Guild M20

[Charlieb]

Anyone have or played the M20? Been looking around at new and used. Really wished Eastman was interested in a bluesier sounding acoustic ie all mahogany but according to my emails with Eastman it's not gonna happen now or no time in the future. So moving on the M20 looks interesting.





and Williams M20 just really sounds so nice to me...

[Guzzi Fan]

Very nice tones in the video, Charlie!

Before I watched the video, I was going to offer the Martin 000 15m as an alternative, if you weren't able to locate an M20.  After watching the video, I think I prefer the M20 tones over that of a 00015m.   I had a 00015m for about 18 months and really liked it, but I couldn't get along with the 1 11/16 nut width, in combination with the Modern Low Oval neck, so I sold it.  

If Eastman were to start production of an all hog guitar again, I will certainly be interested.

Good luck in your search!

Rod

[Mitch]

I love all hog Guitars! Like Rod I had an 000-15m and had troubles with the neck and nut width. Sold it as well.

Never played a gloss all hog Guitar, wonder how that would sound. Local shop has a Guild M25e on stock. California burst. Difference to the M20? The gloss and?





Saw Williams live in Zürich this May. Great performance!

[Charlieb]

Very nice tones in the video, Charlie!

Before I watched the video, I was going to offer the Martin 000 15m as an alternative, if you weren't able to locate an M20.  After watching the video, I think I prefer the M20 tones over that of a 00015m.   I had a 00015m for about 18 months and really liked it, but I couldn't get along with the 1 11/16 nut width, in combination with the Modern Low Oval neck, so I sold it.  

If Eastman were to start production of an all hog guitar again, I will certainly be interested.

Good luck in your search!

Rod

Looks like Eastman has no intention of ever building an all mahogany. I emailed them inquiring about the 00M and was told because of certain issues they were no longer building the 00M....

and having too much of an inquiring mind I emailed them again and asked if Eastman had any future plans to build any all mahogany acoustics...I received a reply about a week later that just came off sort of snooty to me as they simply said NO! or in other words just shut up and quite asking us about all mahogany builds....

so I will shut up and get another small body all mahogany build brand as was my interest in the M20...I'm still researching and thinking on one.

[Hanns]

It's too bad they aren't interested. It seems like a pretty basic gap in their lineup to me. I was looking at those Guilds as well - not that a new guitar is in the budget right now lol. But they'd certainly be on the short list if it were.

[onepatrick]

Beware the Guild M20. It's often referred to as the "Nick Drake" guitar, but that is because it shows in a famous photo of Nick, not because he played it much, because he did not. Most M20s have a very dull tone with minimal overtones; slow attack, fast decay. They're low volume as well. They do not compete with the complex tones of the human voice, as many "better" guitars do and are appreciated as singers' guitars. People call any mahogany or ladder braced guitar a "blues" guitar, because they are cheap, punchy, and have a dark, thumpy tone. I consider this identification to be a thoughtless and simplistic miscasting of the blues, but it's a widespread view. To be fair, one of the most beautiful sounding guitars I have ever played was an all mahogany Martin with bar frets -- I'm guessing it was prewar 00-15 or something similar. It was lively and just gorgeous, completely different from what anyone would expect. So there are winners that are all-mahogany. Most are more ordinary, which is how they were situated in their makers' product lines. I would be even more wary of a new "mahogany" guitar as it could be made of any of a number of so-called "mahoganies," with almost never even approximate the look, structure, and acoustic quality of great old mahogany.

[Charlieb]

in no hurry for anything, one day maybe i'll visit a shop that has a nice brand inventory that may help in finding the tone i'm after and never heard of the drake guy before but whatever anyone plays or has played is irrelevant to my modest attempts...try and buy vs buy and try

[Pura Vida]

All Mahogany guitars can take quite a while to break in, due to the hard wood top.  Bracing definitely plays a factor, as well.  The Martin 15 models are generally well received, and the 000-15M / 000-15SM are models that I've seriously considered.  I haven't played the Guild model mentioned here, but would be willing to give it a try, if I came across one.

