'm kinda cranky tonight. :shock:

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

 

[Graham]

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

If I take 2 of them I may call you tonight. :wink: :lol: :lol:

 

[killdeer43]

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

If I take 2 of them I may call you tonight. :wink: :lol: :lol:

If the condition persists for more than four hours, I would NOT be calling my doctor. :wink:

Joe

 

[Graham]

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

If I take 2 of them I may call you tonight. :wink: :lol: :lol:

If the condition persists for more than four hours, I would NOT be calling my doctor. :wink:

Joe

Oh I'll call him, he'll just be last on the list. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[dreadnut]

To me, at the time, Guild on the headstock led me here.

Oh, is that how you got in here, Graham? :lol:

 

[12stringer]

I'm just tired of the whole thing.

Ohh, and I'm kinda cranky tonight. :shock:

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

Just make sure you drink plenty of water when taking them blue pills..I got a couple stuck in my throat one time and wound up with a stiff neck :wink:

 

[Graham]

I'm just tired of the whole thing.

Ohh, and I'm kinda cranky tonight. :shock:

Take two of them blue 'V' pills and call us in the morning... :lol: :lol:

Just make sure you drink plenty of water when taking them blue pills..I got a couple stuck in my throat one time and wound up with a stiff neck :wink:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Graham]

To me, at the time, Guild on the headstock led me here.

Oh, is that how you got in here, Graham? :lol:

Yes Marc, false pretenses to many here. :lol:

 

[killdeer43]

Just make sure you drink plenty of water when taking them blue pills..I got a couple stuck in my throat one time and wound up with a stiff neck :wink:

Wow, that was an old Redd Foxx joke from the 50s! He must have known something because he was pushing, and I quote, "a sex pill called Rise, for men over 45; swallow it fast or it will make your neck hard." :lol:

I kid you not,
Joe

 

[12stringer]

Just make sure you drink plenty of water when taking them blue pills..I got a couple stuck in my throat one time and wound up with a stiff neck :wink:

Wow, that was an old Redd Foxx joke from the 50s! He must have known something because he was pushing, and I quote, "a sex pill called Rise, for men over 45; swallow it fast or it will make your neck hard." :lol:

I kid you not,
Joe

It seems that these jokes get recycled...Old Red was ahead of his time for sure :lol:

 

[killdeer43]

So, going back to the original thread.....

I took my D-25M to the local Guild dealer to do some on-site comparisons. As it turned out, they were down to only two GADs -- a GAD-30R and a GAD-25 with mahogany top (not a good looking guitar). I mainly wanted to compare the 25s so I went into the back room and ran 'em through my own basic 'comparison tests.'
Considering all things and realizing that the strings on the GAD might not be the best, I came to the conclusion (as suspected) that there's really no comparison. The overall sound/tone/projection of the '79 blew away the GAD. No big surprise there.

I agree with others who have voiced the opinion that we shouldn't care where a guitar was made and let that sway our decision to buy or not. There are skilled luthiers all over the world -- we haven't cornered the market. I've stated before that my Epiphone beat out a GAD-30 in a side by side, bathroom-studio contest and, as much as I wanted to keep the Guild (because I'm Guilded), I kept the Epiphone. And I believe it was made in Korea (howdy Kim Jong). It keeps up quite well with a friend's Martin 00016 and it's a great little guitar for traveling.

Beyond the sound/look/etc. is how a guitar feels when you fondle it. If it fondles you back, take it home! :lol:

Joe

 

[c70man]

I have owned 3 different D25's, all American made, the last of which was a Corona built Guild.

I liked the Corona the least. The arch back was my favorite, a mid 80s' model which was sold to a friend of mine, who still has it.

All three were different sounding instruments. The flat back '72, the arch back, and the Corona flat back all mahogany (vs a spruce top).

I played a few GADs in a shop more than a few times and they never talked to me. The fit and finish looked great, I just didn't like the sound that much. Maybe they need some time to open.

I guess at my age, I need to buy a 30+ year old guitar day 1.

 

[sledge57]

I have no idea how a GAD25 compares to an American Guild and when I got mine I didn't really care to be honest. I rarely play an acoustic guitar, I'm in love with my Telecaster and my Epiphone Archtops so the GAD doesn't see a lot of daylight.

I had a Strat (MIM) that I hated and traded for GAD w/Fishman Rare Earth and a small Marshall amp (junk but my 14 Y.O. nephew is beginning to play and he likes it so I gave it to him).

The only acoustics I've had are a couple junky no name beginner guitars, a Takemine Classical (wish I had that one still), a Fender (hated it) and Martin DR3 (loved it but sold it to my brother when I needed the $$)

Anyway, of all these the GAD is by far the best sounding acoustic guitar I've had, I agree with the comments on the looks, the glossy finish on a guitar that dark doesn't look good. However looking at the way it's built I have no complaints, the workmanship looks excellent, and like I said I love the tone. It does have some playability issues, however I don't believe the issues have anything to do with where it was made, more likely what was done to it afterwards (see my other thread about this guitar)

Maybe someday I'll stumble into a good deal on a "real" Guild but I'll never pay the big $$ for any guitar so this might be as good as it gets for me.