Guild D-20 Acoustic Guitar - Vintage Sunburst Reviews

Received my Guild D-20 Vintage Sunburst yesterday. OMG. After letting things acclimate, I opened it up, and it is everything I expected and more. The tone is so rich, the bass so full, and the mids and highs are present and not drowned out or muffled at all. Note separation is great and a full strum sounds clean and full and powerful. I also own a Seagull Artist Mosaic CH CW, which is a GREAT guitar in its own rite that I use primarily for fingerstyle playing, and when I showed my wife and daughter the difference in tone and power between that fine concert hall-sized guitar and the Guild D-20, they were stunned! It is night and day. Visually, the D-20 is a thing of beauty, with everything as it should be: no flaws, a stunning finish, beautiful headstock, the whole drill. The case is superb. The factory setup is good. It is hard to find words to describe how wonderful of a guitar this is. With the D-20 I can now get my strum on for real, where a concert hall-sized guitar is not optimal. (Fingerstyle sounds fantastic on the D-20 too, btw.) And with the D-20 being one of the new generation of Guild USA guitars, I feel like I've got a piece of history now. Some day this will be prime vintage instrument. Also, I want to give major kudos to my Sales Engineer, Justin Dunn, who was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and gracious. Give this guy a big bonus! Thank you, Justin.

I've been looking for the perfect guitar to upgrade to an all solid wood American made guitar. I played upwards of 100 guitars, and I narrowed it down to 3. When I played the Guild D-20, I fell in love. The full rich bass and mid tones pair well with the night but rounded high notes. Everyone I play for loves the sound. It smooth and easy to play, as well, right out of the box. I'm hearing notes that were washed out in my other guitars, and I'm playing in new ways because of this guitar. The only thing it's missing is a factory installed pickup which was discontinued. If you're looking for a warm, woody sounding guitar, this one is amazing and highly recommended. The hard humidifying case has excellent build quality, just like the guitar.

I purchased a Guild D20 back in April and couldn't be happier. I took a chance with the all mahogany body and the sound is RICH. Overall, Guild shines with this model, and I highly recommend it.

The sound:

I went on a bit of an adventure with this guitar. I purchased this guitar looking for that cannon-like Guild sound and was displeased when I strummed my first chord and all my nice glassware was still intact. But as I played it more and more, I noticed notes ring through that didn't on my other guitars or even other Guild's I've played like the d-50 and d-55. The mid range is truly amazing on this guitar, it causes its beautiful, warm tone to really shine. I'm incredibly excited to see how the sound opens up over the years. Overall, I fell in love with this guitar's sound and even prefer it over the other higher end Guild's.

The cosmetics and playability:

This guitar is gorgeous, the sunburst adds a whole new dimension of beauty to the body. And I'm a sucker for the burnt match look on the neck. The build quality feels excellent and it's extremely playable. The neck is smooth as butter, which allows for easy travel, even if your hands get a little clammy while playing. And the smaller nut makes it easier for me to hit the notes that I need to hit. My only gripe is the lack of headstock decals and no binding but those are minor preferences.

The case:

The hardshell case is absolutely stellar! I love the green interior and the alligator-esk texture of the exterior. The guitar fits like a glove, leaving no room for jostling. It feels incredibly well constructed and has a humidifier built-in.

Guild D-20E is the best guitar in my collection! None of my guitars (Martin D-18, Taylor 710ce, Gibson J-15, Takamine TH90, among others) compare to the full sound of the D-20E.

Fantastic guitar. If you're after throaty, cave like echoing sound, you have to check it out. I was looking for hog dread and went trough Martin D-18, Guild D-40 up to Martin D-18 Authentic and all hog Martin D-15 and Guild D-25. Was still missing this massive, soft roar sound. Till D-20. Beats all the above for me, hands down. Ren Ferguson clearly did a brilliant job (again).

Fantastic guitar. If you're after throaty, cave like echoing sound, you have to check it out. I was looking for hog dread and went trough Martin D-18, Guild D-40 up to Martin D-18 Authentic and all hog Martin D-15 and Guild D-25. Was still missing this massive, soft roar sound. Till D-20. Beats all the above for me, hands down. Ren Ferguson clearly did a brilliant job (again).

This guitar has an almost harp-like beautiful sound when playing cords. The intonation is perfect and there is something about the neck and fretboard that makes it the most easily playable guitar I have ever owned. My thanks to the staff at Sweetwater for patiently letting me try out numerous guitars before I decided on this one.

I have the version with the Baggs VTC pickup. Sweetwater didn't have these so I found it elsewhere, which was a chance I took. My first American made acoustic was a 1975 Guild dread, I can't remember the model, but it was dark, maybe a D 25. I had it until I wore it out in 2013. This one is GREAT! Great playability, sound and looks. The pick up works great with the right eq. It looks like an old fashioned porch axe. I play it every day with a big smile.

