Jumbo sounds resound in a flattop that's a straight-up steal.
Excellent value. Great quality for the price. Super playable. Unique tone profile.
Midrange can sound brash.
$399
Guild F-240E
guildguitars.com
Everyone should try playing a jumbo-bodied acoustic at some point. Though unless you live somewhere with a well-stocked guitar shop, it's not always the easiest thing to do. Compared to dreadnoughts and orchestra-sized models, jumbos make up just a small fraction of the acoustic market. But playing a good one is an extraordinary experience. They are viscerally vibrating things—loud, powerful, and pianistic for all their sustain and panoramic tone spectrum.
While they didn't build the first jumbos, Guild is a giant in this narrow field. The company launched their F-50 in the mid 1950s, and the basic body style has been a fixture ever since, becoming a platform for rosewood- and maple-backed incarnations as well as a number of 12-string versions, which are an absolutely essential acoustic guitar playing experience.
The F-240E is Guild's newest addition to their jumbo family. And as a member of the company's affordable Newark St. line, it's Guild's most affordable jumbo. At $399 and with Fishman-designed electronics, it is as fine an acoustic bargain as you'll find. But the F-240E provides much more than the generic entry-level acoustic experience you often encounter in that price class. It offers a truly different sound picture and tone profile that, depending on your comfort with the big body, can unlock inspiration and dormant approaches to acoustic playing. It also upsets the notion about jumbos being exclusively strummers. The F-240E is a beautifully responsive fingerstyle instrument, as well.
Arched and Feathery Light
Many Guilds—particularly from the '60s and '70s—are pretty heavy guitars (remarkably, at no detriment to their tone, which can be massive). The F-240E suffers no such afflictions. It's light for its size and very well balanced. And while players of small stature will probably find the body to be an armful, the satin finish makes it a pleasure to hold.
While a lot of old Guild jumbos were top-of-the-line instruments and dressed-up accordingly with acres of inlay, the F-240E is comparatively austere and flattered by the minimalist design. Like any jumbo, the F-240E is a beautifully curvaceous instrument, and those lines are, in fact, accentuated by a lack of adornment.
Construction quality is excellent for a guitar in this price range. There are a few details that could use a bit more attention: some fret ends, for instance, felt like they could have used another quick pass from the file. But for the most part, this Guild exhibits the kind of build quality that you see in instruments much further up the affordable- to mid-price food chain. One notable deviation from flattop convention that is typical of many Guilds is the laminated arched back. Many luthiers swear by the structural integrity of this approach, but it's not hard to imagine that has more than a little to do with the F-240E's lively personality.
The F-240E is comparatively austere and flattered by the minimalist design.
A Baby Baby Grand?
It would be an exaggeration to equate the F-240E's output or tone complexity with that of a grand piano. Nevertheless, the Guild's big body does impart many piano-like dynamics and sonorities that can shape and inform your playing style. The guitar's 6th-string notes, for instance, could certainly be more rich or characterful, but the big body and expansive spruce top lend them a lovely sustaining quality that is a beautiful counterpoint to the clear, bell-like top-end. It makes a very pretty combination of sounds in spacious fingerstyle arrangements.
If there's a downside to the F-240E's tone profile, it's a very present midrange that can sound strident against the more gently resonant high and low strings. This affect is exaggerated in aggressive strumming situations—a playing style that many aspiring Pete Townshends associate with jumbo bodies. Some players may end up perplexed by this essential paradox in the F-240E: a born strummer that arguably sounds finest with a light touch. But these are highly subjective assessments, and if you fear midrange less than me, you may find the Guild's big strumming voice exciting. Certainly, it can sound massive in recording situations. And with a little compression and EQ, you can create a mighty wall of chugging rhythm with the F-240E.
The Verdict
There's a slightly giddy thrill that goes along with playing an inexpensive instrument that sounds great. And while there are certainly affordable flattops that sound as "good" as the F-240E by one measure or another, few have a character quite this distinct. As with any affordable guitar, there are limitations. I'd love to hear more bloom and complexity in the low end and less dryness in the midrange. But the sensation of feeling bass notes resonate against your ribs, and the expansive piano-like contrasts of the high notes and droning bass notes, could guide you to entirely new approaches to songcraft. And if $399 is all you have to pay to add a few extra tunes to your catalog and some extra musical verbiage to your vocabulary, how can you go wrong?
