Bluegrass on a Guild?

Bonneville88

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I've been playing bluegrass / folk / americana on a Martin, a Taylor and various Guilds... IME the Guilds
generally seem to have a volume advantage.
Scenario recently is house party jam session - indoors or out - with various other instruments.... banjo, mandolin, occasional fiddle.
That said, the Martin and the Taylor were both pretty much entry level... never have played a higher end version of either in a jam like that.
Guilds are D25, D55, GF25 and JF30... once I put medium strings back on, may try the D30. The D55 with fresh Elixir Nanos is my
current fave, followed by the D25... but I'm fickle, so I may be loving on another one next week :devilish:
 
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swiveltung

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I believe Emmy Lou Harris played a Guild a lot. Not really known for Bluegrass, but I bet she played a lot of Bluegrass along the way.

Later: I guess I got that wrong, I don't see anything but Gibson. I could have swore she had a nice Guild in her early years, but don't see it. I must be thinking of someone else...
 
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Taylor Martin Guild

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This depends on a couple of factors.
If you are playing acoustically, you will want the most volume that you can get out of your guitar.
If you are being mic'd or plugged in, almost any acoustic guitar will work.

That said, I play a Martin D-35 that I have owned for over 30 years.
When I'm playing in an acoustic jam, my D-35 doesn't keep up with the other instruments very well.
This is where the Martin HD -28 or older D-28 guitars shine.
They drive a powerful rhythm and break through the mix when used for lead picking. A Martin D-18 is another popular choice for Bluegrass leads.
I have used my Guild D-55 at these jams and it also isn't as powerful as I would like acoustically.
A newer D-40 or D-50 with an Adirondack top would be a much better choice.

So to answer the question can a Guild be a good Bluegrass guitar, the answer is yes.
Is it the best choice, only the player can answer that question.
 

txbumper57

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I don't know about earlier made models but I have 2 New Hartford D55's. One is Sitka Top and EIR and the other is Adirondack top with EIR back and sides but both have the Scalloped Adirondack Bracing in them. The Sitka model is plenty loud enough for even the rowdiest Acoustic Bluegrass Jams and the Adirondack topped model can make a banjo player go home crying if you want it to. The cool thing about both of them though is that they perform just as good at all volume levels of play. They excel from soft nuance styled playing up through Rhythm chords and then just explode with tone and volume when aggressively Flat Picked.

TX
 

Bill Ashton

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I am off to the next Kaufman Kamp in Tennessee on June 10...it seems to me, at least at this "Kamp Level," that there are a lot of (lower end) Martins but a lot of "square headstock" clones...hard to put the finger on a specific brand as there are so many custom/luthier guitars. Yeah, the professionals might play a vintage Martin, but there are a lot of others out there as well. Will agree that Guild is not seen (maybe during Old-Time-Week, and then an odd GAD-M20 or so).

My NH guitar is a sweetheart, but she is not a bluegrass-style guitar...she is adept at fingerstyle and flatpicking (to a point)...I kind of put the Martin D35 in this same class. Just no competition to a banjo or a mandolin...my Tacoma D-55 was in fact a banjo-killer...and she was a bear to play, not unlike my Collings :sentimental:

I had the delusion to call Oxnard and ask them to donate a guitar(s) to the camp scholarship fund, get their name out there. The new D40 would fit in just fine...

FYI, last year Steve Kaufman played a restored, vintage Martin archtop that he won his first Winfield's with, but has gone back to either his Collings OM or custom OM.
 
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