Which Would You? 2014 Guild Savoy 150A or Guild 2014 CE-100D

PittPastor

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Well you've got the right audience, here.
:biggrin-new:

I wish I had the time (and the eyes!) to read now like I used to. OSC was an interesting writer because even though he was Sci-Fi/Fantasy his stories were so much about the effects of family. I guess it is his Mormon background. Considering that so much of the stuff that was on the shelves (at the time) was about lone-wolf heroes, his stuff really stood out.

And, Ender's Game deserved a better movie, that's for sure...
 

adorshki

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I wish I had the time (and the eyes!) to read now like I used to. OSC was an interesting writer because even though he was Sci-Fi/Fantasy his stories were so much about the effects of family. I guess it is his Mormon background. Considering that so much of the stuff that was on the shelves (at the time) was about lone-wolf heroes, his stuff really stood out.

And, Ender's Game deserved a better movie, that's for sure...
Interesting.
Heinlein was pretty big on family environments, too.
I wonder if I had his typewriter or word processor I could write like him......
:biggrin-new:
 

Mr. Lumbergh

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I am still a bit on the fence. Hope to get to GC this weekend and at least try out the CE-100.

Most of the music I do is living room stuff, and for most of that all I need is an acoustic. The main purpose I have for the Savoy is to have a guitar that stands out in the mix of a Bass, an Electric Acoustic (Godin Multiac with steel strings) and a Electric Rhythm guitar -- which I think is a telecaster knockoff.)

When I amped my Guild D40C it just sort of got lost (at best) and muddied the mix at worst. Especially since I play bare-fingered. The Savoy has a unique sound, and I love that. Bringing it through the Archer IKON gives me all of the volume I need, and I can even dial in a little edge with the gain boost. I have no complaints with the Savoy. It's gorgeous, and is clear as a crystal bell.

That said, I've discovered that when I don't have all of the other guys playing, (especially when the electric rhythm guy isn't there) my Savoy seems a little thin by itself. In a perfect world, I'd just buy both. But I promised my wife I would stop with the collection for now. So, adding one means sacrificing one. The Savoy seems the best bet. My thinking is the CE-100D would be more versatile, and give me basically what the Savoy does when the full band is there, plus the ability to thicken the sound when some of the players are missing.

But I won't know that until I play it. From the specs, the neck, nut width, fret size and radius -- it all seems to be pretty much the same as the Savoy. Looks bigger in the bout and it is probably heavier (something I'm not looking forward to because the Savoy is pretty darn heavy compared to my D40C) But, I think playing it won't be much different. We'll see I guess.

Hey, a question for you since you have the Gretsch which is similar... when I get to GC and have a choice of amps to plug into, what would you choose? Also, the stock strings on the CE-100D are D'Addario EXL115 Nickel Wound, Mediums: 11-49. What do you put on your Gretsch?
I have a couple of Fender amps I always run, a Two-Tone and a Hot Rod Deluxe. The Two-Tone is a large-cabbed Blues Jr. with a 12" and 10" speaker in it. Smooooov bass because you don't have a single resonant peak to deal with, and none of the boxiness of the Jr. They were a limited run though.
I'd just snag a DR or Princeton to try it on.
 

JohnW63

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To veer with the Mark Knopfler stuff, I have a Strat like guitar. G&L Tribute , but I always fight the thing sounding thin. Maybe I should try darker electric strings. ( Is there such a thing ? ) Wonder what MARK uses !
 

PittPastor

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To veer with the Mark Knopfler stuff, I have a Strat like guitar. G&L Tribute , but I always fight the thing sounding thin. Maybe I should try darker electric strings. ( Is there such a thing ? ) Wonder what MARK uses !

Which year? Ha... Found this:

1980/81:
Fender Extra Lights
(09,011,015,024,032,040)

1982- ca. 1990:
Dean Markley Custom Light
(09,011,016,026,036,046)

1991-1996:
D'Addario XL 120 (09 - 42)
D'Addario J 15, bronze extra lights on the National guitar
D'Addario XL 115 W, 11s with wound third, on the Super 400 and on the red Pensa

1997:
010s instead of 009s on all electrics, except on Strats from the 60ies (009s)

Man the way some people treat MK as a demigod, I'd be surprised if someone, somewhere, doesn't have an amulet made out of his discarded strings!

My guess, though is it isn't the strings, its the rig.

