Guild Jumbos vs Gibson Jumbos. Tone differences?
I was wondering how well guilds compare to gibsons. There's not a place close by wher eI can try guilds :-(. The Guild JF30 looks really nice! I was wondering how well if can stack up to a gibby SJ.
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Guild vs Gibson jumbos
I have a Guild jumbo, with rosewood b&s, and have played quite a few of them, both in maple and rosewood over recent years and have never come across one that wasn't a fine guitar. Now, because it's a classic, I want to like the J200 and whenever I come across one in a shop I give it a try and they all sound kind of dead to me, which is how most Gibsons sound to me. Maybe it's my aging ears, maybe it's because I love Guilds. However as a plus for Gibson, there are few better musical sights than Emmylou with her J200!
tj |
The Guild will have a more chimey or resonant sound. The Gibson will have a dryer more woody sound. IF you get a rosewood backed GUild jumbo like a JF-50R, it will have more bass. Both will be punchy. THe Gibson will have a more bluesy, old timey sound to it. The Guild tone falls between that of Martin and Gibson. Martin will be the most resonant and lush of them all, full of overtones. THe Gibson will be the most fundmental. THey are all good, just different. Find out what sound you are after, and then try them out to see which is closest to that tone. Most of the fun is in the search.
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I have lusted after a J200 for years until I played a bad one at the local music store. No life to the sound at all.
Sidenote about a couple of Guild Rosewood Dreads, there were two at another local shop. Exactly the same guitar in everyway except serial number. One had the most incredible bass you have ever heard out of a guitar and the highs just resonated like the whole guitar was going to come unglued at any second. Really incredible tone. Played the other one and it sounded quite nice but not nearly as fat and bassy as the first one. If I were to pick one of them I'd have taken the second. Reason being the first one is that fat now once it opens up it's bound to be muddy sounding. Don't know if that helps with the OP's question but I found it interesting so I thought I'd share. |
The Guild JF30 is a maple back and sides jumbo and is, IMO a far superior sounding guitar to the J200.
I wanted to love the Gibson, mostly due to popularity and acclaim, however any that I've played have come up short compared to the Guilds that I have played or owned. And yes I'm sure there is bias here, but to my ears, Guilds sound like what I want a guitar to sound like. Guilds seem to be the red headed step child of guitars, with all apologies to red headed step children, but bang for the buck they're a fine sounding guitar! |
Which is the better jumbo guild? The GAD JF30 or the F50?
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The F50 better suited my tastes but if I were you and it's possible, I'd play as many of each model I could find and then make the decision on which one suits your expectation of tone.
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I have a '90 J-200 and a '70 F-50R Special and like them both. The Gibson is just back from some tweaking by Jim Foote at Music Works and it plays and sounds great now....even with the light guage strings that are currently on it. Since the Guild was made by Carlo Greco and has an Artist Award jazzer neck on it, it's really not fair to compare it to anything. I'd say the Gibson is slightly better for lower volume and fingerstyle work.
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