GEAR REVIEW
GUILD DS240E ACOUSTIC / ELECTRIC GUITAR | Eric Dahl
• Solid Sitka Spruce top
• Laminated Mahogany back and sides
• Gloss poly finish
KEY FEATURES
• Ivory binding and pickguard
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Dot inlay fret markers
• Pau Ferro bridge
• Guild Vintage 18 Open Gear tuners
|
• DeArmond
Tone
|
Boss |
passive |
pickup |
|
|
• Bone nut and saddle
• 1.6875” nut width
Reviewing and playing guitars that you have never played before with features that you wouldn’ t normally choose for yourself are exciting. Such was the case with the new Guild DS240E acoustic / electric guitar that is part of their Memoir series. Right out of the box this Guild is a charmer with sloped shoulders and dreadnought body shape.
The model we received was in the Black finish, but it is also available in Vintage Sunburst and Wine Red. I prefer the Black poly finish it arrived with since that supports the 1930’ s vintage guitar style it projects, especially with the script Guild logo on the headstock. The only thing that put me off was the DeArmond Tone Boss passive pickup secured across the top of the sound hole. I was not frightened by a sound hole pickup as a small child, nor did one ever bite me or attach me. But for some reason I have not personally been a fan of a pickup covering part of the round open orifice of an acoustic guitar’ s sound hole. I felt like it was putting trucker mud flaps on a Lamborghini.
But that being said I have never played or owned an acoustic / electric guitar with an install pickup as this DS240E, so this will be a learning and growing experience.
The Guild DS240E has a solid Sitka Spruce wood top with laminated Mahogany back and sides. The ivory binding and white pickguard pair nicely with the Guild Vintage 18 open gear tuners. The C shaped neck is full but not too big in your hands also. Guild went the extra mile on this model with bone nut and saddle and a Pau Ferro wood bridge.
Played acoustically the Guild DS240E is treble forward with some mids coming in afterwards. I couldn’ t achieve much in the way of bass tones, but acoustically this guitar will certainly cut through other instruments being played. I plugged the DS240E into a BOSS AC-22LX acoustic amplifier to test it out and set the EQ
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