Someone posted an interview with him from some Portuguese magazine in the 80s. This is what he (supposedly) said:

Mark Knopfler
As for guitars I use two Fender Stratocasters, one 1960 model, and the other a 1962 Telecaster;
As for amplifiers and effects: I use two Music Man 212-HD (130 watts each), an MXR Analog Delay, a Morley Pedal, a Yamaha Strobe PT4 Tuner and a Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor

Like I said upstream, I wish I could learn his phrasing. I play bare finger finger pick style, and I listen to MK on "What It Is" and think -- man I wish I had that dexterity! If I ever had time, I would love to sit down with a tab and try to get that. I just know it would open up other avenues for me. Some mental block I have in my head needs busted ...

BTW, if you haven't seen it, this is interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG__SwkV3wg

I think its there he talks about the reason he uses the Strat is the the strings are light enough he can get some chords with one finger, and that helps him move through his progressions faster.
 

PittPastor

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I'm Just Keeping my Savoy

I had the chance to get to GC and play the Capri over the weekend. I was pretty disappointed.

Now, some disclaimers: I'm not an electric guy. Fiddling with 2 pickups and 2 tone knobs, and a pickup switcher is a little daunting. Also, I have no idea how well the CE100D was set-up. Nor how old the strings were. So all of that may have influenced my experience.

But what I was hoping for was "Savoy plus" from the Capri. In other words, I wanted to be able to dial in a tone that was pretty darn close to the Savoy (because over all I really like it) but still have other places I could go for other songs.

What I found was a guitar with a lot of adjustments, but none that brought me a sound I was happy with. Forget matching the sound of the Savoy. I couldn't find anything I liked!

Of the amps I had to choose from (somewhat limited because other people were there, as well, playing and trying out guitars) I took the Fender Super Reverb 4x10 Tube Guitar Combo Amp. I started out with all effects off and all settings straight up the middle.

Impressions of the guitar: Felt a lot like the Savoy. If it's bigger in the bout, I couldn't tell (But I was playing seated). Strings didn't feel new. But they felt looser than the Savoy. That's not a bad thing, but I suspect that the Bigsby had something to do with the string feel. I played with the Bigsby some and hated the sound. I guess it has its place, but somehow I thought I would get something more like when I do a string bend on the fret. The sound I got instead was very rockabilly and different. I didn't like it for any kind of music that I do, so I just swung it out of the way and forgot it.

Other than the feel of the strings and the Bigsby, it was very similar in feel to the Savoy.

It's the sound that I couldn't get right. Simple finger pick and I heard the B-string twanging loud and proud, really messing up the sound. Hated it. It was like the quack I hate from a Piezo pickup -- except louder than all of the other strings. Weird. The high E sounded normal. But man the B string just stuck out -- in a bad way.

No problem, I thought. I can dial that twang away. And I fiddled for a long time trying just to get the strings to sound even when I picked or strummed, and it was no go. Oh, I could get the twang and forewardness resolved -- but then the B just disappeared.

The one thing I love about Guild is that even tone. But I could not get that no matter what I did. I was there for the better part of an hour. I changed the pickup setting -- tried the neck pickup, then the bridge pickup, then both. I tweaked the tone. I even went to the Amp and tried to EQ it there. Nothing really worked for me. Finally, I just gave up. I mean, it's not like I hate my Savoy. I kind of dig the Rhythm Chief sound. I liked it the first time I heard it. The Capri...? Not so much. I'm sure someone who really knew what they were doing could fix it. Maybe it just needs new strings and a setup. But I am not motivated enough to try any of that right now.

So for me, no sale.

I texted my friend as it was going on, and when I left and told him I was keeping the Savoy, he said: "Now you need to buy your Savoy some ice cream and make it up to her for almost trading her..."

Ummm. No. But I will put some new strings on it now!
 

matsickma

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The "acoustic" Savory is a class all its iwn. Spruce top, acoustic bracing...nothing like a CE100. The early CE100's with Franz pups is the guitar version of choice. The later Guild CE100's are another very different animal. Very thick wood, full size HB1 pickups. I couldn bond with the one I had years ago.

I picked up a used NS CE100 to be used a an experimental platform. The NS version does mimuc the thin wood construction of the original midel. The Guildsby was no a typical feature of a CE100 so it can stay or go based on your preference.

I think this guitar platform will work well with Dearmond single coils or full size HB-1 humbuckers. If planning to use at higher volumes I would insert a block of wood or large diameter dowel under the bridge to suppress low freq howel feedback.

