Guild F-1512 Nat Westerly

le manche est en acajou brun foncé, cela surprend par rapport à la photo, mais , au final, ce n'est pas gênant. l'étui, bien que signé Guild, est low-cost, gris clair et pas noir, franchement pas top, je vais racheter un véritable étui pour cette très belle guitare. Immédiatement, la qualité de fabrication saute aux yeux. Sinon, le son est magnifique, je joue de la 12 cordes depuis 30 ans ( Yamaha), et certaines notes, jamais entendues, apparaissent dans cette sonorité très riche et très chaude. Les accords en barré, qui accrochent souvent, passent très facilement sur cette guitare. On n'arrive pas à la reposer, tant c'est un plaisir de jouer : GUILD est définitivement le meilleur luthier en 12 cordes.

Quel plaisir de jouer cette guitare ! Une 12 cordes de haut rang à un prix abordable ! Quel son ! On (re)prend plaisir à jouer les grands standards des années 70/80 : Give a little bit, '39, Wish you where here,.....
Le manche bien que plus large que sur une 6 cordes, est très confortable, les graves, médium et aiguës sont très bien équilibrés. Tant en strumming qu'en fingerstyle.
Les cordes d'origine semblent être des Dadarrio phospore bronze. Une fois usées, je les remplacerai par des Elixir Bronze, comme sur mes autres guitares.
La housse, quoique jolie et bien faite, ne protège pas assez cette merveille. Pas de risque : remplacée par un case bien solide Gator Deluxe Case Jumbo.
Alors oui, elle est fabriqué en Chine (mais "Designed in Califormia"), mais sincèrement, hormis la finition plus sobre, on n'est pas loin de la version US en terme de qualité sonore. Les chinois savent aussi fabriquer de très bonnes guitares. Une étoile en moins sur le critère "Qualité de fabrication " à cause d'un (très) faible écart sur 2 cm au niveau du raccord entre le manche collé et la caisse. Quasiment invisible si on n'y fait pas attention. Ça n'enlève rien à ses qualité acoustiques.
Bravo à Guild qui démontre son savoir faire en guitares 12 cordes avec ce petit bijou. A ce prix, laisser tomber les autres grands marques. Vous n’aurez pas mieux !

This is an excellent 12 string guitar. It is sturdily built and quite heavy but this is good: with a thick but comfortable neck that includes a twin truss rod arrangement, further increasing it strength. Those with small hands will find difficulty putting a thumb over the bottom string for playing chords, but on the other hand it is the easiest 12 string I have used for playing barre chords, all the way up the neck. The fingerboard is a nice piece of rosewood and is fairly flat which enhances accurate intonation fingering and good for using a capo. Both Shubbs and G7 capos work fine with careful setting up (but strangely I couldn't get Shubbs 12 string one to work as the fingerboard is too flat for that one.) One tip with a capo is to place on the 2nd fret leaving the bottom string uncapoed which leaves you with dropped D but you can play G chord etc. in the normal way which saves stress on your fretting hand. On that note one has to be careful fretting up the fingerboard and not to overdo your strength which can cause tendinitis and tennis elbow.

If you find playing too sore you can drop tuning a full step to D-d. The intonation on this guitar can take this: though if you have tuning problems with the 2nd pair you can up a gauge to 15's which sorts the problem.
You really need a good quality headstock tuner like Boss Tu10 as tuning any 12 string is not easy. A good idea is to put graphite in the nut slot after you decide to keep this guitar to aid smooth tuning. The tuners themselves are fine and accurate. If you want to go down to C you will need different strings or you can try a silk and steel set. You will need a good luthier to set these up for you.
The sound of this guitar is balanced with pleasing piano like sound, loud but not booming, and with a very long sustain which suggests that the tone will get much better as it gets played in. It is fine for strumming but really good for finger picking, also good for fake Nashville tuning. I would suggest that you replace the uncovered octave A string with a wound 18 to give a more balanced, less jangle, treble sound. Also a good idea to get two .08's for the G octave as spares - it always breaks!

The matched back panels and rims are very attractive - dark and milk chocolate colour - while the top is fine with a couple of small blemishes but importantly has tight grain lines behind the bridge for strength, and there is also an extra layer of wood under the sound hole.

As you can see from the length of this review I am very enthusiastic and satisfied with this guitar. The Chinese are making some really good instruments at the moment and at less than a third of the price of the American version this is a real bargain and will give you a lifetime of playing: a great tone and when played in will likely match the sound from the American one. I am using a tone enhancing gizmo (Tonerite) and have noticed a marked improvement in tone following the sustain.

Finally, I might suggest that you try a strap that ties at the headstock and would recommend the Minotaur strap AAD1 and the strap shortener unless you are a very big person. This is because the neck and tuners make this guitar very neck heavy and a strap like this will mean your fretting hand is carrying less weight and strain.
You should seriously consider buying this guitar.