After my PRS and SG, this c. early 80's Harmony Marquis is tied for 3rd wth my Strat. I rebuilt last year - fret level all new electronics, etc., and it plays and sounds great. Now that I think about it though, all the electronics are essentially same as a Gibson (490R/498T, Orange Drop caps, braided wire, etc.,) so maybe this doesn't qualify on this post since it's supposed to be non-Gibson/Fender lol.
Ok KB, I’ll use a few more words! Back in 1974 I was on the market for a nice acoustic guitar, I was 18 years old. Now keep in mind, back then there was no internet, so no online buying. People went to their local stores to buy products. I frequented a couple of different music stores for my guitar stuff. So I went to one of my local music store to try some acoustics, this particular store usually had the best selection. I played a couple of Gibsons and a couple of Martins and one Guild. The Guild sounded the best!! I kept going back and forth between these guitars, I wanted to like either the Gibson or the Martin, but it wasn’t happening. I didn’t know anything about Guild, but it sounded great! I spent quite a bit of time there trying to prefer the Gibson or the Martin,....I thought if I play them long enough, one of them would sound and play better than the Guild,...didn’t happen! So I ended up bringing home a 1974 Guild D35,...that I had been playing for almost 3 hours,....and I’ve had it ever since,...45 years and counting.
Great story! Thanks for sharing. I grew up just behind you and remember gear hunting going from store to store. There’s something to be said about that.
