Just got an new Guild M120.

[rmz76]

Have been considering an M20 or M120 for some time. Found a good deal on an M120 and took it. Some thoughts.

The Good.

• The African Mahagony is beautiful, considering this is all solid, I'm surprised at the aesthetic, although this is a Chinese built instrument, they are putting thought into wood selection
  
  
• It's lighter than expected. Lighter instruments tend to have better tone
  
  
• The fretboard on mine is Indian Rosewood, not Laurel. Almost all Asian builders are using Laurel or Pau Ferro for fretboards these days, not Guild. It's Indian Rosewood and a good piece at that.
  
  
• The fretwork is perfect, the intonation very, very good. I'll go as far as to say fretwork, intonation and fit and finish the best I've found on a sub $1k acoustic guitar. A close runner up with would be a Epiphone Masterbuilt I had which in spite of Gibson PLEKing at the factory still had a few scratchy frets.
  
  
• I love the included gig bag

The Bad.

• Restrung with D'Addario EXP16 Lights, which is what Guild puts on these at the factory. Not impressed with the tone I'm getting here. Wasn't expecting a lot of bass, but there's a cheapness to the sound I can't quite put my finger on, it's in the sustain and decay timbre. I had a L-00 and an Alvarez all solid Parlor and both had a bit more depth to my ears. I suspect it's the strings. Going to try La Bella Silk & Steel Mediums and see where that leads.
  
  
• I put my hand in the sound hole and felt the top braces. On all of my acoustics the tip of the brace is maybe 1/4" at most and tall. In the M120 the braces are short and fat, about 3/4" thick. I'm curious if the Guild M20 is braced the same way. There's no doubt this is impacting tone. For the better or worse may be subjective, but the bracing shapes the tone.
  
  
• Polyurethane finish. I knew it had one, I hate Polyurethane. I get it's cost savings, but I think every builder using it should buff out the gloss and go with the "stain poly" finish or just go with a real Satin finish.

Curious to hear from those not so taken by the tone of their M120 out of the box if you ever came to love it after finding the right strings

 

[Cougar]

Well, congrats on pulling the trigger. My GAD D125-12 has a poly finish, and man is it glossy! I prefer the gloss (well, and nitro, of course)... That's one reason I unloaded the half dozen 2002-2009 Epiphone Masterbilts I used to have -- they're all satin! Anyway, I hope you find the right strings that open that baby up!

 

[GGJaguar]

Congrats it's NGD! Finding the right string set for a guitar is part of the fun (and frustration). Keep us posted on what you find!

 

[Gdjjr]

Have been considering an M20 or M120 for some time. Found a good deal on an M120 and took it. Some thoughts.

The Good.

• The African Mahagony is beautiful, considering this is all solid, I'm surprised at the aesthetic, although this is a Chinese built instrument, they are putting thought into wood selection
  
  
• It's lighter than expected. Lighter instruments tend to have better tone
  
  
• The fretboard on mine is Indian Rosewood, not Laurel. Almost all Asian builders are using Laurel or Pau Ferro for fretboards these days, not Guild. It's Indian Rosewood and a good piece at that.
  
  
• The fretwork is perfect, the intonation very, very good. I'll go as far as to say fretwork, intonation and fit and finish the best I've found on a sub $1k acoustic guitar. A close runner up with would be a Epiphone Masterbuilt I had which in spite of Gibson PLEKing at the factory still had a few scratchy frets.
  
  
• I love the included gig bag

The Bad.

• Restrung with D'Addario EXP16 Lights, which is what Guild puts on these at the factory. Not impressed with the tone I'm getting here. Wasn't expecting a lot of bass, but there's a cheapness to the sound I can't quite put my finger on, it's in the sustain and decay timbre. I had a L-00 and an Alvarez all solid Parlor and both had a bit more depth to my ears. I suspect it's the strings. Going to try La Bella Silk & Steel Mediums and see where that leads.
  
  
• I put my hand in the sound hole and felt the top braces. On all of my acoustics the tip of the brace is maybe 1/4" at most and tall. In the M120 the braces are short and fat, about 3/4" thick. I'm curious if the Guild M20 is braced the same way. There's no doubt this is impacting tone. For the better or worse may be subjective, but the bracing shapes the tone.
  
  
• Polyurethane finish. I knew it had one, I hate Polyurethane. I get it's cost savings, but I think every builder using it should buff out the gloss and go with the "stain poly" finish or just go with a real Satin finish.

Curious to hear from those not so taken by the tone of their M120 out of the box if you ever came to love it after finding the right strings

Excellent review!