Why is Fender so reprehensible?

Wasn't it california, from this board?

It did look nice.

G

I have done the comparison. Played my old D25 for an hour or so, then went literally down the street to the music store for strings for another Guild of mine. When I got to the store, I went into the soundproof room with a Martin D28, Martin D35 and a Taylor 710. There really was no comparison. I will give you that the Martins might be easier to play than the D25, it had a little lower action and a fairly fast neck. The Taylor was the prettiest guitar of all, with koa binding and rosette against some nice rosewood. But in terms of pure sound and by that I'm referring to projection, intonation and sustain, the D25 beats them hands down. No brag, just fact. Keep in mind that my D25M was referred to as a student guitar in 1979. Of course, the D25 is just an old mahogany dread, the D55's of this world would be a better comparison against those 3 models.

Sorry, just the way I see it, or in this case.....hear it.

West

OUch, drednut! I hope you hadn't reported that DV-52 sale! That would've been right up my alley.

Sorry

But, I have been advising everyone here to watch for these on ebay. Looks like Cali got an exceptional deal on this one

I'll give mine up when they pry my cold, dead fingers from the fretboard...

More talk about the DV-52 on this board's Ebay section, under "Didn't Sell"

Graham said:

Wasn't it california, from this board?

It did look nice.

G

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Guilty as charged :wink:

Full report as soon as it arrives.

Man, I'm happy for you Cal, especially after all the bidding we've done against each other. Heck of a deal you got there! That thing will play so sweet. Congrats again.

West

Please excuse my extreme laziness, short attention span and crappy eyesight for not reading all the posts.
When Fender bought the rights to Gretsch it was without a doubt the best thing for Gretsch. It's also important to know that the division is under the leadership of Mike Lewis. They took the time to dissect the old guitars that everyone wants and then reverse engineered them to the old standards. No my "06" White Falcon doesn't play or sound like my "58" caddy green club but it's close and certainly better than what was made in the "70"'s.
Could Guild have made the same transition? I don't think so because of there not being a lapse in time and moving from the East Coast. For that reason I've been picking up older Guilds when they are available.

I generally agree with Curt about Gretsch - my first "real" guitar (still have it) is a Brooklyn-made Double Annie - and while the current Japanese-made Double Annie ain't the same, it's better than the 70s Baldwin-made models.

With Guild, I would think Fender could move production overseas on their archtops. I believe the Japanese Gretsches are made in the same location as Epiphone elitists - both not shabby. I would hold judgment for now.

Curt.

Don't be apologetic, mate.
Those are all GEEZER afflictions, and all of us understand !

Re:

california said:

Things could be worse -- if Fender's acoustics weren't lousy they may have killed off the Guild acoustic line the same way they did with electrics to stem the competition.

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I *finally* made my way through this thread (thanks for the pointer, Graham -- who first posted in here), and I decided to bump it back up by quoting this wonderful post from our buddy Cali...

As we've said goodbye to Tacoma this year, I'm feeling a little melancholy. So many views expressed in this thread, and mostly a lot of hopes pinned on Tacoma's success.

Now the new chapter has begun in New Hartford, Connecticut. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

I don't have the patience to wade through eleven (!!) pages of this three year-old thread. But does anyone really think there would still be Guilds being made, if FMIC had not purchased them?

Much like Gretsch (for whom FMIC has done good things, imo), I suspect that Guild might now be extinct if not for their acquisition by Fender.

- Mark

geoguy said:

I don't have the patience to wade through eleven (!!) pages of this three year-old thread. But does anyone really think there would still be Guilds being made, if FMIC had not purchased them?

Much like Gretsch (for whom FMIC has done good things, imo), I suspect that Guild might now be extinct if not for their acquisition by Fender.

- Mark

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[IMHO]
1. Yes. They survived before. They might have had low production numbers, but yes.

2. If Brian Setzer played a hollow-body Guild or a Gibson, Gretsch would be known for it's drums. Then again, Fender doesn't make Gretsches, it just buys them from Terada (sp?) Nice job with the marketing, though.

[/IMHO]

Like I try to remind the guys on other forums, when Fred Gretsch was trying to find someone to build guitars for him, Gretsches were considered to be hokey, with odd control schemes that didn't work as well as 95% of the rest of the market. The pickups were too weak and voiced wrong for playing heavy rock or funk, and their two most famous players were (excluding George) Chet Atkins and Dwayne Eddie for pete's sake. At the time, the only guys playing Gretsches were the guys who bought them because they were dirt cheap. I paid $239 for my Astro Jet because they couldn't give the damned thing away. Same thing with the CG- I wanted a Starfire, but couldn't find one and 335's were pushing 2K.
I don't like consolidation in the music industry, because you don't have US-built choices unless you go the custom built route.

Oh, and geoguy, you really should wade through this thread. It's worth it. (IMO, of course)

Chazmo said:

Oh, and geoguy, you really should wade through this thread. It's worth it. (IMO, of course)

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"Wade" being the operative word here. Be sure to wear your 5 buckles because sometimes we just get completely carried away. :wink:

Why is Fender so reprehensible?

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Dunno. But hey, at least Gibson didn't buy Guild.

That would have been a real disaster!

In my opinion - Fender has never made a decent acoustic -until they bought Guild (I think they wet the bed on the Tacoma brand -their such Idiots-to screw up a brand like that :lol: )
they are using the name ( Guild ) to give themselves validity as a Acoustic maker -taking Blueridge to build their Chinese models .They are starting to grow brains and some of the new USA made Guilds are nice -not like the pre-Fender ones - but we can always hope . I agree about the pre-CBS thing , Fenders were top of the heep back then - now even their electrics are so-so .

What are you guys complaining about?
Fender makes AWESOME acoustics!
Here.......check this one out....... :roll: :roll: :roll:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-MONKEY-BUSIN ... 19b19570bb

Pretty much says it all about their acoustics.....Made in China.......and aptly named "Monkey Business"

They really need to stick to strats, teles, and amps.

geoguy: First of all, I believe you will learn much from taking the time to read all the posts - just think of all the time we put into writing them. And if you do read all of these, you will see why many (if not most) of us do think Guild would have survived if FMIC didn't buy the brand (Heritage is one good example cited). In regards to Gretsch, I bought a used Gretsch in 1967 because it was cheap and a good playing guitar. And I believe the brand wouldn't have been revived if not for Brian Setzer, whom I thank for making my Gretsch worth what it is. The Gretsches and Guilds of the '50s and '60s were different animals from each other (and still are).