Hi All...
Well...I think this is both a sad...and a bad decision on Fender's part...if what you have heard is correct, and will really come to pass. I really feel that just going to cutaway only on all of the standard series models would/will just further alienate the "traditional Guild fans"...who just keep on hoping that someday, somehow, someone who really loves the original Guild Guitar Company...what it stood for under Alfred Dronge...and the guitars that they made...will buy the company and just make all the great classic Guild models, and stop fiddling around with the "brand". If they lose the old time Guild fans/players, they will eventually lose the brand. Of all people...Ren Ferguson really ought to know that...considering all that he went through at Gibson Acoustic, to rebuild a brand that was nearly ruined by some of the same type of "tinkering" that you see happening with Guild. I wonder what Ren is really thinking about all of this...really thinking...
Of course...this is the ultimate problem with Guild. They aren't really Guild...they are really Fender...or FMIC in actuality. Guild hasn't been Guild really since they were bought out by Avnett, and it has showed in the long run, as Guild has mostly seemed to exist as a "red headed stepchild" in the market, always fighting for attention, for autonomy, for room to breath and just be Guild, as it existed in the 50's and 60's, and very early 70's when it REALLY was a huge force in the acoustic music/acoustic guitar market. When Fender first bought them, everyone hoped that this would be a bold and strong re-birth...but that did not happen. Instead Fender has just bounced them around, and never really seemed to want to spend the time and money to really really re-build the brand. Say what you will about "Crazy Henry J" at Gibson...but somehow, Ren got the manpower, and the moneypower to do the job he needed to do, and he did it right...going back to basics, going back to the models that made Gibson a force in the market, and building them up right, and bringing them out to a market that really hungered for them, and then really responded by buying.
Now I know that some of you guys seem to be in tight...evidently?...with folks at Guild, and they keep saying that things are looking up...but...I have to say that I don't necessarily see/feel that. We hear all the time from people here on LTG and what I see/hear all the time over on the AGF, that they want to see/try a Guild, that they are really interested in a Guild...but they just can not find any that are anywhere near them. This is true here in Portland, Oregon. Portland Music has some...but they're stock is not huge, and there is no one else around, anywhere here in Oregon, who seems to have them...maybe Mckenzie River Music in Eugene. I don't what it is like in the Seattle area, but I doubt that it is much better. Also, as many of you have mentioned...Guilds pricing is not a bargain at all...not that they ought to be...but...that WAS part of Guilds allure in their glory years of the 50's to the 70's. They made an a really great looking, really great sounding guitar, and sold it for a good deal less than the comparable Martin.
I know you guys have a lot of faith in the folks you talk to at Guild...but...when you see what they say to you folks each year at the LMG gigs...and then see what they do...like the Orpheum line...or this new wrinkle. When you see people asking...in vain...for over 20 years now, for Guild to build a John Denver commemorative 6 and 12 string...and make NO mistake...John Denver WAS their biggest star...a true superstar touring the world playing his iconic F-50RAA and F-612 for many many years...and there most definitely IS a market for these guitars...look at what Martin and Gibson have done with all of their signature series guitars. When you see all of this in the aggregate...well...I at least really have to wonder if and or where this is all going to lead...in any really good way...for Guild Guitars...and all of the fans/players of Guild Guitars.
I think...just me personally...that the problem is that Guild really needs ownership that prioritizes the music, history, and heritage, first...at least in really re-building the brand...and then the X's and 0's of the business second. If they would get the first one right...I think the second one would fall into place nicely...but make no mistake...Larry Thomas...the CEO of FMIC...is an X's and 0's guy ALL the way.
I fear I am starting to hear the "Bells of Rhymney" chiming for Guild...again...
I hope that I am dead wrong...
I am sad...
Kind Regards
duff
