Standard Series is going strictly cutaway

Don't see the issue, really. If cutaway standards sell more cutaways, fine. The NH factory has more demand for the upscale instruments, IIRC.

tefan said:

Speaking of Taylor Bernie, at LMG IV I asked management on the stage during the Q&A if they could ever see Guild going to a BTO program in their custom shop, rather than the limited run approach they employ now. They said yes, they were working on it.

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Good to hear. They have wanted to do it since LMG I but previous discussions said it was on the wish list as opposed to being worked on, which suggests some kind of progress to me.

aleatoric said:

If true that is a really silly move on Guild's part IMHO. I would never buy an acoustic with a cutaway, it just doesn't fit my style of playing, I find cutaway models to sound less "full" for lack of a better description and I don't really play past the 15th fret, which I can hit fine on my none cutaway acoustics. Cutaways make sense for certain styles of playing and have their use but I think making the Standard Series strictly cutaway is a poor decision if it happens.

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So don't buy a Standard Series. Buy Traditional instead.

Not directed to you (aleatoric) personally but I find the angst about making cutaways standard in the Standard series somewhere between amusing and annoying. How many of the complainers are actually in a position (as in both willing and able) to spend circa $2000 on a new guitar? How many models are actually being discontinued as a result, and of those, how many of those don't have a close cousin in the Traditional Series? In other words, what is actually being lost, in terms of sales?

This is not about what people here like or dislike. This is about what Guild thinks they need to do to sell more guitars and how to position the brand. It is certainly easier to sell and market if dealers and advertisers can say "Standard = cutaway".

Personally, in my opinion, the mistake was the Standard series. It was originally positioned to offer a more "modern" feature set at a lower price point. Hindsight makes it clear that the feature set was not especially attractive to the overall market and the price was not low enough to clearly differentiate it from Traditional. To me this is a move to revive the Standard Series and if the opposition to cutaways is as strong as it appears then I predict the Standard Series will be gone in a year or two.

Just sayin' and not trying to get personal so I apologize in advance if my self-editing did not remove something that seems like an attack.

I disagree with you, Jamie.

I think this very much *is* about what people like or dislike. I mean, yeah, we're talking about some kind of Marketing decision here, but our opinions as Guild lovers is relevant. (in my humble opinion, of course ).

The Standard Series was not a "mistake" from my point of view. Guild needs to continue to experiment with new lines and manufacturing techniques or it will die.

The real problem is that we all missed saying AHHHHRRRRRCOS on international talk like a pirate day. Whaz up wit dat maytie? :crazy:

Was talking to one of the Mikes at Ski Sundown about the Guild eyepatches. I should have found a way to make that happen.

About the Standard series, I would characterize it as more of a miscalculation than a mistake. Part of that might have to do with not having enough examples out there. I was talking to a guy in GC about Guilds. He said that he didn't like them because he tried one once and didn't like the clubby neck.

He tried one thirty years ago. Tried to talk to him about the new ones, but he owned like 15 Ovations and never bothered with anything else.

chazmo said:

I disagree with you, Jamie.

I think this very much *is* about what people like or dislike. I mean, yeah, we're talking about some kind of Marketing decision here, but our opinions as Guild lovers is relevant. (in my humble opinion, of course ).

The Standard Series was not a "mistake" from my point of view. Guild needs to continue to experiment with new lines and manufacturing techniques or it will die.

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Did I tell you I'm not sure about that beard? You don't look like you anymore.

I'm sure there is a better word than mistake. My core opinion is that the Standard Series failed to meet the expectations of the folks who created it and that failure was primarily because the price points were too close between Standard and Traditional. I see "all cutaway, all the time" as an attempt to reposition the Standard Series so that it has a chance to meet expectations by differentiating it (more) from the Traditional Series so that the comparison is no longer just about price and a couple features that folks never seemed to get passionate about. A company needs to experiment or innovate or it will die, but it is also true that not all experiments work as expected and that is my opinion about the Standard Series.

As for the expressing opinions I guess I just had a sense of deja vu. "I don't like cutaways and so won't buy one" seems perilously close to "I don't like new guitars and so won't buy one" and in both cases the first marketing strategy is to focus on the people who would consider buying your product. IMO. YMMV.

griehund said:

The real problem is that we all missed saying AHHHHRRRRRCOS on international talk like a pirate day. Whaz up wit dat maytie? :crazy:

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Were there any? Any opinions? I have noted that my local dealer believes ARCOS sell better than GAD in this market but no one at LTG seems to own or talk about them. So happy playing that they are too busy to talk about them?

No, I don't think there were any, Jamie.

The original plan of having one of everything in the line was displaced by the B-stock sale. I think that was better!

chazmo said:

No, I don't think there were any, Jamie.

The original plan of having one of everything in the line was displaced by the B-stock sale. I think that was better!

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It sure was better!!!

Yeah, look who's talkin'!!!

fronobulax said:

Did I tell you I'm not sure about that beard? You don't look like you anymore.

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Stop it! He's hot as hell with the beard......
But the real reason why he had to grow it, is he got tired of getting tickets for driving a Volvo without a beard. (They okayed the fact that there was no pipe tobacco smell in the car)
He's not getting pulled over any more. What a relief.

Bwahahahahah!!!!!! You rock, bluesy!!!

Hey, the S2000's transmission bearing is fixed... I can really earn those tickets now, beard or none.

Excellent Charlie... have fun with it!.... and the beard.