The world of acoustic guitars would be incomplete without the Guild brand. Guild has become a big player, by being one of the biggest guitar manufacturers in the USA and has made an enormous addition to the musical instruments.
Guild-manufactured guitars exceed in quality, performance, and durability. It’s not just the ease of use of Guild guitars that attracts so many players, but also Guild’s unique design.
Guild’s M-12 and M-20 are two models that have surprised guitarists and musicians with their playability and tone.
Both of these models offer everything you may be searching for in a Guild guitar. While it can become confusing for you to settle on one. A description of the subtle differences between these two models can help to ease the decision for you. So, let’s move on and see the features and differences between Guild M-120 and M-20.
| Features: | Guild M-120 | Guild M-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £599 | £1,399 |
| Bracing: | Scalloped X-bracing | Scalloped X-bracing |
| Top: | Solid African Mahogany | Solid African Mahogany |
| Neck: | African Mahogany | Mahogany |
| Tuners: | Guild Vintage 18 Open Gear Tuners | Guild Deluxe Vintage Open Gear |
Guild M-120
Originally introduced in 1959, Guild’s all-mahogany M-20 became a quick favorite among bluesmen and folkies, and the company’s current M-120 is modelled from the original guitar.
Design
The M-120’s 13 3/4-inch wide body is slightly smaller than Martin’s 00 series and, combined with a short 24 3/4-inch scale, is quite compact overall. The craftsmanship, fit and finish, and selection of materials are the best; the Mahogany that’s used on the body has attractive figuring. The neck of the guitar feels narrow and slim and has a rounded profile.
Mahogany-top guitars often have a somewhat compressed voice along with a strong midrange, and the M-120 fits this stereotype. What it might lack in dynamics and complexity, compared to a spruce-top guitar, makes up for with a bluesy growl and assertiveness that would sound great for slide playing or recording parts on a sonically busy track. With its vintage mojo and high playability, Guild’s M-120 is not only an unusual sounding and looking guitar for entry-level players, but it’ll also be of interest to experienced players looking for a classic all-mahogany tone at an affordable price.
Sound
Sonically speaking, Guild’s M-120 has the best balance of the bunch. It feels a little less soft in its response compared to most mahogany guitars this size and delivers lots of low-end output when you least expect it. The sustain in the low end is surprising too, as is the headroom. The M-120 will record much bigger than it actually is, provided you don’t go too hard on it.
That said, Guild’s response to aggressive flatpicked strums with surprising headroom and elasticity, and you get a dense and rich harmonic cocktail that’s just right for recording rhythm guitar. Heavy single-note picking is very rewarding on the M-120 too. Hammer-ons sound clear and defined, you can get great sustain out of bends, and the slinky playability over its 14-fret neck makes finger vibrato, jazz chording, and even triads at the 12th fret a breeze.
This Guild is arguably one of the best fingerstyle machines out there. Its compact body means that the bass is never too bossy—in spite of the surprising low-end resonance and sustain. The high-mid content is so gorgeously clear and well defined that note-to-note balance borders on perfection. As a result, the guitar responds well to a light touch and the kind of dynamics that turn a chord melody from ordinary to magical. If you’re a solo performer who specializes more in nuanced and intimate expressions—either as an instrumentalist or singer-songwriter—it’s hard to imagine a guitar that’ll deliver more bang for the buck than Guild’s M-120.
Guild M-20
The story goes that when Guild opened its Westerly, Rhode Island, facility in 1967, it was the M-20 guitar that was first to roll off their production line. Indeed, the M-20 and Mark I classical guitar were the only guitars that the new facility produced for quite some time.
Design
First impressions always count for a lot, and when first looking at the M-20, it has a very neat-looking small-body concert-size guitar with a huge dollop of vintage chic, thanks to its dark chocolatey hue and plain old-world design. The M-20 is built from solid mahogany.
features of the M-20 include scalloped X bracing, bone nuts and bridge saddles, ivory-coloured bridge pins, a 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard radius, what Guild classes as ‘C’ profile necks, Pearloid dot inlays and vintage-style open gear tuners.
Sound
The neck shape of the M-20 is certainly Guild, a ‘C’, yes, but with quite steep shoulders, giving it a little more ‘D’ when it comes to the feel. It has a very mainstream depth, too, making it very comfortable in the hand.
The M-20, the wider nut width and string spacing combined with its shorter scale, spells out ‘fingerpicker friendly’ from the outset, and when picking it up, this is something that’s quickly confirmed. The M-20 is a very comfortable guitar to sit and play, and great for playing all of your favourite blues licks.
Guild has celebrated its return to the USA with a flourish, reintroducing the M-20 model with a lot of history behind it. With all-mahogany guitars enjoying something of a renaissance, this model stands tall and speaks very loudly.
Conclusion
You should know that Guild’s M-20 is made in the USA, while the M-120 is made in China. That’s what mostly separates these two with regards to the price difference. When it comes to maintaining value, the American-made M-20 model will hold its value far better and will certainly be the better investment.