Got a new Guild Gad-30 yesterday

[winny pooh]

After years of pining I got my first nice acoustic. I can't scrape the cash for any really pricey guitars but got a really great hand-built guitar immaculately made for a modest price. Its amazing what Chinese labour is capable of nowadays and the details match any fine handcrafted guitar
Flame maple binding, flame maple heel cap, solid woods throughout, solid mahogany neck w no scarf joint, vintage style open Grovers, ebony bridge pins/end-pin and bone nut & saddle.
Me is veery happy

[brgminicooper]

Congrats! How's it play?

[winny pooh]

Pretty good, it has a wider than standard neck which is not specifically my thing but comfy nonetheless...

[brgminicooper]

Originally Posted by winny pooh

Pretty good, it has a wider than standard neck which is not specifically my thing but comfy nonetheless...

How wide is it? That feature is one of the things that attracted me to my Seagull. At 1.8", it's fairly wide.

[dremag]

I bought the same Guild GAD-30 guitar (antique burst) about 1 1/2 year ago. Still love it! Its my number 1 acoustic. I liked the tone better than pretty much every other O style guitar I played at even twice the price, including the other GAD-30 finishes. I describe it as dark and boxy, which I like. Agreeed, the craftmanship on it is top notch. Really surprised at the attention to detail. Lately Ive been putting elixir string on it and I think the combo is great. If you havent tried it, give it whirl, its worth it!

[Tele295]

I've played some of those GAD30's that are really nice. If they made one with a pickup and cutaway, I think Guild would have a real contender for the Taylor 214-type market.

[KevinB]

Originally Posted by Tele295

I've played some of those GAD30's that are really nice. If they made one with a pickup and cutaway, I think Guild would have a real contender for the Taylor 214-type market.

That would be the Guild GAD-30PCE with its Fishman Matrix under saddle pickup.

[myk2e]

Nice, I have on in layaway right now. $300 away from bringing her home. It sat at the store for years just being ignored. I loved it from the day I played it but couldn't justify another acoustic. I finally bit the bullet in June and slapped some cash down on it. I'm excited to finally get it out.

Except now my brother is begging to buy my Alvarez everytime I see him

[Bill Ashton]

I got a GAD30PCE about two weeks ago, when she just spoke to me in the store...

There is something about the combination of the spruce top/padauk back and sides that really make for a guitar that is "up front." I tried the 12-fret non-cutaway version and the sound was just the same.

The electrics are Fishman Matrix 1, which I think is discontinued by them, but sounds excellent.

Fit and finish are near perfect, though I think there is a little bit of glue seepage on the neck joint, but it is on the cutaway side so I can't see it!

I have jammed recently with several guys for whom money is no object, Taylors, Lowdens and R Taylors in the house...and this little girl held her own or more against all shooters excepting a Taylor 716, which is a bigger body guitar.

As much as we will commiserate about the Chinese manufacture of an old USA name, the GAD guitars are one of the best bang-for-the-bucks out there.

About a week after this I also got a Guild D55, which is quite a different animal; what I did not have the ability to do was to compare this to the closest GAD version.

I wish that sunburst was available on the ones I tried Winney, that is quite stunning.

Oh, the neck width is 1 3/4" by the way...

Just one caution, be careful on eBay, there is a ton of non-warranted stuff being sold as "new" or blemished-new...some are great buys , but others need expensive work. Might be best to use your local dealer...

[RomanS]

Another GAD30 user here - I've got the version with pickup, but no cutaway, and with mahogany sides and back; love the wide 1-3/4" neck, feels great. Got mine off Ebay for half the new price, the previous owner is a reviewer for the largest German guitar magazine and did a review of precisely the guitar I got (and it was a very favourable review...)