Guild D-240E, F2412-E and M240-E

TG
doesn’t want to sound like that old
know-it-all everyone avoids down
your local, but it has to be said – you young
acoustic players have never had it so good!
And in truth, we can all benefit from the
efforts big boys Martin and Taylor have
made towards wooing players on more
humble budgets with affordable gig-ready
designs. American brand Guild has its own
pedigree – the company has been making
electric and acoustic guitars for over 60
years now, and so it makes sense that it
would want a piece of the action, especially
as Guild’s story heads into a new chapter.
Under Fender ownership since 1995, Guild
was bought by nylon-string specialist
Cordoba Music Group in 2014. The
Westerly Collection is part of this new era.
Replacing the GAD series (Guild Acoustic
Designs) that revived the company’s iconic
designs in the early 2000s, the Archback
models here represent some of the most
affordable options in the range. California
designed, Chinese made; tops are solid,
sides laminated with a subtly bowled back
design that, in addition to lighter weight due
to not needing the added support of back
braces, Guild claims to allow for ‘great
volume and projection, long sustain, and a
lush, full sound.’ Sounds inviting, doesn’t it?
GUILD WESTERLY COLLECTION
ROuNd-uP
86 summer 2016
The
smaller-bodied acoustic
has seen a resurgence
in recent years, and when we sit
down with this concert shape, there’s
an instant intimacy to the playing
experience due to the body’s closeness
to your own. This kind of experience
shouldn’t be overlooked because for
some it will provide the vital connection
that will make them reconsider their
default taste for the larger dreadnoughts
and keep them coming back for just one
more strum. The M240 certainly has
that effect on us.
The look is clean and classic; the
right side of minimal to be timeless with
Guild’s open-gear tuners bringing a
vintage touch. There’s no disappointing
surprises as we play either – this is a
guitar with a midrange punch that’s
boxy in all the right ways and a real
flatpicking bluegrassers delight.
Fingerpicked notes are defined with
a sustain that suggests the Archback
design really does make a difference.
The medium action here certainly
doesn’t get in the way of that, and in
truth we’d prefer a lower action out of
the box but it does encourage us to tune
down for some DADGAD.
In all the excitement of playing it’s
easy to forget this is also an electro. The
M240-E doesn’t exactly scream out the
‘E’ part of it’s name. And that’s a good
thing because the subtle controls inside
the soundhole for Guild’s own AP-1
piezo system don’t get in the way of the
guitar’s acoustic aesthetic. Powered by
an active nine-volt battery, the bass and
volume controls are simple but player-
friendly, and you’ll really want that
bass to retain the low end presence to
balance this model’s sound. Though we
find this guitar’s AP1 ends up providing
us with the most typical piezo ‘quack’
of the three, dialling some judicious EQ
at the desk or preamp pedal can help
address this.
Guild M240-E
£359
Plucky performance from a diminutive body
Guild has been
making guitars for
over 60 years now
TGR283.gear_round.indd 86 7/14/16 3:07 PM