I put 80/20 bronze strings on this tone as i typically like deeper tones, and the solid mahogany adds to that deeper tone as well. Its my first all acoustic, non cutaway and all solid wood guitar, and I couldn't be happier with it. The finish on the guitar is satin, so its matte instead of glossy, and it looks a lot darker in real life than portrayed in the pictures, but I find that to be a plus.

The balance is perfect in this guitar. Great treble and bass presence. But my favorite thing is how comfortable it is to play, the neck is slightly less wide than other acoustics I've played which for me is a bonus. The finish is great and comfortable on the neck as well. The one thing I noticed is it's not quite as booming loud as some other dreadnoughts but when it sounds this great I prefer it. Very happy with this guitar, makes me want to try a D40 someday but this all mahogany is great as is.

Would give it 10 stars if I could. Words can't describe the sound . This guitar needs to be played to really know how it sounds. Looks, it's like a beautiful Woman who doesn't need makeup or Jewelry to make her beautiful they would just take away from her beauty. plays like a dream . Got My first Guitar in the late 60's Bought my first Guilds in mid 70's a 6 string and 12 string . Have had a lot of others sense . Was a sound man for 20 years so got to try and play about everything there is . This is my all time favorite Guitar of all . I did make walnut Bridge pins for it.

I lead worship on acoustic and have played just about all of them. I play a Martin because the tone suits my ear. I've always been a fan of Mahogany because of the warmth and lows and with the right strings the highs sound sweet too. This D-20 has a big sound and is solidly made. I think I'll hang on to this one. It's eerily similar to a Martin D-18 but $... cheaper. Happy pick'n!

This thing is great. Easy low action, bug sound, very balanced and warm but still plenty bright enough.

As my title states, this is simply another terrific Guild. I own some of the best made and playing models from both Westerly, R.I., Tacoma, Wash. and New Hartford Ct. and this guitar - built in Oxnard, Calif. where Guild owner Cordoba is based - holds its own to any of those expertly crafted instruments. Like these other guitars, not only is the sound outstanding - it also has wonderful playability, something I can't necessarily say for some other high end brands I won't name here. This was set up absolutely perfect right from the California factory - thanks Cordoba - and is a true testament to the Guild tagline - "Made To Be Played." In fact, Guild is probably one of the, if not the most playable guitars out there and for this reason, I am hugely loyal to the brand. If you haven't tried one, consider this model - or any other one for that matter - domestic or import. They are all built with the same high quality standards that make them heirloom instruments. Here's one last thought - I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't had the chance to own or play this or any other Guild, but envy them for getting the chance to experience one for the first time. Buy one now! You likely won't regret it.

Love the sound of mahogany, excellent build quality and looks great! Not a fancy or flashy, just great tone. Bright while strumming and deep lows which I"m told is because of th very thin finish allows the wood to flex more. Couldn"t have asked for a better sound at a price that beats every other option out there for an American made instrument.

There aren't enough reviews for this Guitar, I've had solid Mahogany guitars before, however- The Guild D20
is a fantastic machine and outshines them. This guitar is very resonate, and has a great clarity of sound.
Thanks again Nich for the hookup.

Great looking, sounding,and playing guitar very satisfied with whole experience.

First: I own several USA made guitars, but did not have an all Mahogany acoustic. I could have purchased any guitar from any company. The D-20 has is a wonderful guitar that is hard to put down. The new Guild factory is putting out quality guitars for a reasonable price, Made In the USA. I absolutely love this guitar, the sound, the feel, I can't find anything I don't like. The case with built in humidifier is a nice touch also.

I'm loving my new guild this is the best sounding all mahogany acoustic I have played just feels great and very light as soon as I heard they were making these I placed a preorder this was back in February my sales representative was Sean Geyer he has been very helpful as it was a long all most 7 month wait Sean would keep me informed every step of the way and now that it is here WOW if you enjoy all mahogany then this is the one to get the craftsmanship is wonderful and sustain for days I will keep this one for a lifetime also comes with a humidifier built into the very nice hardshell case thank you Guild and thank you Sweetwater

This guitar easily sounds as good as guitars I've played with twice the price tag. I have found Elixer HD Phospher bronze strings to work quite well and bring out some great tones and sustains, this guitar "Sings!!". Nice build and great satin finish, also light weight enough to strap on for hours with little or no fatigue. I did order my guitar through Sweetwater, Nick LaMendola is fantastic and assisted me in all my questions, If I order music needs on the internet in the future it will be through Sweetwater from now on, period, they really care about customer satisfaction. Anyway The only thing I did not like about the guitar (personal preference) was the string spacing was a bit narrow for my taste. I replaced the nut and widened the spacing to my liking. This is a fantastic, simple, but yet gorgeous instrument that will be up on stage with me for years to come.