Acoustic Guitar Magazine Cover Story: Guild!

[ajgorman]

I thought that perhaps the best thing to do was to let this thread die a slow death, which may be the best thing at this point so we can all get back to more "chipper" things. But after reading this one excerpt from the thread on the AG forum, I thought it was only fair to share this person's opinions/observations since the article generated such visceral debate here. Please don't kill me, I'm just presenting the information for what it's worth (Buffalo Springfield).

quote:
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Originally posted by songsmith7:
This ridiculous article implied that the move from Westerly to Corona was an inspired move in terms of guitar manufacturing. It implied that it moved for 'humidity' reasons?? WTF?
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Did you ever go visit the Westerly plant when it was still active? I did. AG sent me there in 1998, and having been to factories like Taylor's, Martin's, Santa Cruz' and lots of others prior to this visit, it was pretty shocking what conditions Guilds were being made in at the time. Having been to every major and many not-so-major factories in the US and Canada since, I have to say that there's no way that Guilds could have continued to be made in Westerly given the advantage that every other maker of acoustic guitars in the US had. Westerly had no humidity control at all. This means that depending on the season and the whether, humidity inside the shop could have been all over the map. Additionally, most of the machinery used was hopelessly outdated, leading to an amazing lack of productivity. Add to that that the shop manager was practically slapping worker's wrists during our tour of the place because they weren't doing things the way he thought they should be done, and you had a situation that was either comical or dysfunctional, depending on your point of view.
Prior to working for AG, I spent a few years working at Tall Toad Music, an independent guitar store in Petaluma California, which for at least one year in the early '90s was Guild's largest-volume California dealer. While there, I got to see a lot really great Guilds, including models that I wish were still being made (including the entire range of really cool acoustic basses!). However, I also remember an amazing amount of guitars that we had to sent right back to Guild after opening the shipping boxes, as they arrived with flaws that should have never left the factory. None of this means that I disagree that Westerly may have produced some of the best Guild guitars ever made; it's just that a) consistency was often a problem, and b) the glory years had past long before Fender decided to close the shop.
Finally, a quick note to all those who claim that Guild somehow "bought" the article with their advertising pull (there's a post of the LTG forum that especially makes this point). I'd invite people to count the ad pages placed with Guild or any Fender associated brand in AG in the last few months. You'll find that Fender hasn't advertised the brand in AG or several other magazines for quite some time. So, before you accuse us of giving in to advertisers' wishes, please take a look and check the facts, which in this case is easy enough to do.
Ironically, when I went to visit Westerly almost ten years ago, Guild was an active advertiser in the magazine, but while we'd hoped to get an article out of the visit, we just felt that there was not much positive to report. Fast forward to the fall of 2006, when I visited Guild in Tacoma (again, on AG's dime, and with Guild not advertising on a regular basis), and deciding that what I'd seen was worthy of another look at one of America's premier stringed instrument makers.

--------------------
Teja Gerken
Senior Editor, Acoustic Guitar
http://www.tejagerken.com
http://www.myspace.com/tejagerken
http://www.youtube.com/user/tejaguitar

 

[West R Lee]

Nah, that's ok AJ. The man says he's been there, I'm sure he has. But I've heard others who have been there, more positive accounts of what went on there. All I have to base my opinion are are the opinions of others, and obviously, my guitars.

A much larger issue, and one I've bitten my tongue on, is the plight of American workers and craftsmanship. I know I'm getting off thread here, but who's fault was it if the plant in Rhode Island did go downhill? I would just have rather seen them utilize the workers and facility they had. I think it would have paid dividends.

The other issue addressed by the writer to make his point, made my point. What was it he said? Something to the effect of Fender hadn't advertised Guild for quite sometime in AG or any other magazine, but when they were at Westerly, they actively advertised in AG? HMMM, then they wonder why sales are off. Am I missing something?

I enjoy the debate, kept civil. And I can't tell you how badly I want Fender to succeed in Tacoma. I might even buy one one day.

West

 

[ajgorman]

West,

You may well be right. I loved all of my Westerly guitars over the years and were it not for my frickin athritis I would never have parted with my D-60 or D-55. But life goes on,,,I'm just an old-new geezer now.

I have worked in large corporate America for much of the past 32 years. I know how they think. I know the ignorance and stupidity that some corporations exhibit, especially the ones tied to Wall Street where your paycheck is decided by increasing profits year over year. I have unfortunately been a part of or had to make some decisions that impacted people's jobs and ultimately their lives. It's gut-wrenching to say the least. I just didn't have a choice and did the best I could for as many as I could. Sometimes corporations act like they are in a Vulcan mind meld with Mr. Spock and do incredibly asenine things like building a bridge on the River Kwai and then blowing it up short while later. Madness!

