Guild is unquestionably one of
the
great American guitar builders. But
without the benefit of Martin and Gibson’s
histories, Guild—which will turn 60 next
year—has sometimes played the role of renegade
as well as institution. Guild’s superb,
beautifully built, and relatively affordable
acoustics have been the choice of legends
like Nick Drake and Paul Simon. And
Guild electrics—like the Starfire 6-string
and bass, and the X Series archtops—were
some of the finest guitars of the electric guitar’s
first golden age. Guild also took risks,
though, and electrics like the Polara and
Thunderbird have the distinction of at once
being some of the oddest and best-playing
solidbodies of the ’60s.
Given its status as both overachiever and
underdog over the years, it’s not surprising
that Guild is something of a vagabond among
American guitar companies, too. Since Guild
was founded in New York City in 1952 (they’ve
been owned by Fender since 1995), the company
has called six cities—including Westerly,
Rhode Island, Hoboken, New Jersey, and
Tacoma, Washington—home. In 2009, Guild
relocated yet again, this time to share factory
space with recent Fender acquisitions Ovation
and Hamer in New Hartford, Connecticut.
And if the D-50 Standard reviewed here is
any indication, the move has done nothing to
diminish Guild’s ability to build great-playing,
beautiful-sounding acoustics.
Elegant Simplicity
The D-50 Standard is one of two dreadnoughts
in Guild’s Standard series—a line
of New Hartford-built guitars the company
introduced as more affordable alternatives
to the more feature-laden Traditional series
guitars. As such, it lacks a lot of the fancier
appointments, like the Chesterfield inlay, that
tend to scream “Guild” from afar. Up close,
however, this guitar is one classy and handsome
marriage of wood and wire.
The solid, lacquer-finished Sitka spruce top
is beautiful—tight grained and light in hue,
but with a faint quilting pattern that lends a
subtle visual depth that’s likely to get more
pronounced as the finish ambers with age.
The solid Indian rosewood back and sides are
more brownish than some specimens I’ve seen.
The satin-finished, two-piece neck also has a
cocoa tint that complements the guitar’s low-key
visual vibe. Apart from its top and back
binding, the D-50 Standard is virtually free of
ornamentation—only a mother-of-pearl logo
inlay atop the trademark, art deco-inspired
headstock hint at its brand identity.
A No-Frills Cannon
If the sedate styling of the D-50 doesn’t successfully
convey the notion that it’s a player’s
guitar, one strum of a first-position E chord
puts any doubt to rest. In fact, you get the
sense that Guild left this guitar so unadorned
because it’s going to take a licking anyway.
This is a guitar that begs to be played hard
and with authority.
The original D-50 (as well as the D-50’s
more expensive brother in the current
Traditional line) was dubbed the Bluegrass
Special. So it’s not the least bit surprising
that this guitar sounds so good when
you dig in with a big, heavy flatpick.
Country-blues hybrid picking in the first
position suited the D-50’s husky tonal
signature, and its capacity for sustain kept
open strings ringing and hanging like
shimmering ornaments on the simplest
chords.
Placing a capo at the third fret and having
a go at old folk/bluegrass standards like
“Pretty Polly” and “Shady Grove” revealed
another dimension to the Guild’s burly voice,
where more controlled sustain gave way to a
pronounced bark that lent definition to flatpicked
runs and arpeggios.
With capo or without, the D-50 loves
to be strummed hard. It’s hard to imagine a
guitar that could overpower this Guild in a
jam circle, and it’s a guitar with a remarkable
amount of headroom—attacking the D-50
with Towshendian abandon may blur some
of the high-mid harmonic content a little,
but it’s essentially impossible to overdrive this
guitar. Got a rock band where you can’t carve
out any room in the mix? The D-50 might be
your blue-steel .44 Magnum, Howitzer, and
Gatling gun all in one.
Open tunings are predictably huge sounding
on the D-50. Open G and a brass slide
summoned a dry, raspy holler that sounded
fantastic against almost eternally droning and
ringing open strings. Flatpicking and hybrid-picking
workouts in DADGAD also revealed
the D-50’s penchant for ringing overtones
and a punch that suited heavy pull-offs and
deep bends—perfect for stabs at Bert Jansch’s
“Blackwaterside” and “Jack Orion.”
If the D-50 has any drawbacks, it’s the
horsepower it takes to really get this guitar
vibrating in fingerstyle situations. Thumbpick
users will likely be able to generate enough
attack, but fingerstylists who rely on a thumbnail
or bare flesh may find the D-50’s sweet
spots a little less accessible.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, the D-50 Standard
is really a flatpick user’s game. It’s ideal for
heavy-strumming roots and country players,
balladeers, bluegrass pickers, and blues
players who don’t mind putting a little brio
in their approach. While it’s not ideally
suited to fingerstylists, players with a heavier
attack or thumbpick-based technique will
be rewarded by the harmonic and overtone
capacity of the big rosewood-and-spruce
body. The D-50 is also brimming with the
understated, simple sense of luxury and craft
that typifies most Guilds. This is a cannon
that’s built to bellow, bark, and take a beating
for decades down the road. And it sends
a strong message that Guild will continue
to make first-class acoustics, no matter what
town it calls home.
Buy if...
burly, beastly acoustic tones and
a strong, aggressive flatpicking
attack are your cup of tea.
Skip if...
tender, late-night fingerstyle meditations
are your stylistic foundation.
Rating...
