Yep, at some point my joints are gonna say type or play guitar, your choice. Thankfully they have pretty good voice recognition softwareRidgemont said:
Brad
After the glowing report from New Hartford tour
- Thread starter P-E-Z
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Brad
adorshki
Reverential Member
I think they will be there for a while, and FWIW, the guitars I played there are as good or better than any Guild I've ever played, and I've been a fan and owner since 1965, and taught in a shop that carried them for several years.Brad Little said:
Brad[/quote:2gue2ar7]
An opinion backed by that kind of experience carries a lot of weight with guys like me.
adorshki
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So if I called you on my cell phone would you post for me? :lol:Ridgemont said:
Bill Ashton
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I am late to the discussion here, but have to answer FNG...
As told before, when I was out to buy a new guitar last August ('09), I had the sound of a '76 Martin D-41 in my head (that was Scott's, that he played at the open-mic)...I felt like that guitar had "sucked" the sound I loved right out of my old Gibson J-30. Chaz had noted they had a D-50 at our favorite music store, so I headed there. Sold, damn! They had a (Tacoma) D-55 there which sounded very good to me, played a little stiff, but sounded really nice. The proprietor handed me several guitars to try, though he was basically "hands off," and the new D-41 he handed me sounded like my daughter's Dean. At $4500 or so it was more austentatious than the D55 and sounded terrible with a capital T. The HD-28 sounded better, but not much. There was nothing in the store that could touch the D55. I bought it. I struggled with its feel for 8 months before I finally broke down and brought it to a luthier (an authorized Guild repair station) for a set up. I cannot put it down now. To my ear, and for the money, even though the price has gone up, you cannot beat the Guild.
Granted mine is a Tacoma, but the NH's feel lighter and still give you that rumble in your chest when you play 'em. THAT's what they ought to advertize! (Anyone get that advert guy's name and number?)
I heard somewhere that a Martin is a great sounding guitar, if you have five years to wait...no truer words were ever spoken!
As told before, when I was out to buy a new guitar last August ('09), I had the sound of a '76 Martin D-41 in my head (that was Scott's, that he played at the open-mic)...I felt like that guitar had "sucked" the sound I loved right out of my old Gibson J-30. Chaz had noted they had a D-50 at our favorite music store, so I headed there. Sold, damn! They had a (Tacoma) D-55 there which sounded very good to me, played a little stiff, but sounded really nice. The proprietor handed me several guitars to try, though he was basically "hands off," and the new D-41 he handed me sounded like my daughter's Dean. At $4500 or so it was more austentatious than the D55 and sounded terrible with a capital T. The HD-28 sounded better, but not much. There was nothing in the store that could touch the D55. I bought it. I struggled with its feel for 8 months before I finally broke down and brought it to a luthier (an authorized Guild repair station) for a set up. I cannot put it down now. To my ear, and for the money, even though the price has gone up, you cannot beat the Guild.
Granted mine is a Tacoma, but the NH's feel lighter and still give you that rumble in your chest when you play 'em. THAT's what they ought to advertize! (Anyone get that advert guy's name and number?)
I heard somewhere that a Martin is a great sounding guitar, if you have five years to wait...no truer words were ever spoken!
Bill Ashton said:
Right there with you Bill. Of all the guitars I played at the factory, I liked the Burst D50 the best (other than the GSR F30). I'd buy one of them in a minute, but one of these days my (old heavy Westerly) D50 will come back from Nashville. It has survived the flood, and it will be a happy day indeed when we're reunited. I miss that guitar something fierce...
fungusyoung
Senior Member
This thread once again proves that, regardless of the various opinions and degrees of enthusiasm, skepticism, etc. expressed herein, the folks on LTG are first class all the way. Best forum I've ever been on anywhere, bar none.
Straight up, Fungy!
So, what... "Guild -- puts the rumble back in your chest!" ??
So, what... "Guild -- puts the rumble back in your chest!" ??
Bill Ashton
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You got it!
Takes the "cannon" moniker away from that company in Pennsylvania...
