Boneman
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2021
- Messages
- 1,392
- Reaction score
- 1,668
- Guild Total
- 6
Well the actual New Guitar Day was Friday night, but I wanted to get it some new strings and put it through its paces to form a solid opinion. I can say that this little guitar meets my needs and then some. Comes complete with the classic design and looks, and the headstock that screams pure Guild godliness:
This is an M120e, a curious model that seems to have two distinct versions of discontinued model specs on Guild’s own website. There was a GAD version circa 2014 sans Chesterfield, https://guildguitars.com/g/m-120-e/ then Chesterfield added in maybe ‘16 or ‘17, https://guildguitars.com/g/westerly-m-120e-nat/ which then got discontinued for the current one: https://guildguitars.com/g/westerly-m-120/
This is similar to the current M120 of the Westerly Collection in appearances but the specs indicate the current model has OX bracing whereas the discontinued ones list them with scalloped X bracing. This one here is a 2017 discontinued model, when they made them to include the Chesterfield, scalloped spruce X bracing, and was offered in this luxurious cherry finish.
A nice detail for me is the mahogany neck heel cap:
And here is a shot inside the top to see the bracing:
For the life of me I haven’t figured out how to get to the battery though? Do I remove all four screws? Is there a secret to popping it open? It looks like the clip should compress and unhook the lid, but maybe it’s stuck because that little clasp doesn’t move in either direction so I dunno, before I start prying on it with a screwdriver, lol, do I get to it from inside when the strings are off? Although it’s not needed at this juncture yet, as I plugged her in and it sang through the amp so everything works as it should, battery isn’t dead at the moment.
I bought it used, and so it already has good playable action, so really nothing to do after polishing it up, and changing the strings but to play it. I also bought it expressly to use as a “take to the lake or here there wherever guitar” without having to worry if I ding it, bang it or bump it. And play it for the past few days I did. I also had the secondary reasoning for getting the smaller body style compared to my dreadnaughts, and that was for more comfort playing on the couch. Then the tertiary reason was for me to work on fingerstyle at a decent volume, on a smaller body and it provides that in droves. Has a little wider nut at 44.8mm compared to my dreads too, so that helps my fingering. I also did of course test drive it with a flat pick, and it can get surprisingly loud, but it certainly cannot get loud like my dreads, so it’ll work great late at night when my wife is off to bed. I didn’t have a hog topped guitar, and now I’ve got an all hog one and I like the deeper, bassier tone, works good for my genre of music. When I want a brighter acoustic, I can always bust out my D46. I feel it’s a great compliment to my stable of guitars that fits a niche, and is not a duplicate of something I already have, so I’m excited and think it is a keeper. The cherry finish is so pretty, it is up there among my favorite colors on a guitar now, who knew?
And last, the case it came in is the older polyfoam case, which really is a cool case, not an hsc, and not a soft gig bag. It’s lightweight like a gig bag, but stiff and sturdy like a hsc, and has the traditional neck pocket inside for a strap, capo, tuner, strings whatever, and the ability to strap it on your back and go. All that fun and looks for less than $450 bucks too, this year on the lake is going to be epic!
This is an M120e, a curious model that seems to have two distinct versions of discontinued model specs on Guild’s own website. There was a GAD version circa 2014 sans Chesterfield, https://guildguitars.com/g/m-120-e/ then Chesterfield added in maybe ‘16 or ‘17, https://guildguitars.com/g/westerly-m-120e-nat/ which then got discontinued for the current one: https://guildguitars.com/g/westerly-m-120/
This is similar to the current M120 of the Westerly Collection in appearances but the specs indicate the current model has OX bracing whereas the discontinued ones list them with scalloped X bracing. This one here is a 2017 discontinued model, when they made them to include the Chesterfield, scalloped spruce X bracing, and was offered in this luxurious cherry finish.
A nice detail for me is the mahogany neck heel cap:
And here is a shot inside the top to see the bracing:
For the life of me I haven’t figured out how to get to the battery though? Do I remove all four screws? Is there a secret to popping it open? It looks like the clip should compress and unhook the lid, but maybe it’s stuck because that little clasp doesn’t move in either direction so I dunno, before I start prying on it with a screwdriver, lol, do I get to it from inside when the strings are off? Although it’s not needed at this juncture yet, as I plugged her in and it sang through the amp so everything works as it should, battery isn’t dead at the moment.
I bought it used, and so it already has good playable action, so really nothing to do after polishing it up, and changing the strings but to play it. I also bought it expressly to use as a “take to the lake or here there wherever guitar” without having to worry if I ding it, bang it or bump it. And play it for the past few days I did. I also had the secondary reasoning for getting the smaller body style compared to my dreadnaughts, and that was for more comfort playing on the couch. Then the tertiary reason was for me to work on fingerstyle at a decent volume, on a smaller body and it provides that in droves. Has a little wider nut at 44.8mm compared to my dreads too, so that helps my fingering. I also did of course test drive it with a flat pick, and it can get surprisingly loud, but it certainly cannot get loud like my dreads, so it’ll work great late at night when my wife is off to bed. I didn’t have a hog topped guitar, and now I’ve got an all hog one and I like the deeper, bassier tone, works good for my genre of music. When I want a brighter acoustic, I can always bust out my D46. I feel it’s a great compliment to my stable of guitars that fits a niche, and is not a duplicate of something I already have, so I’m excited and think it is a keeper. The cherry finish is so pretty, it is up there among my favorite colors on a guitar now, who knew?
And last, the case it came in is the older polyfoam case, which really is a cool case, not an hsc, and not a soft gig bag. It’s lightweight like a gig bag, but stiff and sturdy like a hsc, and has the traditional neck pocket inside for a strap, capo, tuner, strings whatever, and the ability to strap it on your back and go. All that fun and looks for less than $450 bucks too, this year on the lake is going to be epic!
I’ll try not to, and you may be right, second look it might be rosewood. Weird choice considering the all hog spec, but they probably just have a drawer full of them that get put on every guitar. Be curious if the natural top one has rosewood, or they just used it for the cherry finish 
