Well I'm sure this will raise some eyebrows and probably really tick some of the New Hartford fans off, but that is not my intention, but merely to state the facts.
As some of you may know, others may not, I had knee surgery a few weeks ago. The finest orthopedic surgeon in 150 mile radius is without a doubt a man that practices in Shreveport, Louisiana. Today I made the hour and 15 minute drive over for a checkup. Mrs. West made the trip with me so I promised her a nice lunch and a trip to one of her favorite stores, but told her I'd like to find a Guild dealer in Shreveport and check out the new Guilds.
After having called about 6 dealers in Shreveport/Bossier while in the waiting room, we found 1 that had been identified as the only Guild dealer in the city. Not a big city, but no small community either as it is home to 375,000 residents. Not Dallas, not Houston, but a good sized town.
We arrived at Shreveport Music and I looked to my right to see the same Guild banner that Bing was so good to donate to the Arlington Convention. And there next to the banner rested exactly 1 GAD JF30. So I aksked the store owner where all the Guilds were and told him that he had indentified himself as a Guild dealer. He replied, "Yes sir, I can order one for you." I then asked why he didn't keep any in stock? And he told me that he hadn't since Fender bought Guild in '95. Funny, that's the same answer I got from Harvey Blankenstein who had been the only Guild dealer in my home town.........until 1995.
I sensed that the dealer in Shreveport was treading lightly, suspecting I was a Guild fan. I then told him that I had a collection of Westerlys. At that point, the young man behind the counter asked what I had, and when I told him, he lit up. Especially when I mentioned the D55. The owner went on to tell me in a very diplomatic way....."Sir, I could pay a bunch of money and get several in here to hang on the wall, but to be honest, at the price point they are now, folks look on the other wall and see a Taylor or a Martin for about the same price and that's all she wrote. They just don't sell."
Pretty sad I thought. But after my discussion with Harvey several years ago, and now with this man, it makes me wonder if there's not more to it than that. Who knows?
To be fair, this man today was a bit put out with Martin. He smiled and asked who's picture was on the guitar on the wall....a Martin? I looked over, sort of turned my head sideways and asked....Abe Lincoln (but he didn't have a beard)? He grinned and told me Martin makes all of the dealers buy them.....the picture is C.F. Martin Sr.
. He said it had hung in the store since he bought the guitar and that he'd had it for sale at his cost for a year.....he couldn't give it away.......it was ugly :shock: . Apparently, manufacturers have been known to make some pretty outrageous demands of dealers.......I got the sense that was the case with Guild, combined with the new pricing and relative obscurity, especially in this economy......they just ain't sellin'.
West