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Lutefish, the real-time music collaboration device and platform, is excited to announce a suite of new features designed to simplify setup, streamline collaboration, and offer more flexible subscription options for Lutefish Stream users. These latest updates, Audio Presets, Automatic Session Recall, Improved Scheduling with Contact Visibility, and a new Yearly Subscription Plan, are all about making it easier than ever for musicians to jam together, no matter where they’re based.
Save Time and Stay in the Flow with Audio Presets & Session Recall
Musicians can now save and reuse their exact audio settings, reducing setup time and ensuring every session sounds exactly as they want.
- Automatic Session Recall: When users leave a session, their current audio levels are automatically saved and restored when they rejoin.
- User-Defined Audio Presets: Each user can create and name up to five custom presets, like “Band Practice,” “Studio Mic Setup,” or “Quick Jam,” making it effortless to jump back in with the perfect sound.
“These tools are all about saving time and hassle,” said Patrick Finn, Business Manager at Lutefish. “Musicians want to make music, not spend time rebalancing levels every session. With presets and recall, we’re giving them time back and helping them sound their best, every time.”
Smarter Scheduling and Contact Visibility
The latest update to Lutefish also made it easier to find collaborators and book sessions. Users can now:- View all their contacts at a glance when scheduling a session.
- Instantly identify which contacts own a Lutefish Stream device—so they will always know who’s ready to jam.
Go Yearly and Save 20%
Lutefish now offers a Yearly Subscription Plan, providing users with the same great access as the monthly plan at a 20% discount.
This option is now available within the Lutefish app and web platform, and current monthly users are eligible for a discount with an upgrade to a yearly subscription.
Lutefish’s mission has always been to empower musicians to connect and collaborate without boundaries. With these new updates, Lutefish Stream continues to break down barriers—whether you’re jamming with a friend across town or collaborating with a bandmate 500 miles away.
For more information and to start jamming today, visitlutefish.com.
The veteran Florida-born metalcore outfit proves that you don’t need humbuckers to pull off high gain.
Last August, metalcore giants Poison the Well gave the world a gift: They announced they were working on their first studio album in 15 years. They unleashed the first taste, single “Trembling Level,” back in January, and set off on a spring North American tour during which they played their debut record, The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation, in full every night.
PG’s Perry Bean caught up with guitarists Ryan Primack and Vadim Taver, and bassist Noah Harmon, ahead of the band’s show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl for this new Rig Rundown.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Not-So-Quiet As a Mouse
Primack started his playing career on Telecasters, then switched to Les Pauls, but when his prized LPs were stolen, he jumped back to Teles, and now owns nine of them.
His No. 1 is this white one (left). Seymour Duncan made him a JB Model pickup in a single-coil size for the bridge position, while the neck is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Staggered. He ripped out all the electronics, added a Gibson-style toggle switch, flipped the control plate orientation thanks to an obsession with Danny Gatton, and included just one steel knob to control tone. Primack also installed string trees with foam to control extra noise.
This one has Ernie Ball Papa Het’s Hardwired strings, .011–.050.
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Primack runs both a PRS Archon and a Bad Cat Lynx at the same time, covering both 6L6 and EL34 territories. The Lynx goes into a Friedman 4x12 cab that’s been rebadged in honor of its nickname, “Donkey,” while the Archon, which is like a “refined 5150,” runs through an Orange 4x12.
Ryan Primack’s Pedalboard
Primack’s board sports a Saturnworks True Bypass Multi Looper, plus two Saturnworks boost pedals. The rest includes a Boss TU-3w, DOD Bifet Boost 410, Caroline Electronics Hawaiian Pizza, Fortin ZUUL +, MXR Phase 100, JHS Series 3 Tremolo, Boss DM-2w, DOD Rubberneck, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Walrus Slo, and SolidGoldFX Surf Rider III.
