Guild A-150 Savoy Blonde

Very good guitar since the first glance, nothing wrong in the finish.
The guitar comes with flat-wounds .012 - .052 and the factory set-up is acceptable.
Every new guitar needs tuning and set-up, but this Guild out of the box is ?playable? immediately after tuning, but the pickup is much lower on the side of the first string than on the side of the sixth string, and the factory action in my opinion is a bit too high.
After removing the plastic protection under the bridge, with the bridge at his minimum height, the factory setup had an action at the twelfth fret of 1,6mm for the first string, and 2,10mm for the sixth string.
Since the standard for my hollow-body arch-top guitars includes flat-wound strings .013 - .056 and an action at the twelfth fret at 1,3mm for the first string, and 2,00mm for the sixth string, I changed the strings and made a new set-up.
During the years I have learned to make works of basic lutherie by myself, so:
I have mounted and tuned the new flat-wound .013 - .056 strings
to compensate the major traction of the .013 strings, I have slightly tightened the truss rod, controlling the straightness of the neck with a mechanical ruler
I worked with a file on the bridge to reduce the action at the twelfth fret to my standard
I lifted the pickup on the side of the first string, adding thickness at the base of the pickup using felt pads, till obtaining at least the same distance between the pickup and the strings both for the sixth string and for the first .
Now the guitar is an excellent guitar, the action of the neck is very comfortable, and there is no fret buzz.
I compared it with my 2004 Epiphone Emperor Regent, both the guitars are made in Korea, and I have to say that I prefer this Guild A-150.
I like more the acoustic timbre of the Guild, I expected that the A-150 would have been louder acoustically with his solid body top, but the Emperor Regent with his laminated top is as much as loud, if not louder.
The Emperor Regent has an higher bridge for the same strings and action of the A-150, in arch-top instruments there is a direct correspondence between acoustic volume, the height of the bridge, and the force transmitted from the strings to the top of the instruments.
Probably the solid top of the A-150 compensates for the lesser force transmitted from the strings with his lower bridge, and what is more the Emperor Regent is 12 years old its woods are definitely more ?mature? than those of my newborn A-150.
Electrically speaking DeArmond 1000 Rhythm Chief with just the volume pot is something absolutely astonishing, you have just to play the guitar in a good tube amplifier leaving free your musicality.
The pickup seems to have an output higher than normal, and is very sensitive, I had to use a setting of the gain control on the amplifier lower than my usual.
Just changing the picking position of the right hand, from near the neck to near the bridge, you can use a wide palette of sounds, with a slight variation at the volume pot you can add or remove a bit of thickness to the sound.
You just have to remember that you are playing an hollow-body with his attack and his sustain, remember also that bending strings .013 - .056 is harder than with .010 - .046
Choosing a different position for picking and with little adjustments to the amplifier (gain, tone, reverb) you can amuse yourself playing Jazz, Rockabilly, Rock & Roll, Blues, Pop, and any song you have in your mind.
You can find yourself in trouble only if the long sustain of a solid body is truly indispensable.
I have to admit that in the beginning I thought that one pickup with just the volume control would have been limiting, but freeing my mind from the conditioning I have found that this configuration gives much more freedom than I could imagine.
I can just think what I am going to play instead of thinking about selecting pickups and setting volume and tone controls, the sound comes from the mind and the hands of the guitarist, not from the equipment.
When I play it acoustic it reminds me the Eddie Lang sound, electrically has an heavy flavor of Jazz, but remember that the James Bond 007 Theme was played with a DeArmond Rhythm Chief.
Thank you Guild, an excellent guitar at an affordable price.

Having tried and rejected a couple of hollow-bodies by such brands as D'Angelico and Hofner, I was finally lucky to try this Guild A-150. So far, I cannot give any valid comment on the sound (maybe later I update my review), but I know that DeArmond pickups are very welcome among jazz guitar players.

But what I can difinitely say is that the workmanship in this Guild is just great, including the fretwork, finish, and hardware. Thus, following other reviewers. I can highly recommend this guitar.