One would think that FMIC properly considered their options before they decided to move to Corona (now that could be that bridge) but I don't know. It would have been nice for FMIC to have restored Westerly and kept their employees' crafmanship and jobs intact, but they didn't and we'll never know for sure. Since this was a financial decision, I would suspect that restoring/rebuilding was too costly or they would definitely have chosen that option. Either that or they thought Corona would save more money and improve efficiency. From an outsider's perspective, it certainly appears that was the wrong move. Regardless, it's always about the money...always...and we're all to blame for that. Whether we like it or not, if you don't make money you go broke and you're gone. Maybe they finally got it right with Tacoma, at least it certainly looks promising. I hope so for Guild and us faithful.

LOL & God bless

 

[West R Lee]

Very nicely put AJ.

West

 

[marcellis]

Teja,

Thanks for posting and thanks for the commentary.

Do you know if it's true that no Westerly workers would move to California?

Do you know if any were offered Tacoma positions?

Did Corona workers move to Tacoma?

 

[capnjuan]

.....It would have been nice for FMIC to have restored Westerly and kept their employees' crafmanship and jobs intact, but they didn't and we'll never know for sure. Since this was a financial decision, I would suspect that restoring/rebuilding was too costly or they would definitely have chosen that option.....From an outsider's perspective, it certainly appears that was the wrong move....it's always about the money...always...and we're all to blame for that....LOL & God bless

Hi AJ: It also doesn't help the preservation of the Guild brand that Geezers like me insist on buying older Gs instead of chesting up to the retail bar, buying a new Tacoma model, and putting some money in FMI's pocket. No exec in his right mind would propose: "Let's make a new guitar that capnjuan will buy!" because I operate, and they know that I and others operate, under the arguably mistaken belief that guitars can take 30-40 years to achieve that most excellent of intangibles. If I bought a new Tacoma today, I'd be 100 before the instrument matured.

An illustration of one element of FMI/Guild marketing problems. In the 1970s, McIntosh published a book highlighting every make and model of its high quality stereo equipment .....in Japanese.

(Incidentally, a pair of Mc 75s, pair of KT88s, fair to good, $3-4 thousand)

By the late 70s, prospective Mc buyers were sitting on good used Mc gear and Mc's sales were stagnant. In a stroke of marketing genius, Mc fanned the flames of Japanese audiophile interest by printing, in effect, a Japanese buyer's guide to historic Mc gear. Because of the Japanese interest in high-grade US gear and their ability to pay for it, the prices for vintage Mc gear soared, owners of existing gear sold it off, and Mc's sales resumed nicely. Mc figured out a way for its prospective customers to not only void themselves of the used gear that was 'clogging' new sales, it found a way to get the Japanese collectors to finance it.

In one sense, FMI bought a marketing problem w/ G; how to get older buyers with more disposable income to buy new, up-scale models when those prospective buyers are, at least in part like me and maybe erroneously, locked into prejudices and memories. For FMI to suceed under the Mc model, they'd have to convince the Chinese and Indians that, by buying a vintage G at elevated prices, they could emulate Dave Van Ronk, John Hurt, Rick Danko, and John Denver and, thereby, people would think they were cool and their sex lives would improve. I think we will learn that, in fact, the moon is made of green cheese before this happens.

Thank you AJ for your thoughtful remarks. cj

 

[fronobulax]

Teja visited the plant and has a long laundry list of things that were "wrong" with it or at least not up to the standards of other plants Teja had been to.

Hideglue, IIRC, worked in the plant and paints a very different picture.

Assuming the veracity of both posters (which is an assumption because on the internet, no one knows you're a dog) I wonder if the differences are those of perspective - the tourist vs. the local or the soldier in the foxhole vs. the general officer?

I also note that Teja's comments if taken at face value seem to undercut the suggestion that the article's existence was due to Fender PR or an attempt by AG magazine to increase advertising revenue.

As a tangent, I have spent many years ignoring the Fender brand - (I bought my first Guild because it was short scale and not a Fender) - so I know there have been changes in ownership but is the current FMIC publically or privately held? If the former maybe we Guild Geezers should buy a few shares for our 401K's and then we can flood the stockholder's meetings with Guild questions. :lol:

 

[hideglue]

Teja visited the plant and has a long laundry list of things that were "wrong" with it or at least not up to the standards of other plants Teja had been to.

Hideglue, IIRC, worked in the plant and paints a very different picture.

Assuming the veracity of both posters (which is an assumption because on the internet, no one knows you're a dog) I wonder if the differences are those of perspective - the tourist vs. the local or the soldier in the foxhole vs. the general officer?