Taver’s Teles
Vadim Taver’s go-to is this cherryburst Fender Telecaster, which he scored in the early 2000s and has been upgraded to Seymour Duncan pickups on Primack’s recommendation. His white Balaguer T-style has been treated to the same upgrade. The Balaguer is tuned to drop C, and the Fender stays in D standard. Both have D’Addario strings, with a slightly heavier gauge on the Balaguer.
Dual-Channel Chugger
Taver loves his 2-channel Orange Rockerverb 100s, one of which lives in a case made right in Nashville.
Vadim Taver’s Pedalboard
Taver’s board includes an MXR Joshua, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Empress Tremolo, Walrus ARP-87, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector, MXR Phase 90, Boss CE-2w, and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200, all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Big Duff
Harmon’s favorite these days is this Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass, which he’s outfitted with a Leo Quan Badass bridge. His backup is a Mexico-made Fender Classic Series ’70s Jazz Bass. This one also sports Primack-picked pickups.
Rental Rockers
Harmon rented this Orange AD200B MK III head, which runs through a 1x15 cab on top and a 4x10 on the bottom.
Noah Harmon’s Pedalboard
Harmon’s board carries a Boss TU-2, Boss ODB-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Darkglass Electronics Vintage Ultra, and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. His signal from the Vintage Ultra runs right to the front-of-house, and Harmon estimates that that signal accounts for about half of what people hear on any given night.
Kiesel Guitars has introduced their newest solid body electric guitar: the Kyber.
With its modern performance specs and competitive pricing, the Kyber is Kiesel's most forward-thinking design yet, engineered for comfort, quick playing, and precision with every note.
Introducing the Kiesel Kyber Guitar
- Engineered with a lightweight body to reduce fatigue during long performances without sacrificing tone. Six-string Kybers, configured with the standard woods and a fixed bridge, weigh in at 6 pounds or under on average
- Unique shape made for ergonomic comfort in any playing position and enhanced classical position
- The Kyber features Kiesel's most extreme arm contour and a uniquely shaped body that enhances classical position support while still excelling in standard position.
- The new minimalist yet aggressive headstock pairs perfectly with the body's sleek lines, giving the Kyber a balanced, modern silhouette.
- Hidden strap buttons mounted on rear for excellent balance while giving a clean, ultra-modern look to the front
- Lower horn cutaway design for maximum access to the upper frets
- Sculpted neck heel for seamless playing
- Available in 6 or 7 strings, fixed or tremolo in both standard and multiscale configurations Choose between fixed bridges, tremolos, or multiscale configurations for your perfect setup.
Pricing for the Kyber starts at $1599 and will vary depending on options and features. Learn more about Kiesel’s new Kyber model at kieselguitars.com
The Sunset is a fully analog, zero latency bass amplifier simulator. It features a ¼” input, XLR and ¼” outputs, gain and volume controls and extensive equalization. It’s intended to replace your bass amp both live and in the studio.
If you need a full sounding amp simulator with a lot of EQ, the Sunset is for you. It features a five band equalizer with Treble, Bass, Parametric Midrange (with frequency and level controls), Resonance (for ultra lows), and Presence (for ultra highs). All are carefully tuned for bass guitar. But don’t let that hold you back if you’re a keyboard player. Pianos and synthesizers sound great with the Sunset!
The Sunset includes Gain and master Volume controls which allow you to add compression and classic tube amp growl. It has both ¼” phone and balanced XLR outputs - which lets you use it as a high quality active direct box. Finally, the Sunset features zero latency all analog circuitry – important for the instrument most responsible for the band’s groove.
Introducing the Sunset Bass Amp Simulator
- Zero Latency bass amp simulator.
- Go direct into the PA or DAW.
- Five Band EQ:
- Treble and Bass controls.
- Parametric midrange with level and frequency controls.
- Presence control for extreme highs.
- Resonance control for extreme lows.
- Gain control to add compression and harmonics.
- Master Volume.
- XLR and 1/4" outputs.
- Full bypass.
- 9VDC, 200mA.
Artwork by Aaron Cheney
MAP price: $210 USD ($299 CAD).