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Introduction and Guild CV-1C played through a microphone.

Guild CV-1C played through the D-TAR pickup.

Guild is one of a few names in American acoustic guitars that were around prior to the lutherie boom of the ’70s. Founded in New York City in 1953 with the involvement of former Epiphone employees, Guild initially earned its good reputation for its archtop guitars. Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, Guild garnered the respect of players looking for great quality and tone at a fair price, and the company innovated by introducing then-uncommon features and products such as cutaways on dreadnoughts, thin-body acoustic-electrics, and acoustic bass guitars.

Guild’s history hasn’t always been smooth sailing, however. The company moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1956; was sold to an electronics company called Avnet in 1966; then moved to Westerly, Rhode Island, in 1967. Guild changed hands a couple more times during the ’80s and was acquired by its current parent company, Fender Musical Instruments Corp., in 1995. Following a period of making Guild guitars in its Corona, California, facility, Fender moved production to Tacoma, Washington, in 2005, when it acquired the Tacoma Guitars brand.

After checking out the more traditional F412 12-string in December of 2005, we were excited to get our hands on one of Guild’s latest instruments, the CV-1C.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC

As part of the company’s new Contemporary Series (which also includes the slightly smaller-bodied CO-1 model), the CV-1C fuses vintage elements from Guild’s past with groundbreaking new technology. While other models in Guild’s lineup aim to replicate successful models from the company’s past, the CV-1C is a thoroughly modern instrument that carries tradition forward.

Based on Guild’s classic F-40 body shape, the CV-1C is constructed with Indian rosewood back and sides and a Sitka spruce top. The guitar’s top bracing is slightly scalloped, and its tall back braces are shaped to a fine point. Guild chose Madagascar rosewood for the guitar’s fretboard and bridge, and this material’s reddish color is used to excellent effect on a modern-looking rosette and a stripe of red in the body’s binding. The CV-1C’s neck and headstock are unbound, lending an air of simplicity to an otherwise sophisticated appearance.

A Florentine cutaway allows easy access to the highest frets, and it looks as sharp as its shape. The guitar also features well-fitted wooden bridge pins, open-back Gotoh tuners and an unusual strap-button placement on the body’s upper bout which is designed to pull the guitar toward the player’s body. High standards are reflected in the materials used and workmanship, and I could detect no visual flaws. While I had the guitar, I had a chance to show it to noted vintage guitar collector Marc Silber, who commented that he thought the guitar’s finish was the best of any Guild he’d ever seen.

INNOVATION UNDER THE HOOD

While Guilds were originally built with dovetail neck joints (which are still used on the company’s Traditional and GAD Series guitars), the Contemporary Series uses a completely new and patent-applied-for neckblock and upper-bout support system. Made of lightweight carbon-fiber material, the system replaces the traditional wooden neckblock and lateral braces in the upper bout of the top. A section that attaches to the fretboard extension stiffens this crucial area, preventing the dreaded “ski jump” at the neck/body joint. The entire assembly is held together with metal bolts, making future adjustments a simple matter of some handy Allen-wrench work.

Our review guitar came with the optional D-TAR electronics installed. Consisting of a Wave-Length piezo cable pickup under the saddle, an endpin-mounted preamp, and Volume/Tone controls on the bass-side edge of the soundhole, the system uses a voltage-multiplying circuit which sources the power for its 18-volt operation from two AA batteries that are easily accessible through a removable “Load ’N Lock” cover integrated into the rear strap-button.

PICKING AND GIGGING

Although classic Guild guitars often found their way into fingerstylists’ hands in the past (Mississippi John Hurt and Billy McLaughlin, for example), some players found their skinny necks and heavy construction more suited to playing with a pick. So I was pleased to experience the CV-1C’s fingerstyle-friendly neck, string-spacing dimensions, and weight.

The CV-1C came set up with light-gauge strings and medium-height action at the saddle. The guitar’s nut, cut for easy playability in the first positions, and a half-round neck profile, lent an effortless feel. Playing fingerstyle in standard tuning, I immediately noted its warmth and smooth dynamic range; I was also impressed with how complex the Guild’s overtone spectrum was for a brand-new guitar and jam on the jazz standard “Blue Bossa” revealed a lovely balance that made the tune’s melody stand out over the layer of its extended chords.

I used the CV-1C at two gigs: one where I played into a microphone, and another where I ran the guitar’s built-in electronics through an L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic DI and PA. At both gigs, I put the Guild through a variety of tunings, including dropped-D, D A D G A D, and “Orkney” (C G D G C D), and it performed like a charm. At the plugged-in show, the guitar impressed with great bass response and virtually nonexistent undersaddle pickup “quack,” though I wished for bit more high-end presence and sparkle in the treble. Auditioning the guitar through Fishman Loudbox 100 and Ultrasound AG50DS2 amps, however, revealed a fuller, more accurate tonal spectrum, suggesting limitations in the house PA rather than the CV-1C.

I also flatpicked the CV-1C and discovered that strumming and single-note lines displayed the same tonal richness as fingerstyle playing. Naturally, an aggressive attack yielded some buzz, but the guitar still maintained a very open voice.

THE WRAP

The Guild CV-1C is a very cool guitar for anyone in the market for a complex sounding small-body guitar. Guild pulled off the risky task of combining the old with the new—and delivered a unique instrument that will please a wide variety of players and fascinate those interested in contemporary design ideas.