Not sure when I will get around to my experiment but hopefully in the next few months.
M
 

bobouz

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In my mind, the Savoy is strictly a two-trick pony.

Acoustically, it has it's own distinct sound that I find quite appealing, depending on my mood at the moment. It's very reminiscent of a 1930's Gibson-made Wards I had, with a carved solid-spruce top & similarly archtop-rare X-bracing.

Plugged in, the single-coil tone of the DeArmond is a unique thing of beauty. If that happens to be a sound you're after, it would be difficult to replicate it elsewhere. Sometimes all the amp & knob tweaking in the world just won't get you there!
 

PittPastor

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In my mind, the Savoy is strictly a two-trick pony.

Acoustically, it has it's own distinct sound that I find quite appealing, depending on my mood at the moment. It's very reminiscent of a 1930's Gibson-made Wards I had, with a carved solid-spruce top & similarly archtop-rare X-bracing.

Plugged in, the single-coil tone of the DeArmond is a unique thing of beauty. If that happens to be a sound you're after, it would be difficult to replicate it elsewhere. Sometimes all the amp & knob tweaking in the world just won't get you there!

Yep, this sums up my final thoughts almost exactly!

The only issue I am having is that it is a bit of a feedback beast. Now our practice setup is really bad.

I put the speakers in the church up before I knew anything about sound, and there are some mistakes. For one thing we have a 30' x 30' room with the EV ELX200 1200 watt 10" powered speakers in each corner. Way too much for the room, but we were trying to buy for the next room we hope to move to one day. The Left channel is actually the front 2 speakers and the right channel is the back 2. (There was a reason I set it up that way in the beginning -- it is not a good reason. But there was a reason. I wanted to be able to have sound effects coming from behind the people sometimes in a sermon. I'm a weird preacher...)

Anyway, the main problem is because we are surrounded by speakers there is no way to point the instruments away from the speakers. It works fine 90% of the time, because we usually play backing tracks instead of having a live band. When we do have live music, it is usually a guitar player and backing tracks. But when we get the full band there... look out.

I was watching a video with Mark Farner, the lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, and he said that with his famous messenger guitar (an thin hollow body electric, with F-holes) he had to stuff things in the soundhole and duct tape the F-holes to keep it from feeding back. Of course, that was wired for a buzz, but I think the struggle is real with these hollow bodies. I am nowhere near amped all of the way up, and I have to stay alert or it can easily go into feedback mode.

Wish there were an easy fix for that.

Playing alone, no trouble at all.
 

Nuuska

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. . . For one thing we have a 30' x 30' room with the EV ELX200 1200 watt 10" powered speakers in each corner. Way too much for the room, but we were trying to buy for the next room we hope to move to one day. . ..


Hello

There is no such thing as too big sound system - as long they physically fit. Think of it like car engine. Bigger gives you more headroom to play before it limits or distorts - naturally if you put the pedal to the metal all the time, then you are asking for trouble. Turn the balance pot of guitar channel completely to front speakers - that way the sound to audience comes from where they see the guitar and you are. Also your fatherly body will shade the guitar some from the sound waves emitting from beeehind. ( Not yours . . .)

And in a room that small simply turn it down - if others blast - tell them to behave. Or else !!!

Also cut the low end of guitar channel some - maybe even a lot - when mixing multiple instruments together, the best mix sound very seldom is the sum of perfect individual sounds. All instruments must have a spectral space - some a bit brighter, some darker, some with a little mid boost - separately on their own they may not sound that stellar, but when they all play together, the mix will be very pleasing.

Think of food consisting of different ingredients put together and baked in oven. Together they taste way better than separated.
 

adorshki

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Hello

There is no such thing as too big sound system - as long they physically fit. Think of it like car engine. Bigger gives you more headroom to play before it limits or distorts - naturally if you put the pedal to the metal all the time, then you are asking for trouble. Turn the balance pot of guitar channel completely to front speakers - that way the sound to audience comes from where they see the guitar and you are.
Nuuska, I think what he's describing is speakers in corners facing into the room, not 2 in front and 2 in back both facing forward (the audience).

PittPastor;1818134.... but I think the struggle is real with these hollow bodies......The[B said:
Left channel is actually the front 2 speakers [/B]and the right channel is the back 2. I am nowhere near amped all of the way up, and I have to stay alert or it can easily go into feedback mode.
Wish there were an easy fix for that.

