Anyone who has ever shopped for an acoustic guitar knows that you can spend a pretty penny on an instrument made by a premium brand. A premium high-end guitar has certain attractions that begin to emerge the moment you catch a whiff of the nitro lacquer. The aged solid woods, gleaming frets, great playability, and a sound that stirs your soul the second you give it a strum are some of the obvious things.
There’s also the “X” factor that comes with having an acoustic guitar that a good Luther had their hands on. Whether you’re talking about Martin or Guild guitars, the instruments with these guys’ fingerprints on them have stood the test of time, achieving the honors that have been awarded to them as top players have proven that they rule.
| Features: | Guild USA D-55E Dreadnought | Martin Standard D-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £3,549 | £3,450 |
| Inlay Design: | Peak and Shield inlay | Mother-of-Pearl |
| Top: | Sitka spruce | Sitka spruce |
| Bracing: | Scalloped Adirondack | Forward-shifted |
Guild D-55
When you think of the most iconic acoustic guitars that you know of, chances are that most people would name-drop the obvious contender of Guild.
Guild is a real American icon that has stood the test of time and provided the sounding board for some of the greatest tunes ever penned on a six-string. One such guitar from Guild that perhaps doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, though, in some circles is Guild’s D-55, which is the company’s flagship dreadnought. This model has been used by the likes of Tommy Smothers, Waylon Jennings, Billie Joe Armstrong and David Nail, to quote guild’s own website.
Build
It really seems as though Guild has gone all-out with every possible element when making the D-55.
The guitar’s tonewood combination is the classic mix of AAA-grade Sitka spruce top along with Indian rosewood back and sides, while inside, the guitar features scalloped Adirondack spruce bracing. The body connects to a mahogany neck with an improved dovetail joint and also manages to sneak in a strip of walnut up the length of the mahogany.
On the front of the neck is a uniformly dark ebony fingerboard topped with 20 frets.
While the neck doesn’t have sharp edges, users have noted that the frets can be slightly scratchy in use. While for some users this mightn’t be a big deal, although for the money it’s still a rather considerable setback on a guitar that commands a high price.
The binding, on the other hand, is very smart, offering a crisp, pinstripe black and white outline over every curve and edge you can find. The D-55 has a lovely woodwork embellishment working its way up the middle of the rosewood back.
Overall, putting the fret finishing issues aside, you can’t help but be impressed by the detail and workmanship that has gone into the D-55. If you’re a big fan of decorative, American-made acoustics, then there’s plenty to love with this guitar. You’ll defiantly enjoy admiring all those little touches every time you pick it up. While for some minimalists the design won’t be ideal, there are still plenty of choices elsewhere for that style of instrument.
Performance
Dreadnoughts have a reputation for being good strummers and all-rounders, and Guild’s D-55 defiantly fits into this category as well. From hitting the first note, you can really hear the character of the woods shining through in a way that’ll immediately transport you to your favourite ever songs.
The tone is as clear and as balanced as you’d want from an acoustic, with its rosewood adding a beautifully defined bass response to the sparkling, harmonic-rich highs of that high-quality Sitka spruce. For all the definition and detail to the voice, it doesn’t sound sterile, and there’s a real character to the tones that offer plenty of sustain, projection and volume when played hard, but the subtlety is also there for when you want to quiet things down and get a little more soulful.
With that in mind, it’s also worth mentioning that the D-55 also makes a good fingerpicker, with a certain plumpness to the lower strings under the thumb that makes it great for bass lines, while your other fingers coax out more of those highs from the upper strings.
Although the neck profile is rather flat, depending on your preferences, you may feel that the area around the nut feels a little restrictive at times.
There’s no denying that Guild’s D-55 is a superb guitar, and Guild should rightly be commended for achieving the craftsmanship on display. Tonally, the D-55 is the quintessential dreadnought – well-balanced, powerful, versatile and utterly infectious. The kind of guitar you can easily spend hours and hours of playtime to without so much as a second thought.
Martin Standard D-28
The D-28 has to be Martin’s most iconic dreadnaught acoustic guitar. Ever since it premiered in 1931, guitarists of all skill levels from around the world have admired its deep booming sound and superb projection.
Martin’s D-28 is an upgrade of Martin’s original dreadnaught design from 1917. The D-28 produces very deep and smooth tones and its extra wide and deep body, makes it perfect for on-stage performances and studio work alike.
Build
The workmanship on Martin’s guitars is so consistently excellent that it’s almost boring to discuss. The binding around the guitar’s perimeter is perfect as always, as is the inlaid back stripe. The grain of the Sitka spruce top and East Indian rosewood back and sides is attractive and even.
Performance
The solid Sitka spruce top and the rosewood back and sides produce a clear and crisp tone with an assertive high-end presence and powerful bass.
The well-articulated treble and midrange that comes from the D-28 makes it an excellent rhythm and bluegrass guitar. The focused low end sounds tight without giving the unnecessary boom. The forward-shifted non-scalloped X-bracing generates a great sound projection and an outstanding tone sustain.
Playability
The D-28’s large body means that the player will experience more pleasure touching the guitar’s rosewood body.
The satin finish on the D-28’s low-oval neck gives the player whizz through the frets and allows them to focus entirely on their performance. Its new taper design gives your fretting hand a sleeker feel as it moves up towards the body of the guitar.
The high-performance neck taper gives the fingerboard width starts at 1-3/4″ at the nut while reaching 2-1/8″ at the 12th fret. The varying width provided allows for a quicker response to a variety of playing genres and styles.
Conclusion
So, which guitar is better? It’s not an easy decision to make, as both the D-55 and D-28 are great.
The D-28 has more of a snap in the highs (which is good if you like bluegrass flatpicking) and is more mid-scooped. The Guild, on the other hand, has a lot more harmonic richness in the mids and an overall higher tonal pitch/timbre.