First guilds from the new factory...

[P-E-Z]

Hey, Pez, welcome to LTG.

Thanks good to be here.

 

[P-E-Z]

Whelp, short answer... no tour (yet), folks. Maybe I'll try again in the winter some time...

I got a very nice, comforting email direct from Frank Untermyer, the GM of the New Hartford Kaman facility (below) [this is legit, by the way, not a Chazmo APWire fabrication ]:

Thanks for your interest, We're not ready for a tour. Once we are we
probably will arrange for a more comprehensive tour, opening the
facility to a larger group of people (we have long had tours for both
the Ovation and Hamer web based fan clubs). We have made real headway
here on Guild. We've dedicated a large amount of space exclusively to
Guild. It's really good work space, you'll be happy. We've had our
people train at Guild. We're putting some of our best people into Guild
production. We have spent a good deal of time designing and fabricating
the proper tools and fixtures that Guild has long deserved. We're all
very much into this project and are excited about returning Guild to its
New England roots. The exterior of our facility is much like Westerly
but we have renovated the interior so that the work space itself is
nicer and far better suited for building guitars. I know that there is
much speculation out there about why Guild is being moved again. Rest
assured that this move is being looked at as Guild's last and is being
made to insure that a rich American guitar tradition continues far into
the future.

I done the factory tours and gathering for Ovation in the past.
This year was canceled in the past they have been in May/June.
Prior to that there been 5 in a row.
I would suggest you coordinate this with;
Alexander M. Pepiak
http://www.ovationfanclub.com
He the one who organized and promoted the the tours of Adamas/Ovation/Hamer in the past.

Frank U used to own Hamer along with Jol Dantzig.
If you never seen Hamer USA you'll stunned by the quality control.
You'll be Amazed how little automazation there is with Ovation.
Lots of hand work.
Here are photos of the factory.
http://www.ovationtribute.com/Ovation_F ... index.html

I have little concern about the quality of the instruments made in New Hartford.
Not there are no youngsters working there.
People with 15 to 20 years expirence or more is not uncommon.

Has anyone seen any New Hartford 12 strings in person???

 

[Beal]

Nice post there Pez.
I would agree with all he says and all that Frank said in the letter.
It is being given the best shot.

 

[P-E-Z]

Nice post there Pez.
I would agree with all he says and all that Frank said in the letter.
It is being given the best shot.

Hey Beal good to see ya here
Pez

 

[chazmo]

If one of you guys knows Mr. Untermeyer or folks who are working on Guild at New Hartford, please do work the backchannels to find out what the status is. I haven't heard anything from him since the summer, and I'm doubtful that we're going to see any guitars from there this year. That said, I think Bing said that some folks had tried prototypes from the factory and were pleased. This might've been a rumor(?)...

I also had contacted him about whether some of the production was going to Mexico, and I didn't get a reply.

 

[jazzman]

Hey everyone!
So I'll will start with my disclaimer that I did NOT read all 10 pages of replies to this thread. I read the first page and decided that I should interject a bit.
Regarding the move of the factory once again, let's look at this in a more realistic light. Fender moved Guild out of Westerly due to, from what I know, a factory that was falling apart. They had no other choice but to move to Corona.
The problem in Corona was that there was not enough space to produce two full product lines. The line "had" to be pared down due to production demands.
Tacoma was a good move because it afforded FMIC a whole factory that could be dedicated to Guild production.
What I've heard is that Washington state was not a terribly friendly place to do business in the manufacturing sense, and the factory was already becoming small for the expanding product line.
With the FMIC purchase of Kaman Group, fender now obviously owns the Ovation/Hamer factory in CT which I"m told is HUGE!!!!
I would speculate that seeing as how Hamer is there, there is a chance of seeing a couple Guild electrics come back. There has been company whispering of Japanese made electrics...which I'd be angry about.
In the end I can't totally fault Fender because they've been struggling to find a home for Guild where it can be established for a while.
NOW, that being said I do think that while the quality of Guild guitars has still been good overall, I think FMIC has done a horrible job managing the company. The electrics were deleted due to lack of sales, but do any of us actually remember seeing any kind of advertising for them anywhere??? NOPE!
The company will never again be what it was years ago. We need to be at peace with that most unfortunate outcome.
One note on quality, overall the Tacoma guitars have been pretty good, but how many times I had a batch of them come in and I had to do MASSIVE setup work to get the things to play well. Many times neck angles weren't quite right, finish problems, fret problems (not that often), yeah they have had their quirks more than I'd like to admit, but it wasn't ever anything I couldn't fix at the store. I'm just curious how many years these guitars will last before needing a neck reset etc.
Are they building them to last???? Time will tell!
OH, and for those who don't know me or don't remember, I work at Willie's American Guitars in St. Paul, Minnesota.
My sales rep has told me that there is no news from the new factory. The guitars were supposed to be ready in Aug, then sept, then oct, then nov....where are they? Having production problems perhaps???
I just shake my head and roll my eyes.

