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I have just bought a Guild Ashbory thru EBay uk and have had the opportunity to compare and contrast it wth my DeArmond. These are my observations and I would welcome any comments/opinions/feedback. It's an ivory white one, which was not a catalogue colour, and I understand that maybe a dozen or so were made, possible for demo purposes. It came in the original gigbag with paperwork and several spare E, A and D strings, plus (of course!!) the remains of a couple of broken Gs
The G are a sort of lime green and the rest a slightly grey colour, as opposed to the translucent white now available. They also feel harder than the new strings, and as a result seem to produce more treble and handling noise through the pickup. I restrung it with new strings and it now feels and plays exactly like my DeArmond. The sound is more rounded and the pickup doesn't 'click' as much.
The friction uke pegs are, uh, interesting, and there is a definate knack to using them. What I have found when restringing is that it is better to knot the string some way down to minimise the number of wraps around the capstan. This seems to aid speedy tuning stability, as the string around the capstan has to stretch and this will be impeded by wraps of string piled up on top. As a result it 'creeps' for ages until fully stretched.
The passive setting on the Guild is, as expected, pretty weak and unspectacular, but what surprised me was the relative lack of output in active setting compared with the DeArmond. It is far more 'polite', with less bottom end and punch, whereas the DeArmond really growls. It's possible that the amplifier circuit needs attention - any comments?
I can say from this comparison that the DeArmond is superior in tunability and sound, which to me, is pleasing as I am less tempted to take the Guild out to gigs and sessions. I certainly don't regret buying it, being a bit of an Ashbory afficionado, but it is very pleasing to know that the currently available model is, in my opinion, superior in build and sound, and very affordable. Buy one if you haven't already!!!
Mike
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Topic: Guild v DeArmond (Read 2547 times)