"Left channel get thee behind me"
:friendly_wink:
 
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Nuuska

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Nuuska, I think what he's describing is speakers in corners facing into the room, not 2 in front and 2 in back both facing forward (the audience).



"Left channel get thee behind me"
:friendly_wink:


Hi

That´s exactly how I see it - all 4 speakers facing the crowd - so the rear speakers are also facing the band. And in such small room there is no real need for rear speakers anyway except for effect purposes or playback of surround sound.

In a looong room you do need extra speakers - but they are not placed behind the audience - but somewhere halfway down the room - then delayed for arrival time alignment - and finally volume adjusted so, that they are not too loud - to preserve the illusion of all sound coming from front.
 

PittPastor

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Hello
There is no such thing as too big sound system - as long they physically fit.

Spoken like a sound guy...

Also your fatherly body will shade the guitar some from the sound waves emitting from beeehind. ( Not yours . . .)

My fatherly body is why I got speakers for the back!

And in a room that small simply turn it down - if others blast - tell them to behave. Or else !!!

Yes. And this is my real problem. We don't really have one sound guy. We have a bunch of guitar guys who keep saying: "I can't hear my guitar! Turn me up." This is one of the challenges...

But the stuff you say is good advice. I will see what of it I can implement. Thanks!

Hi
That´s exactly how I see it - all 4 speakers facing the crowd - so the rear speakers are also facing the band. And in such small room there is no real need for rear speakers anyway except for effect purposes or playback of surround sound.

Yes. Right. I could turn them off probably, and not miss them. Certainly not in the band. It's sort of nice for the sermon, because I can speak almost in a whisper and everyone still hears me.

"Left channel get thee behind me"
:friendly_wink:
Ha! Too funny!
 

adorshki

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Hi

That´s exactly how I see it - all 4 speakers facing the crowd - so the rear speakers are also facing the band.
Ahh, ok, now I think I get it. I think what you were calling the "rear speakers" (behind the audience) I was thinking of as "front" speakers, ie, in front of the band from their stage perspective.
If I'm "backwards" to accepted usage then I defer to you since I'm no "soundman".
But I pictured the band as also being inside the corners just like the audience, so all of the speakers would technically be "facing" them.

I did think the speakers facing the band (from the "rear" of the room) would present a greater threat of feedback even if farther away, but I suppose there could be a point where the speakers "behind" the band would be a threat too.
In fact, now that I think about it, yes, that's a known source of feedback from the the microphones.
I was thinking about the sound coming into the F-holes from the "forward-facing" guitar.
 
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GuildFS4612CE

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If the speakers being described are in the 4 exterior corners of the room...i.e. facing each other diagonally across the room...or even directly at each other front to back...maybe on the same level...everything is in the line of fire...about now Nuuska must be laughing hysterically...there is a reason why speakers are placed in front of the band facing away from mics.

Surround sound is an art...my uncle invented it for use in theatres in the 1940's...it can be done.

As far as guitarists not being able to hear themselves...of course in a mix thru the main speakers you're not going to hear YOUR guitar standing out...unless you're really obnoxious...are you using monitors? Floor? In ear? small monitors on mic stands? Almost always, making it louder when you can't hear it is not the answer.

Don't worry, we're laughing with you not at you...:highly_amused::listening_headphone:peaceful:
 

PittPastor

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Don't worry, we're laughing with you not at you...:highly_amused::listening_headphone:peaceful:

Ha! If I were worried about being laughed at, I wouldn't have mentioned my Frankenstein setup to begin with. And it is going to be changed. Eventually. Right now, we think that we will be moving into a new building in a couple of months, so I have short-timer's disease where we are. Setup was brutal. We ran cable through a wall, pulled it up between drywalls, removed ceiling tiles... yeah, fixing it now would be quite a mess. So we're trying to live with it until the lease runs out.

The new building will be done right!

Meanwhile, this Saturday, weather permitting, is our annual outdoor concert -- which is what we're practicing for right now. And happily, the sound system there will be normal.

As for what monitors we use -- not much. 30' x 30' is kinda small for 5 monitors to be useful. I bought a Rolls In-Ear monitor system (wired) but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

I also recently bought a Mesa Rosette 300 -- which is what I will be using as my monitor this Saturday. I have to say, that is a really terrific Acoustic amp! It's pricey, but I'm loving the sound. There are a couple of things about it that are sort of odd -- the way it is laid out. But as far as amping an acoustic, I have never heard anything do a cleaner job. IMHO.
 
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