Came Perilously Close to a Mortal Sin

[davismanLV]

I can't wait until y'all have your big MEET UP with Guild and get some questions answered. I'm very interested in what they have to say on many of these great questions. However, in the end what we'll end up with is what the corporation wants us to know or think about their product. With large corporations and business, TRUTH is seldom a commodity that sees the light of day. What we will most likely end up with is what their PLANS are for the future. Whether those plans will work and be successful is something only time will tell. Tom in Vegas

 

[chazmo]

Jim, that's a nasty rumor, but I have no information to confirm or deny that. I hope it's dead wrong. I do know some things about business in New Hartford that seem to contradict it, but I will not discuss them publicly.

 

[chazmo]

I can't wait until y'all have your big MEET UP with Guild and get some questions answered. I'm very interested in what they have to say on many of these great questions. However, in the end what we'll end up with is what the corporation wants us to know or think about their product. With large corporations and business, TRUTH is seldom a commodity that sees the light of day. What we will most likely end up with is what their PLANS are for the future. Whether those plans will work and be successful is something only time will tell. Tom in Vegas

Tom, that is exactly right.

 

[twocorgis]

OK Frono, allow me to shed some light. There is this man, a friend of mine and a dealer who told me a couple of months ago, that late last summer or early last fall, Fender told Guild they were closing the doors, and that only some very fast talk and faster suggestions, ie., the "Standard Series" has kept Guild afloat. That dealer's information came straight from a Guild representative. This is how I came to know what inspired the "Standard Series" and to expect a demise unless things improve for them dramatically.

West

Jim,

I would find all that believable except for a couple of things. For one, if Fender were really serious about getting rid of Guild, why did they transfer almost the entire production of Ovation guitars overseas. That, and the custom-only status of Adamas, Ovation, and Hamer suggests to me that they need more manufacturing capacity for Guild at the New Hartford plant. I also don't think that Guild would be rolling out two completely new lines (the Standard series and the Standard series cutaway) if they were planning on shuttering New Hartford, but then I guess they did that with Tacoma. :roll:

Only time will tell I suppose, but the fact that they invited us up there suggests to me that there is at least some level of commitment from the mother ship.

 

[West R Lee]

OK Frono, allow me to shed some light. There is this man, a friend of mine and a dealer who told me a couple of months ago, that late last summer or early last fall, Fender told Guild they were closing the doors, and that only some very fast talk and faster suggestions, ie., the "Standard Series" has kept Guild afloat. That dealer's information came straight from a Guild representative. This is how I came to know what inspired the "Standard Series" and to expect a demise unless things improve for them dramatically.

West

Jim,

I would find all that believable except for a couple of things. For one, if Fender were really serious about getting rid of Guild, why did they transfer almost the entire production of Ovation guitars overseas. That, and the custom-only status of Adamas, Ovation, and Hamer suggests to me that they need more manufacturing capacity for Guild at the New Hartford plant. I also don't think that Guild would be rolling out two completely new lines (the Standard series and the Standard series cutaway) if they were planning on shuttering New Hartford, but then I guess they did that with Tacoma. :roll:

Only time will tell I suppose, but the fact that they invited us up there suggests to me that there is at least some level of commitment from the mother ship.

Gosh, who knows Sandy? Why did they move to California? Why did they move to Washington, then shut that place down? I will only say that if you guys knew who had told me this....you'd say :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: !

And there are many obvious reasons why Guild would not want to this to get out. What would it do to sales? What about a "lifetime warranty"? It gives me no pleasure to bring this up and I have sat on this information for quite sometime, but in light of Frono's continuing to press me about my opinion on the issue, I thought it appropriate.

I've never thought of this (LTG) as a place to promote new Guilds, but a place to celebrate the Guilds we own. I've always thought that the company should do it's own promotion, and the buyers should critique.....both good and bad......and honestly.

West

 

[geoguy]

That tale is just too many steps removed from the original "source" to be believable, imo

 

[chazmo]

[ ... ]
I've never thought of this (LTG) as a place to promote new Guilds, but a place to celebrate the Guilds we own. I've always thought that the company should do it's own promotion, and the buyers should critique.....both good and bad......and honestly.

West

Interesting, West... No argument about the "celebrate the Guilds we own" comment, but do you think that we (LTGers) have done anything but critique honestly, including new products? Also, I think there's a difference between studying/critiquing the Guild "company" versus its products. Besides, there are plenty of us who do own new products that we like to celebrate.

There's been a lot of misinformation about the company over the last decade, based on years of wild speculation (here and elsewhere), some of which we had a chance to rectify last year when we visited New Hartford. For example, you asked about Tacoma... We got some very good information about that last year, including the fact that there were some production problems there that New Hartford has been in a position to solve.

Now, I can't speak to what you heard from your dealer friend, but hopefully we can get some more background on that. A rumor like that can't be refuted without inside knowledge, but the fact is that other than their summer shutdown New Hartford has been producing guitars and no doors are being closed.

 

[West R Lee]

[ ... ]
I've never thought of this (LTG) as a place to promote new Guilds, but a place to celebrate the Guilds we own. I've always thought that the company should do it's own promotion, and the buyers should critique.....both good and bad......and honestly.

West

Interesting, West... No argument about the "celebrate the Guilds we own" comment, but do you think that we (LTGers) have done anything but critique honestly, including new products? Also, I think there's a difference between studying/critiquing the Guild "company" versus its products. Besides, there are plenty of us who do own new products that we like to celebrate.

There's been a lot of misinformation about the company over the last decade, based on years of wild speculation (here and elsewhere), some of which we had a chance to rectify last year when we visited New Hartford. For example, you asked about Tacoma... We got some very good information about that last year, including the fact that there were some production problems there that New Hartford has been in a position to solve.

