Guild Moving to CT?? Have you seen this?

[danerectal]

I don't hear anything bad about the last few Westerlys ever made. In fact I don't think I've heard a negative word addressed in generality toward any Westerly made Guilds. I think Gavin is right, if one took pride in himself as a luthier he would continue on his trade to his fullest capacity until his last. If people became instantly apathetic as soon as they realized they'd be working elsewhere, there would be no such thing as a two-week notice. For that matter, if Fender really didn't care, they'd make the announcement and cut severance checks on the spot.

 

[West R Lee]

:lol: Sheesh.....and y'all thought Dudley Smith and I were kidding when we discussed Fender's moving to Corona sometime back. :wink: My thought............wonder what Dudley thinks about all of this? :lol:

Doesn't matter much to me.....other than heartfelt sorrow for the employees of Tacoma, you guys built some nice guitars. My tee shirts says Guild "Made To Be Played" "1952-1995". But I really think 1952-2001, great craftsman in Westerly regardless of who they worked for.

West

 

[ramsa]

For that matter, if Fender really didn't care, they'd make the announcement and cut severance checks on the spot.

That might have already happened...

 

[capnjuan]

Press Release from Hoovers

02/02/2008 06:45:56 AM EST
News Tribune, The (Tacoma, WA) (KRT)

Feb. 2--Tacoma Guitars is leaving Tacoma.

"The company, formed in 1995 by Korean instrument maker Young Chang, will close production at its Frederickson plant by the end of the year. Seventy employees will be offered services from a menu including severance pay, benefit continuation, relocation and job placement assistance.

Fender Musical Instruments of Scottsdale, Ariz., purchased the company in 2004 for an estimated $2 million to $4 million plus the assumption of debt, former Tacoma Guitars President Ferdinand Boyce said Thursday evening. He said he was not surprised by Fender's announcement to close the Frederickson facility and move production of Tacoma- and Guild-brand guitars to a plant in New Hartford, Conn.

The Connecticut plant, which Fender acquired late last year, is also home to production of Ovation- and Hamer-brand guitars. "Frederickson is a wonderful plant, a great deal of it based on labor-intensive hand-manufacturing processes," Boyce said. "A lot of guys building guitars are going to robotics, machine-assisted manufacturing, which isn't suited to the Tacoma facility."

Fender spokesman Jason Padgitt on Friday denied that robotics will play a role in the manufacture of Tacoma or Guild guitars. "There's a lot of respect for everything everyone has done there. It certainly wasn't anything anyone looked at as an easy decision," he said. Padgitt said the decision centered on an economy of scale.

"We looked at production facilities and compared what was going to be the most effective for the brands overall," he said. "The New Hartford plant has 67,000 square feet. Tacoma has 44,000 square feet." He promised the name Tacoma will live on. [doesn't mention the name Guild cj ] At its peak, Tacoma Guitars employed 96 workers, said Boyce, now 71 and living in Seattle. He retired three years ago. Lately, he said, "Tacoma just wasn't big enough to run with the big dogs. Fender's commitment obviously is to make money." "Fender, from the time they bought the company, they really put Tacoma on the back burner," said Jimmy Davis, guitar sales associate at Tacoma's Ted Brown Music. "It's a great brand, as far as acoustic guitars go."

Bruce Kendall, president and CEO of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County, said he understands the move and doesn't foresee a major local impact. "It's always unfortunate when good-paying jobs in Pierce County go elsewhere," he said. Kendall said the Frederickson plant, leased by Tacoma Guitars, should easily find interest from another company. "There's high demand for manufacturing space," he said.

Along with Fender keeping alive the Tacoma brand, Davis from Ted Brown sees another silver lining. "At least they're keeping it in America," he said."

cj

 

[danerectal]

If I were in Tacoma I'd be "redirecting" some guitars to the "dumpster" right about now.

 

[capnjuan]

...or the trunk of a car...