Takes the "cannon" moniker away from that company in Pennsylvania...
adorshki
Reverential Member
I always thought "banjo killer" was so much more appropriate annyway... :lol:Bill Ashton said:You got it!
Takes the "cannon" moniker away from that company in Pennsylvania...
I just don't know if the female contingent will appreciate that motto. Perhaps a little more subtle... Guild: Power Tools are Unnecessary.
OK, maybe I've gone in too deep here.
adorshki
Reverential Member
You said it not us... :lol:Chazmo said:
West R Lee
Venerated Member
Oh I don't think it's a Westerly versus debate. The topic in this thread is are you hog wild about what's going in in New Hartford. I think what we see is promising......very promising, but when they've been building guitars there for 3 decades, or at least a few years, we can make a comparison.
On the Acoustic Guitar Magazine ad, that too is promising as Guild had stopped taking out ads for quite some time.
West
On the Acoustic Guitar Magazine ad, that too is promising as Guild had stopped taking out ads for quite some time.
West
fronobulax
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I beg to differ. I see this as another facet of the "which factory and years are best?" and "what makes a guitar a Guild?" or even "Can it really be a Guild if it wasn't made in Westerly before Fender bought them?" discussions that really boil down to dogma debates. (When someone doesn't change their opinion after I give them the facts, that's dogma :wink: )West R Lee said:
There are several good questions being addressed in the debate so I still find it interesting.
Are the NH guitars good ones? (yes) Are the NH guitars good values? (Depends, but my sense if that that there will always be someone who believes there is more "bang for the buck" elsewhere). Will the NH guitars "age" well? (Ask again later). Are the NH guitars worthy standardbearers of the Guild tradition? (Irrelevant. They are the standardbearers whether "we" like it or not and "worthy" tends to include a healthy does of dogma).
If you substitute "Westerly" for NH in the above questions the answers are all yes, noting, however that the Westerly's pretty much defined the standard.
fronobulax said:
Frono,
No real disagreement with your post here, however, the above question (specifically) has never been a serious consideration around here (to my knowledge). Westerly-built Guilds under the 5-6 years of Fender ownership have always been highly-regarded. I've heard some newbies ask the question before, as if it were akin to the CBS takeover of Fender back in the '60s, but the resounding answer from the community has been that it's nonsense. That said, the question does become relevant again after 2001's exodus from Rhode Island, as we all know...
fronobulax
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Actually I dated myself with that because I was buying gear at a time when "pre-CBS" was readily available (sometimes as new stock) and commanding a premium because Fender had just been bought. I do think there are a couple of posters who, as a matter of dogma don't let any opportunity to slam Fender pass them by. That said, when the folks who actually worked at Westerly under various owners say the quality improved if it did anything, I have to believe them.Chazmo said:
Put yourself in this situation:
Someone walks up to you with a Corona D25 with some major playability issue that [we will assume] came from the factory. What will your response be? Will it be a) it would be worth your time and money to have a luther fix that because once fixed, it will be a great guitar worthy of the Guild name or b) it would be in your best interest to sell it at full disclosure and look for an older better Westerly version with no issues because those are the guitars of legend that made Guild a superpower.
While I am limited in examples, I have seen other forums handle similar situations. I am sure we have all heard about the "Dark Years" of Martin during the '70s and '80s, but people on the Martin site, more often than not, have said fix it cause at the end of the day it's a Martin. Once again I have limited examples.
I see this to be a matter of finding where your loyalties really lie. If you choose to sit on your stoop talking about the good old days of Guild and see everything else as second then can you still consider yourself to be an ambassador of the brand. Like Frono said, NH Guilds (I will add GADs to this as well) are Guilds whether we like it or not. Their quality/flaws and survival/failure will ultimately determine the outcome of the brand and its legacy. If Guild fails, then eventually even the Westerly folklore will be forgotten. I will choose to answer a in my question above, because that guitar holds the Guild name and is an ambassador of the brand. When we faction the brand, I believe we weaken it overall.