 

[lroyb]

The guitars were supposed to be ready in Aug, then sept, then oct, then nov....

Maybe before Christmas? They still have 14 days.....

 

[hideglue]

.... I work at Willie's American Guitars in St. Paul, Minnesota..

Hey Jazzman!

Do you know the whereabouts of the Artist Award -- the very last guitar off the Westerly line -- that you guys sold a few years back?

 

[workedinwesterly]

good point Hideglue.
I was wondering about that last guitar too, a sunburst Benedetto Artist Award.
I had a picture of Brian, Phil and Rick posing with it...can't seem to find it anywhere.

Regarding: "Fender moved Guild out of Westerly due to, from what I know, a factory that was falling apart. They had no other choice but to move to Corona."

The building was in better shape in 2001 than it was when they moved there in 1968.
We were building 40 guitars a day, with over 40 different models.

All of a sudden, building no good ?

The building is still there...and still being used!

Believe what you want to believe.

 

[hideglue]

I had a picture of Brian, Phil and Rick posing with it...can't seem to find it anywhere.

Hey wiw,

It was actually a blonde AA.

Anyway, the following is one of the pics I took at that time.

The following link might be offensive to those not humored by departing finger gestures. Faces have been blocked to protect the innocent

Click HERE

 

[plaidseason]

good point Hideglue.
I was wondering about that last guitar too, a sunburst Benedetto Artist Award.
I had a picture of Brian, Phil and Rick posing with it...can't seem to find it anywhere.

Regarding: "Fender moved Guild out of Westerly due to, from what I know, a factory that was falling apart. They had no other choice but to move to Corona."

The building was in better shape in 2001 than it was when they moved there in 1968.
We were building 40 guitars a day, with over 40 different models.

All of a sudden, building no good ?

The building is still there...and still being used!

Believe what you want to believe.

I visited once in the summer of 2000 and the only "outdated" might have been the furniture in the waiting room.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

 

[Default]

You mean that isn't the universal sign for "You're Number One"?


I am so pissed at Mom....

 

[hideglue]

You mean that isn't the universal sign for "You're Number One"?


I am so pissed at Mom....

My therapist blames everything on my Mom.

I had a picture of Brian, Phil and Rick posing with it...can't seem to find it anywhere.

Hey wiw,

It was actually a blonde AA.

Anyway, the following is one of the pics I took at that time.

The following link might be offensive to those not humored by departing finger gestures. Faces have been blocked to protect the innocent

Click HERE

 

[Beal]

I heard a rumor at the gas station where I used to work that the guitars are in production start-up mode. They'll be ready when they're ready. I do know that the factory has turned itself inside out to make Guild #1 priority.

 

[workedinwesterly]

hideglue,

thanks for the pic.
can you PM me the one that's more politically correct?

I stand corrected on the color of the guitar, and i forgot that CP was in the pic too.
Do you have the serial number of that guitar ?

WiW

 

[danerectal]

I heard a rumor at the gas station where I used to work that the guitars are in production start-up mode. They'll be ready when they're ready. I do know that the factory has turned itself inside out to make Guild #1 priority.

Which gas station did you work at?

 

[Beal]

AirKaman of Jacksonville, it was the Fixed Base Operator at Jacksonville International Airport, we did all the fueling for the whole airport.
I should have said gas station for airplanes..........

 

[JerryR]

BTW - happy birthday Beal :mrgreen:

 

[guildzilla]

With regard to rumors, wouldn't it be interesting if it turned out the point of origin is LTG? Classic blowback. We conjecture. We hope. The rumor spreads, and the next thing we know, we're hearing about how great the guitars sound. By discussing them, we make them real before they are real.

I'll feel better when I see one. And even better when the Guild website is updated with some information about the Hartford start up. There is literally nothing on there about shutting down Tacoma or anything else.

 

[Beal]

The factory is in New Hartford which is about 40 miles west of Hartford.

JerryR, Thanks but that was a month ago.
Cheers mate!