Question about the D-20

[GF60]

I have a question for y'all. A couple of people on the UMGF bought a Guild D20. Both like it well, but one fellow ended up selling his. It comes with light strings [12-54]. He normally uses mediums. He inquired about using mediums, but was told that Guild recommends light gauge and not to use a higher gauge. Insinuating they would not honor any warranty issues related to using medium gauge. Anyone know this to be true? If so, why would a Guild dreadnought not be able to handle medium strings? Is it that lightly built? Or was this guy given a load of horse hockey? I don't know if the info came from the dealer or Guild.

 

[jedzep]

I'm going to introduce a sticky question here. How would Guild know what gauge strings a new owner was playing, so infer what you like. I know you have a good feel for guitar quality from following your tales on the Martin forum, so I'll bet you could assess how heavier strings work with new Guild dread builds.

As you might know, I play 13s on all my guitars, tuned down to D-D, and if I were to attempt playing mediums on my lighter guitars, I would surely start a half step down to see if there was any sign of fragility.

 

[schoolie]

Unless they say explicitly that medium gauge strings are not recommended in the manual, I don't see how they could not honor the warranty,. For what it's worth, I asked if I could safely use medium strings on my F-40 Traditional, and the reply was "no problem". It seems unlikely that a manufacturer would build a dreadnought that couldn't handle mediums. I'm a fan of the D'Addario EJ24s which are a nice compromise between light and medium. I use the same gauges for 80/20 sets.

 

[GF60]

I'm with you Dave. I don't really see how Guild would know what gauge strings you used unless you tell them. To be clear, I really have no intention of buying one of these. I have one dread, that's enough for me. This was more of an "information gathering" post. I'm just curious. I've not played a D-20, so I don't know if it's lightly built. But all the Guild dreads I've ever played are pretty sturdy.

 

[schoolie]

Well,I wrote Guild Support and this was their reply:

While your D-20 may withstand the tension of Medium Gauge Strings, we do not recommend using anything higher than Light Gauge (12-53) Strings on your gutiar.

 

[davenumber2]

This just seems like a CYA move from Guild customer service. I have 3 Guild dreads and have had mediums on them and they are fine. I also have a super lightly built Tacoma dread and it’s fine with mediums too. I’d say just play what you like and if that happens to be mediums, just keep an eye on things.