I've been quietly following this thread - and until now, I felt it was best to stay clear.

frono, your assumption of perspective may very well be spot-on. I have no delusion that Westerly was perfect nor in any need of an overhaul. To the contrary - it needed major work. Naturally, some feelings of the plant are connected with sentiment but overall I knew (many knew) the place was a dinosaur - by modern standards. The writing was on the wall long before FMIC called 'the meeting'.

Teja saw what he saw. I just don't feel it was a fair or accurate account on daily life (sometimes a snapshot is flattering and others........ warts and all)

Otherwise, I haven't followed the AG thread enough to know about who said what about bias or ad placement, etc.
I'll leave that to the interested students.

 

[ajgorman]

CBS Musical Instruments division executives executed a leveraged buyout in 1985 from CBS and created FMIC, the Fender Musical Instrument Corporation. It is a privately held corporation. That part is in our favor, because while they are in business to make a profit they are not controlled by their stock price. My employer, a large regional bank went public in 1994. Since that day, everything we did as an organization - and I do mean everything - was dictated by our stock price. We were literally prisoners of Wall street until we sold to a world-wide bank...and the saga continues.

As one of the largest musical instrument companies in the world, FMIC is going to make mistakes. They are subject to the typical beaucracy and occasional stupidity of a giant corporation. But from all appearances they are trying to continue the traditions of the brands they have acquired, while trying to make improvements. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I have no choice. I bleed Guild and always will. Many of us will always cherish Hoboken and Westerly because of our personal attachments with instruments from those great places that have been such a huge part of our lives. We should never forget the past, but be willing to embrace the future as long as the return for our loyalty is properly reciprocated.

I'm sure everyone is tired of my dialogue, but peace to all.



And FMIC continues to grow as has been discussed:


Press Release Source: Kaman Corporation

Kaman Announces Agreement to Sell Music Segment
Monday October 29, 8:28 am ET

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (Nasdaq: KAMN - News) Kaman Corporation announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its wholly owned subsidiary, Kaman Music Corporation (KMC), to Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) of Scottsdale, Arizona for approximately $117 million in cash, subject to specified post closing purchase price adjustments. The stock purchase agreement, which contains customary representations and warranties and covenants, has been approved by the Kaman Board of Directors. Closing is targeted to occur prior to January 1, 2008, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including termination or expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

ADVERTISEMENT

KMC, which comprises the company's entire Music segment, owns Ovation Guitars, LP and Toca hand percussion products, Gibraltar Hardware, Genz Benz Amplification, Hamer Guitars, and is the exclusive U.S. sales representative for Sabian Cymbals, and exclusive worldwide distributor of Takamine Guitars and Gretsch Drums. Privately held FMIC is the world's leading electric guitar manufacturer. In addition to owning the world-renowned Fender brand name, FMIC also owns Guild guitars, Charvel Guitars, Jackson Guitars, SWR Bass Amplification, Tacoma Guitars, EVH products, and is the exclusive worldwide distributor of Gretsch Guitars.

Kaman Chairman and CEO, Paul Kuhn, stated, "We have invested in KMC over the years to build our leadership position in the industry and KMC has been a positive contributor to the overall success of Kaman Corporation. However, our longer-term growth strategy has evolved to a focus on the aerospace and industrial distribution segments, which has meant finding a new home for KMC. We are very pleased to have attracted a strategic buyer of Fender's stature, and we are confident that KMC will have a bright future under Fender's leadership."

"We are delighted to welcome the Kaman Music Corporation into the Fender Family," said Bill Mendello, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. "KMC is one of the most respected companies in the musical instrument industry. We have very similar cultures that have been developed over many years. The distribution expertise that Kaman Music brings to the music marketplace will complement and strengthen FMIC's growing operational excellence and ultimately offer dealers and consumers a better way to access a wider variety of high-quality music products and accessories."

Edward Miller, President of Kaman Music Corporation added, "There is great synergy between Kaman Music and Fender, both of which are deeply rooted in the long history and colorful culture of popular music. The acquisition of Kaman Music by Fender forms the most dynamic partnership of manufacturing and distribution expertise in the music industry."

Kaman was advised by Lazard and the law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP. Fender was advised by the law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

 

[Scratch]

Awesome info. Thanks for posting AJ...

 

[Jahn]

AG makes a good point with adverts - I don't see as many Guild adverts as I used to. Fender, get the word out please, nothing to be ashamed about, you have good guitars! Thanks!

 

[6L6]

"Maybe they finally got it right with Tacoma..."

Trust me, they HAVE!

Absolutely LOVING my new Guilds every bit as much as some Hoboken and Westerley's I've owned in the past.