Now, I can't speak to what you heard from your dealer friend, but hopefully we can get some more background on that. A rumor like that can't be refuted without inside knowledge, but the fact is that other than their summer shutdown New Hartford has been producing guitars and no doors are being closed.

Sorry Charlie, but I can't tell you who told me that. Dismiss it or stock it back in your memory bank, whichever you choose. It might be a good question to ask them in October though, if you so choose. If I were working at Guild's N.H. plant and were renting a home and thinking of buying, I think I'd hold off for a while.

Do we critique honestly? Yes I think on the guitars we always have, but I think some have had their judgement about the company clouded by the company itself.......and that is not directed at any individual, just a general statement.

By the way, totally unrelated to the topic, but related to Guild. Man, I never thought I'd say this, but Graham and I stepped into a small guitar shop in Fredericksberg, Texas and on the wall, a Guild headstock stuck out like a sore thumb....... :shock: the dreaded "GAD50". That thing sounded pretty good and appeared to be well made. Now it does hurt me to say that......but :wink: I'm being honest! :lol:

West

 

[chazmo]

Holy crap! You played a GAD, West? First a Martin and now this? I think my head is going to explode!!!

West, I can tell you that New Hartford is busy, busy, busy trying to keep up with orders... I have to tell you that I think your deep throat is either misinformed or dealing with some sour grapes and Fender hate. I don't know that for sure, but the anecdotal evidence of what's going on here in Connecticut seems to refute him/her. That's all I can say.

And for god's sake, West, if you're pulling GADs off the wall, find yourself some New Hartford Guilds to play and let us know what you think!!!!!!!

Best wishes.

 

[twocorgis]

And for god's sake, West, if you're pulling GADs off the wall, find yourself some New Hartford Guilds to play and let us know what you think!!!!!!!

Best wishes.

Good luck with that one.

 

[adorshki]

Fronobulax circles and circles and suddenly strikes.

:lol: The poodle bites. The poodle chews it. :lol:

Very interesting. It comes down to how we assess the credibility of sources.

What Frono said.
It is also not uncommon for information which is sincerely believed and accurately shared, to be, or become incorrect, over time.

 

[West R Lee]

:lol: Hey, we walked in the store to kill some time and the GAD was the only Guild in the place.....what can I say? Oh gosh, and that Martin was incredible. And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink:

West

 

[adorshki]

:lol: Hey, we walked in the store to kill some time and the GAD was the only Guild in the place.....what can I say? Oh gosh, and that Martin was incredible. And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink:
West

Think of all the frequent flyer miles you could rack up traveling around looking for one!

 

[twocorgis]

:lol: Hey, we walked in the store to kill some time and the GAD was the only Guild in the place.....what can I say? Oh gosh, and that Martin was incredible. And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink:

West

Don't come to Long Island... :evil:

 

[adorshki]

:lol: Hey, we walked in the store to kill some time and the GAD was the only Guild in the place.....what can I say? Oh gosh, and that Martin was incredible. And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink:
West

Don't come to Long Island... :evil:

Yeah, don't come to San Jose either.
I hear Connecticut might be a likely spot.

 

[capnjuan]

:lol: Hey, we walked in the store to kill some time and the GAD was the only Guild in the place.....what can I say? Oh gosh, and that Martin was incredible. And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink: West

Don't come to Long Island... :evil:

Yeah, don't come to San Jose either. I hear Connecticut might be a likely spot.

You can count FL out too.

 

[Ridgemont]

And guys, I'd try a few N.H. Guilds if I could only find some. :wink:

West

Hey you have been advised several times....here is one:

Well, I am guessing you spent some time on I-35. Did you happen to stop at Guitar Resurrection in Austin to test out their massive inventory of NH Guilds? There was a GSR D-50 there but a member here already snagged it. They still have a GSR F40.

 

[Ridgemont]

Well, going through the posts, I feel pretty lucky to have a local Guild dealer with the monopoly on products coming out of NH. :?

Once again, here is what they have currently hanging on their wall:
http://www.guitarrez.com/aginventory/guildac.html


Edit: It looks like they just got in a new GSR D50.....hmmm 2 GSR D50s to one dealer? EddieZ already picked up the first one.

 

[Zelja]

It comes down to how we assess the credibility of sources. I don't doubt that your source is correctly reporting what was told, but I have to wonder about your source's source. LTG members have reported numerous instances of misinformation obtained from Fender dealers talking about Guild.

Just on 6-8 weeks ago 2 seperate retailers here told me that Guild was going back to producing guitars in Westerly! Just fitting out a new state of the art facility etc, etc. "But they just moved to New Haven" I said, with some sceptism - "No, no, definately going back to Rhode Island", they assured me.

 

[fronobulax]

It comes down to how we assess the credibility of sources. I don't doubt that your source is correctly reporting what was told, but I have to wonder about your source's source. LTG members have reported numerous instances of misinformation obtained from Fender dealers talking about Guild.

Just on 6-8 weeks ago 2 seperate retailers here told me that Guild was going back to producing guitars in Westerly! Just fitting out a new state of the art facility etc, etc. "But they just moved to New Haven" I said, with some sceptism - "No, no, definately going back to Rhode Island", they assured me.

With all due respect it may be that from your part of the world, the difference between Connecticut and Rhode Island is insignificant. I recall working with an Australian who was frustrated with Americans who thought Australia was like a small town where everybody knew everybody else.

Thanks also for another example of Fender sources clearly believing something about Guild that is contradicted by all other available sources.