 

[danerectal]

Dumpster is what I'd be calling my car. And since my car is non-functional right now, that's a very fitting title. I'd still be doing good work, it's just that the best work is something Fender wouldn't see. :mrgreen:

 

[capnjuan]

:mrgreen:

 

[chazmo]

Good find on the local article, CJ.

I didn't know that Tacoma was an offshoot of Young Chang. That's a little ironic.

 

[capnjuan]

The Tacoma prez talks about Tacoma & Guild going east. The Fender prez failed to mention Guild: "...promised the name Tacoma will live on..." Went to Hoovers looking for ownership info; see how many shares of FMIC my in-the-mail econo-squirt check might by ...

 

[chazmo]

The Tacoma prez talks about Tacoma & Guild going east. The Fender prez failed to mention Guild: "...promised the name Tacoma will live on..." Went to Hoovers looking for ownership info; see how many shares of FMIC my in-the-mail econo-squirt check might by ...

Unless I'm mistaken, FMIC is privately held, CJ. I think folks have been confused about that.

Tacoma is toast. Guild, well, that remains to be seen.

 

[capnjuan]

The Tacoma prez talks about Tacoma & Guild going east. The Fender prez failed to mention Guild: "...promised the name Tacoma will live on..." Went to Hoovers looking for ownership info; see how many shares of FMIC my in-the-mail econo-squirt check might by ...

Unless I'm mistaken, FMIC is privately held, CJ. I think folks have been confused about that. Tacoma is toast. Guild, well, that remains to be seen.

You're right, FMIC is privately owned ... maybe we could all pool our guitars, borrow against them, make FMIC an offer they can't refuse ... something along the lines of: 'We're all gonna hold our breaths until you do right by G..." Who am I kidding...

 

[Jeff]

The Tacoma prez talks about Tacoma & Guild going east. The Fender prez failed to mention Guild: "...promised the name Tacoma will live on..." Went to Hoovers looking for ownership info; see how many shares of FMIC my in-the-mail econo-squirt check might by ...

Unless I'm mistaken, FMIC is privately held, CJ. I think folks have been confused about that. Tacoma is toast. Guild, well, that remains to be seen.

You're right, FMIC is privately owned ... maybe we could all pool our guitars, borrow against them, make FMIC an offer they can't refuse ... something along the lines of: 'We're all gonna hold our breaths until you do right by G..." Who am I kidding...

Fender is a privately held corporation.

I'm suspicious the movers & shakers at Fender are fattening up the company, making her look like a big fat plum to the deal makers on Wall St.

Taking the company public; Really big money !!!

I could be wrong.

 

[danerectal]

Perhaps some good news for Guild. I was snooping around Premier Guitar's website and found this article.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazi...uitars_to_Move_Production_to_Connecticut.aspx

Scottsdale, AZ (January 31, 2008) -- Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is announcing that it will move production of Guild Guitars from Tacoma, Washington, to its newly acquired Ovation and Hamer Guitar manufacturing facility in New Hartford, Connecticut. The move will take place as a phased operational transfer, expected to be completed before the end of the year.

FMIC’s December acquisition of Connecticut-based Kaman Music Corporation also included the purchase of KMC’s Ovation and Hamer guitar brands and their manufacturing facility in New Hartford, Connecticut. The decision came as the result of an extensive review FMIC conducted to determine the best long-term home for Guild production. The final decision to relocate Guild to New Hartford was driven by FMIC’s desire to improve overall production processes, as well as meet the growing demand for Guild.

“We are committed to moving forward in a strong and focused way to ensure that Guild instruments continue to meet the highest standards of quality, affordability and accessibility for our consumers,” said Bill Mendello, Chairman and CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. “This decision will allow us to accomplish goals that we would otherwise not be able to meet in our Tacoma facility, while continuing our long-term commitment to manufacturing world-class guitars in the United States.” Select Tacoma brand guitar models will soon follow in the transition.