On a separate note, I consider it right that the guitar comes in a hard case. At this price level, imo, it's a must.

Finally, two things should be taken into account (not as "cons", just as "features"):

1. In genre terms, this is by definition a narrowly specialized guitar: jazz.

2. It is pretty big and relatively weighty.

And what a beauty overall!

I'm an amateur guitarist in my late 60's who has embraced a few styles over the years, from classical to hard-rock to folk and jazz - and lately back to classical guitar. Having acquired an Ibanez AF-95 FM-AYS a year ago (a gorgeous thing) I still felt a more acoustic was called for. Also, I couldn´t forgive myself for having sold a black Guild jazz box I got from a London pawnshop long ago. So, the blonde A-150 Savoy was summoned last May. What can I say? Love at first sight. This is a first class beauty with a quiet and simple charm. Romance still lingers very strong. But, like Chopin said, what can be better than one guitar? Two of course! I was lucky enough to grab a perfect used Peerless Monarch a couple of months later. They make a perfect pair. Both Korean made, one blonde, the other brunette, just like Zappa would have liked. Very similar shape, format and even case - they are twins. However, construction and philosophy wise they display a very different temper.
The Savoy is considerably heavier, has thicker finish and, for now, a more closed acoustic sound. Maybe more in Gibson fashion. Bu it is tough, will last many decades, and I would expect it to approach it's peak in 20 or 30 years. Also, it features a lush ebony fretboard, whereas the Peerless has a beautifully figured and abalone ornamented one. The Monarch is much lighter, acoustically more responsive and of course louder. Then the frets. The Savoy features heftier, higher frets. Again, very nice feeling of power and strong strum, but may not please everyone. The pickup, a Rhythm Chief, looks and sounds pretty good to my eyes and ears. In line with the perfect finish and workmanship the guitar came with a very good nut setup and I only lowered the bridge around one mm, trading a bit of acoustic volume for more comfortable action. It now stands at 1,5-2 mm but It could go a hair or two lower if needed. The neck and fingerboard are flawless. The whole instrument exudes quality and sober style. The case goes along the same lines. So I am very happy. What about the Peerless then? Well, she is a different kind of beauty. I love her lightness, sensitivity and wooden acoustic response, just as I love Miss Guild's qualities, but wait a minute.... that's for another review!

Wow, this guitar is even more beautiful in the flesh than it seems on the photos. Another 5* for guild. Just had to lower the bridge a bit to get it to where I'm used to.

Can't find a fault with the finish, love the neck (think of thick C shape without being a baseball bat). It's sounds great acoustic (great for playing at night without waking up the neighbours) and plugged in it's just wonderful too. That's a special single coil pick guild got there.

Also, I appreciate the second rosewood(?) bridge that comes inside the quality case.

Thanks thomann for the fast shipping!

I got this guitar because I don't like the sound of acoustic guitar pickups. Never heard a good one. But this guitar is basically an acoustic with a proper pickup. So I thought I'd try to use it for that. Boy, was I right! This guitar is simply incredible for the price. I absolutely love it. It does exactly what I wanted it to do: play like an acoustic in feel but have a nice amplified sound.

I'm not a Jazz player so I immediately removed the flatwound 12s which I didn't like and replaced them with the strings I use for all my acoustic guitars: Roundwound Elixir Nano 10s. And when I did so I felt immediately back at home. I lowered the bridge a touch which is easy to do - you just turn the little wheels at the side. And the neck feels so comfy and solid and true. Smooth as silk. Takes a capo very well too. Lovely.

The unplugged sound is ok for practising. It's loud enough to be an kind-of acoustic. It lacks a lot of bass end, but then this guitar isn't supposed to be just acoustic. It really comes alive when you use the fantastic floating pickup.

There are volume and tone controls lurking under the pickguard. The tone is especially useful; it really makes a big difference. Using roundwounds, I found the best sound was with some treble rolled off a touch.

This is just a really nicely-made, beautiful, extremely playable and great-sounding guitar at a very reasonable price. Nice one, Guild! Very impressed.