kittyboy said:
... Do we know for a fact that they bombed? ... Also, I don't know if it's the spider thing or not ... Contemporary's are lighter, louder, purer, and clearer than pretty much any other guild I've played...and I'm a Guild nut.
Hi KB; about all anybody knows for certain is:
1. FMIC closed Tacoma,
2. In 2009, the market was flooded with a large number of 'C' models and a smaller number of Traditional models all stamped 'used'; that is, with no Guild warranty attached,
3. At least some of the graphite neck-block 'C' models were duds, and
4. The graphite neck-block is not used on any current Guild models.
As Kevin Bacon's character says in A Few Good Men: "These are the facts." There are probably industry insiders who could come close to answering your question about whether the C models bombed. But knowing total sales wouldn't mean anything without knowing what FMIC's original sales targets were so any remarks about whether they 'bombed' or not wouldn't be much more than gossip. For example, overheard in a chatroom: "Susie is a Ho."
The following language was lifted from a previous page of this thread and originally taken from an eBay auction for a 'blem' C model:
"I hand pick my guitars from factory closeouts and seconds, selecting only quality instruments. ... Any that had blemishes have been
restored by an expert luthier (my emphasis, J) ... They are stamped with a tiny "used" on the back of headstock to prevent dishonest dealers from selling you an instrument claiming it is warranted. What you get is a brand name, quality instrument for a fraction of the cost."
This is a pic of a healthy graphite neck-block:
This is member Scratch's C model; the subject of this thread (pics at pgs 10 and 11). It isn't clear whether the block wasn't strong enough to withstand the pressure, whether it left the factory in this condition, or whether it was " ... restored by an expert luthier ..." as advertised above.
Pic indicating the approximate point of failure ... probably from over-tightening the bolts to correct either or both neck-angle or ski-slope conditions.
Whenever Guild sells a warranted guitar, it sets aside part of the sales proceeds into a Warranty Reserve account. On the books, it's a contingent liability in the amount of the cash set aside to offset it. So; if they fix a truly blemished guitar, not only does the cost of the repair erode the gross margin, so does the warranty set-aside ... just as it would if the guitar hadn't been repaired. If FMIC's warranty experience with neck-block guitars had been adverse, then the issue of how much to set aside takes on greater significance.
When Tacoma closed, FMIC was apparently ankle-deep in unsold inventory ... whether it was unsold but marketable inventory, factory 'blems' that had failed in-house QA/QC, or come-backers that had been sold but returned ... eh ... these would actually be 'used' guitars. One explanation ... and it's just a theory ... for the 2009 flood of 'blems' (which according to you and others, also included perfectly good guitars) is that they hadn't been able to sell the perfectly good ones and didn't want to repair and go on the warranty hook for the 'blems' .... so they stamped everything in sight 'used' and sold it off on the gray market. With respect to the 'blems', the question would be; why fix it if you can't sell it?'
I personally give FMIC high marks for trying to apply 21st century means and methods to a largely 19th century process. They were trying to achieve manufacturing economies while producing a better-sounding, longer-lasting guitar. As that famous golf-playing luthier Bobby Jones said: "Not every shot lands on the green".
I hope you get years of pleasure out of your C model; there are a lot of very fine Tacomas out there both Traditional and Contemporarys.