The approximately 70 Tacoma-based FMIC employees affected by the move will be provided with comprehensive assistance, including retention and severance packages, benefit continuation and outplacement services.

 

[dreadnut]

I wonder if the Fender/Guild execs get to keep their frequent flier miles... :lol:

 

[fungusyoung]

The decision came as the result of an extensive review FMIC conducted to determine the best long-term home for Guild production. The final decision to relocate Guild to New Hartford was driven by FMIC’s desire to improve overall production processes, as well as meet the growing demand for Guild.

Could this really be about pumping out a higher volume of Guilds? That's still not great news on the quality front and I'm far from comfortable with whatever is going on here. But, the idea that Guild's current distribution is insufficient is at least partly confirmed by the lack of their guitars in many retail locations. The stories of folks waiting for months for special orders because of lacking stock in some cases also makes me wonder if Tacoma just couldn't keep up. All that said, I'd be more comfortable if the move was to Nazareth, PA instead of to the Ovation plant, but maybe I should reserve much further judgment for a couple years.

Guess it just comes down to me being skeptical about FMIC and their idea of a quality acoustic product line.

 

[6L6]

I say give the move a chance.

Yes, it sucks for current Tacoma-based employees. I went through EIGHT corporate buyouts during my professional career and they all sucked. However, the product retained it's quality due to the dedication of the folks providing it.

I've owned Guild guitars built in every location except China and every one of them has been a stellar instrument. Yes, that includes a WONDERFUL D-50 built in Corona!

I've drooled over Guild guitars since I played my first one while in college back in 1964. They've always been #1 for me even though I have owned many Martin, Taylor, and Collings guitars over the years too.

Frankly, given the choice between living in the Seatlle/Tacoma area or New England, give me New England every time. I hope that most if not all employees are given the chance to retain their jobs and do the relocation.

I should add that for many years I gigged with an Ovation Custom Legend Model 1869 that was a wonderful instrument. Believe me, the folks at Ovation KNOW HOW TO BUILD great necks, fret boards, tops and inlays. I suspect they'll be very fast learners when it comes time to build sides and backs out of wood as well.

Sit back, have a cool one, and let's see how this unfolds. I'm betting that Guild continues to be the guitar of choice for all of us "who know."

6

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

 

[Pike]

Frankly, given the choice between living in the Seatlle/Tacoma area or New England, give me New England every time.

I've lived in both the northeast and the northwest 6, the northeast is nice, and I grew up there, but for me, I much prefer the northwest.

 

[dreadnut]

yeah, 6L6, I imagine you'll get some argument about that from Jeff, among others of Pacific Northwest persuasion. Moving from Tacoma to somewhere out East is probably just as unthinkable as moving from Westerly, RI to Corona, CA was to the RI employees.

 

[guildzilla]

Due to getting a respiratory infection simultaneously with the release of this news, this thread has been a dominant part of my life for three days, along with coughing. Missed work Friday and slept almost the entire day. Nothing else to do except do the first draft of the 2007 tax return, which was also a total bummer.

But it's been a consolation getting to read everybody's take on this.

I hope that I eat crow a year from now for my negative testimony on this issue. It all seems so transparent to me, but I'm feeling lousy and I'm paranoid by nature, some would say.

Good post of all the Tacoma Guild models at the NAMM show. Isn't that a rather broad acoustic product line to transition to a new factory by October?

This Kaman/Ovation factory in Connecticut, it could be great. But FMIC just bought it. It's like the house you just bought before you moved in. You saw it a couple times, but you know nothing about it, really. Beyond that lame analogy, this is far more complicated. FMIC is contending their ability to move Guild acoustic production on the fly, with no detailed and intimate knowledge of the destination. Look at the time frame here. All FMIC knows is the square footage and utilization percentage. It's too early for them to know anything else.

Jeff raises an interesting point about the possibility of FMIC going public.

I have a feeling there is stuff happening that is way over our heads. Are foreign investment interests pushing for this behind the scenes?