I owned a couple of all-Mahogany dreads, and one of them was a tank.  I kept it for six months, and it never budged, so I sold it.  The other was a screaming deal I found on Amazon, where they temporarily posted at an extremely low price (maybe cost?).  That was a decent guitar, but I never bonded with it and sold it (knowing that I'd easily cover my costs).

[Marchel]

Beware the Guild M20. It's often referred to as the "Nick Drake" guitar, but that is because it shows in a famous photo of Nick, not because he played it much, because he did not. Most M20s have a very dull tone with minimal overtones; slow attack, fast decay. They're low volume as well. They do not compete with the complex tones of the human voice, as many "better" guitars do and are appreciated as singers' guitars. People call any mahogany or ladder braced guitar a "blues" guitar, because they are cheap, punchy, and have a dark, thumpy tone. I consider this identification to be a thoughtless and simplistic miscasting of the blues, but it's a widespread view. To be fair, one of the most beautiful sounding guitars I have ever played was an all mahogany Martin with bar frets -- I'm guessing it was prewar 00-15 or something similar. It was lively and just gorgeous, completely different from what anyone would expect. So there are winners that are all-mahogany. Most are more ordinary, which is how they were situated in their makers' product lines. I would be even more wary of a new "mahogany" guitar as it could be made of any of a number of so-called "mahoganies," with almost never even approximate the look, structure, and acoustic quality of great old mahogany.

Not correct. Read Phillip Tanswell’s comment on YouTube (Acoustic Tuesday Show about Guild Guitars). He saw Nick Drake play an M20 in 1971 in London and even talked with Nick about it. Great story.

[AlanSam]

Beware the Guild M20. It's often referred to as the "Nick Drake" guitar, but that is because it shows in a famous photo of Nick, not because he played it much, because he did not. Most M20s have a very dull tone with minimal overtones; slow attack, fast decay. They're low volume as well. They do not compete with the complex tones of the human voice, as many "better" guitars do and are appreciated as singers' guitars. People call any mahogany or ladder braced guitar a "blues" guitar, because they are cheap, punchy, and have a dark, thumpy tone. I consider this identification to be a thoughtless and simplistic miscasting of the blues, but it's a widespread view. To be fair, one of the most beautiful sounding guitars I have ever played was an all mahogany Martin with bar frets -- I'm guessing it was prewar 00-15 or something similar. It was lively and just gorgeous, completely different from what anyone would expect. So there are winners that are all-mahogany. Most are more ordinary, which is how they were situated in their makers' product lines. I would be even more wary of a new "mahogany" guitar as it could be made of any of a number of so-called "mahoganies," with almost never even approximate the look, structure, and acoustic quality of great old mahogany.

Not correct. Read Phillip Tanswell’s comment on YouTube (Acoustic Tuesday Show about Guild Guitars). He saw Nick Drake play an M20 in 1971 in London and even talked with Nick about it. Great story.       

Thanks for the steer - I watched the whole vid and enjoyed it. Nick Drake didn't play the guild on his Bryter Layter album where it featured on the cover. But he did play one on at least one occasion in concert as is attested to in the comment you referred to :- ''I saw Nick Drake play an all nighter with John Martyn at Les Cousins on Greek St London in 1971. They alternated 45 minute sets throughout the night. He was playing the Guild M20; he said it was borrowed and he would be giving it back soon. He was a quiet man but not aloof; if you spoke to him he answered politely and fully. I asked him about the guitar and he let me play it. It was the first time I’d seen a mahogany guitar and the first time I’d seen bronze wound strings (nickel wound were what you got in most uk music shops at that time). The guitar wasn’t his but he had it for considerably longer than just holding it for the photo . The gig was winter time, early 1971 about 6 weeks before Bryter Layter was released. As a rare living contemporaneous witness who actually saw him I think it important to record the history ( and correct he myth that he only held it) Regards to all Phillip Tanswell''. What I wouldn't give to have been at that concert. Nick Drake was a one-off - a unique artist!