Someone walks up to you with a Corona D25 with some major playability issue that [we will assume] came from the factory. What will your response be? Will it be a) it would be worth your time and money to have a luther fix that because once fixed, it will be a great guitar worthy of the Guild name or b) it would be in your best interest to sell it at full disclosure and look for an older better Westerly version with no issues because those are the guitars of legend that made Guild a superpower.
While I am limited in examples, I have seen other forums handle similar situations. I am sure we have all heard about the "Dark Years" of Martin during the '70s and '80s, but people on the Martin site, more often than not, have said fix it cause at the end of the day it's a Martin. Once again I have limited examples.
I see this to be a matter of finding where your loyalties really lie. If you choose to sit on your stoop talking about the good old days of Guild and see everything else as second then can you still consider yourself to be an ambassador of the brand. Like Frono said, NH Guilds (I will add GADs to this as well) are Guilds whether we like it or not. Their quality/flaws and survival/failure will ultimately determine the outcome of the brand and its legacy. If Guild fails, then eventually even the Westerly folklore will be forgotten. I will choose to answer a in my question above, because that guitar holds the Guild name and is an ambassador of the brand. When we faction the brand, I believe we weaken it overall.
FNG
Enlightened Member
Bill Ashton said:I am late to the discussion here, but have to answer FNG...
As told before, when I was out to buy a new guitar last August ('09), I had the sound of a '76 Martin D-41 in my head (that was Scott's, that he played at the open-mic)...I felt like that guitar had "sucked" the sound I loved right out of my old Gibson J-30. Chaz had noted they had a D-50 at our favorite music store, so I headed there. Sold, damn! They had a (Tacoma) D-55 there which sounded very good to me, played a little stiff, but sounded really nice. The proprietor handed me several guitars to try, though he was basically "hands off," and the new D-41 he handed me sounded like my daughter's Dean. At $4500 or so it was more austentatious than the D55 and sounded terrible with a capital T. The HD-28 sounded better, but not much. There was nothing in the store that could touch the D55. I bought it. I struggled with its feel for 8 months before I finally broke down and brought it to a luthier (an authorized Guild repair station) for a set up. I cannot put it down now. To my ear, and for the money, even though the price has gone up, you cannot beat the Guild.
Granted mine is a Tacoma, but the NH's feel lighter and still give you that rumble in your chest when you play 'em. THAT's what they ought to advertize! (Anyone get that advert guy's name and number?)
I heard somewhere that a Martin is a great sounding guitar, if you have five years to wait...no truer words were ever spoken!
I've played a couple D-41 Specials that I liked. And a HD-28 that was pretty alive. But I don't own a Martin, because I just don't like they way they feel, and on average, sound, for some reason. Not sure if it's the finish or what, but they don't blow my hair back.
Like I said...my Guilds will stand up to any Martin. I havent' played a NH model yet, but I'd bet they will too.
Bill Ashton
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"...blow my hair back..." There's another one, I love it!
They gotta get a dreadnaught into the hands of a Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton or Tim Stafford to show what it can do...
They gotta get a dreadnaught into the hands of a Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton or Tim Stafford to show what it can do...
... perhaps the Pope's in-bound emissary, Msgr. G_________ ,will conduct an Inquisition scourging the heretics.fronobulax said:
"Sic exsisto ut non - puto. Permissum illic exsisto haud salus pro lemma."
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Thus be to non-believers. Let there be no salvation for them. :wink:
Respectfully, I remember their remarks as ambiguous on the subject of quality ... but unambiguous on initial FMIC representations about keeping Westerly open ... where it's possible that the latter and the passage of time maybe influencing their perceptions of the former.Fronobulax said:
fronobulax
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capnjuan said:
The quote is from this thread with bold added by yours truly. It stuck in my mind as representative (as well as easy to search for) but I freely admit that I may have forgotten other comments that don't support the point.workedinwesterly said:
My personal experience has been things don't have to go bad with new management in any endeavor. It's when management starts making "improvements" (such as relocating factories) that quality suffers.