I have "heard" that the Westerley employees were offered jobs in California but that only one person accepted. I have no idea if that's true or not.

However, given that most of the Westerley folks were from families with long ties to New England and the fact that California housing costs were through the roof, I sure wouldn't have blamed anyone in Westerley for deciding to try their chances elsewhere.

Like others above, I spent over 30 yrs working for publicly-owned Fortune 500 companies where EVERYTHING was controlled by Wall Street. That part of it was really a case of having the "cart before the horse". On the other hand, the system DID allow me to live where I wanted to live, fed my family, paid for two expensive college educations, and allowed me to retire at 58 even though I had to endure going through EIGHT corporate buyouts.

It ain't perfect, but as Sir Winston Churchill once said, "It's the best system so far..."

I say the future is NOW. I salute FMIC for bringing us to the point where we are now and want to tell the folks up in Tacoma that I believe they're building the best Guilds EVER.

Way to go!

And... I really enjoyed the article on Guild in AG. Many thanks for the fun read!

6

'06 D-55
'07 D-40BJ
'07 F-412
'74 D-40
'98 Martin D-45V
'98 Collings D-1
'03 Taylor 214

 

[fronobulax]

I say the future is NOW. I salute FMIC for bringing us to the point where we are now and want to tell the folks up in Tacoma that I believe they're building the best Guilds EVER.

So now I'm waiting for the article in Electric Guitar Magazine (*snicker*) that says FMIC is going to bring back the Guild electrics to continue re-establishing the brand. Start with the non-solid bodies (Starfire and others) so there is little direct competition with anything sold under the Fender brand and don't forget the basses. Imagine the firestorm that article might generate.

Or maybe not.

The bass and/or electric players seem to be under-represented here, at least when it comes to sounding off in threads that do not relate directly to their interests

 

[jpilzer]

Hi, I was going to stop, but thought I could add some clarity to at least one issue. Regarding the article and how much it may have been changed from the author's original, I was interviewed at length about Guild by Ben and virtually none of what I said made it into print. I was also called by the author and told that the article as published had little if any connection to the one he submitted.

 

[jwsamuel]

Hi, I was going to stop, but thought I could add some clarity to at least one issue. Regarding the article and how much it may have been changed from the author's original, I was interviewed at length about Guild by Ben and virtually none of what I said made it into print. I was also called by the author and told that the article as published had little if any connection to the one he submitted.

In what direction was it changed? I have written for magazines and edited them and it is not unusual for articles to be signifcantly, if not totally, rewritten after they are delivered.

Perhaps you could get the author to come on here and explain. As it is, there have been enough people on this board making statements for the author that you could have all just got him cut off from doing other articles for AG. After all, what editor would want to work with an author who goes around calling sources to complain about how much his story was edited.

Jim

 

[dreadnut]

Wow-I just spent most of the last hour reading all 13 pages of this thread :shock: I love my Westerly Guilds, and I wasn't thrilled about FMIC's move to Corona or their decision to put the Guild logo on the GAD's, either. And by the way, I cancelled my subscription to AG years ago because it didn't suit my needs, and because I felt it contained way too much advertising. That's how we vote for a product in this country, we buy it or we don't.

But I realistically don't expect any publication to be unbiased or publish only the gospel truth. Their primary objective is not to promote truth, justice, and the American way, it's to sell paper. For cryin' out loud, the Washington Post has been owned by the Rev. Myung Sun Moon for many years, consider the stark implications of that fact!

Anyway, I just wanted to agree that it was at least good to get the Guild name back in the spotlight and on the cover. I could really care less about the content of the article.

 

[Russell Letson]

the Washington Post has been owned by the Rev. Myung Sun Moon for many years

Make that the Washington Times. The Post is owned by the Washington Post Company.

 

[dklsplace]

Alright...I've unlocked this thread for the time being.

Let me just remind everyone once again, that this is a discussion forum. If you haven't read the forum disclaimer, do so now. It is now a global announcement posted atop each category.

Let me also remind everyone that we're dealing with a limited form of communication here. Emphasis, tone of voice & facial expressions aren't part of the equation & more times than not, simple text is misunderstood. Everyone just get a grip. If you want a pissing match, take it to another forum....there's plenty out there that seem to specialize in that sort of thing.

Sincerely,
The Management!

 

[dreadnut]

Thanks, Don. First of all, let me apologize for my erroneous post about the Washington Post being owned by the mostly Rev. Moon

My point was simply that I don't really trust the printed media to bring me the unvarnished truth. They pretty much write whatever it takes to sell the latest issue. May be a cynical take on it, but hard to argue otherwise.

 

[Guildmark]

"An intelligent man only believes half of what he reads.
A wise man knows which half" --- Mark Twain