"Hello, Guild Guitars...and Benches"

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In 1980, Neil Lilien called me into his office and showed me some brochures of piano benches.

"So, what's this about,?" I asked.

"We're thinking about making these at the factory for a company that sells them. We could knock these benches out really quickly and easily."

"Why do you want to dilute the company's focus on guitars,?" I replied. "We should keep producing better guitars and come up with some really killer electrics and throw those S series guitars out the door. They don't sell."

Guild never made piano benches, thank goodness. To Neil's credit, he did value my advice from time to time.
 

BluesDan

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DrumBob said:
In 1980, Neil Lilien called me into his office and showed me some brochures of piano benches.

"So, what's this about,?" I asked.

"We're thinking about making these at the factory for a company that sells them. We could knock these benches out really quickly and easily."

"Why do you want to dilute the company's focus on guitars,?" I replied. "We should keep producing better guitars and come up with some really killer electrics and throw those S series guitars out the door. They don't sell."

Guild never made piano benches, thank goodness. To Neil's credit, he did value my advice from time to time.

Hey Graham! C'mon man....let's see that Guild prototype piano bench!!!!!
:mrgreen: :lol: :lol:
 

Graham

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BluesDan said:
Hey Graham! C'mon man....let's see that Guild prototype piano bench!!!!!
:mrgreen: :lol: :lol:

"Sure we do piano benches, pff, how difficult can they be?"

7dcacf06.gif
 

capnjuan

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DrumBob said:
In 1980, Neil Lilien called me into his office and showed me some brochures of piano benches. "So, what's this about,?" I asked. "We're thinking about making these at the factory for a company that sells them. We could knock these benches out really quickly and easily." "Why do you want to dilute the company's focus on guitars,?" I replied. "We should keep producing better guitars and come up with some really killer electrics and throw those S series guitars out the door. They don't sell." Guild never made piano benches, thank goodness. To Neil's credit, he did value my advice from time to time.
Hi Drumbob; I see your point:

Guilder Dealer to up-priced Guild guitar buyer: "Now that you've chosen one of our fine guitars, how about a couple of extra set of strings, some picks, and a new piano bench?

"Every name's an alias in case somebody squeals, It's the lure of easy money; it's got a very strong appeal" G. Frey

What about Guild amps; did you have any input / experience with trying to design / mfr / distribute them? cj
 

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7dcacf06.gif


Holy crap that's funny!
:D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :roll: 8) :wink: :mrgreen:
 
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capnjuan said:
DrumBob said:
In 1980, Neil Lilien called me into his office and showed me some brochures of piano benches. "So, what's this about,?" I asked. "We're thinking about making these at the factory for a company that sells them. We could knock these benches out really quickly and easily." "Why do you want to dilute the company's focus on guitars,?" I replied. "We should keep producing better guitars and come up with some really killer electrics and throw those S series guitars out the door. They don't sell." Guild never made piano benches, thank goodness. To Neil's credit, he did value my advice from time to time.
Hi Drumbob; I see your point:

Guilder Dealer to up-priced Guild guitar buyer: "Now that you've chosen one of our fine guitars, how about a couple of extra set of strings, some picks, and a new piano bench?

"Every name's an alias in case somebody squeals, It's the lure of easy money; it's got a very strong appeal" G. Frey

What about Guild amps; did you have any input / experience with trying to design / mfr / distribute them? cj

capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.
 

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DrumBob said:
capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.

It's piece not pice. :wink: :mrgreen:

Not that I'm keeping score or anything. Shirley we're not that petty. :wink:

Tie game, your serve.
 

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The Guilds of Grot said:
7dcacf06.gif


Holy crap that's funny!
:D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :D :) :lol: :roll: 8) :wink: :mrgreen:

+1+1+1+1 :mrgreen: :lol:
 

capnjuan

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DrumBob said:
capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.
Thank you Bob; if you've had a chance to browse, you probably already know the late 60s/early 70s tube amps are pretty popular here; thereafter the interest tails off pretty fast. One of our most prominent collectors once characterized the Tweedy bird as being on a par with a 50s/60s pocket radio....eecchh ... Welcome again and thank you. cj
 
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Graham said:
DrumBob said:
capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.

It's piece not pice. :wink: :mrgreen:

Not that I'm keeping score or anything. Shirley we're not that petty. :wink:

Tie game, your serve.

"pice" is a typo
"shirly" is well, not a typo

Pardon me, but I'm a journalist and author with a BA in English. I notice this stuff.
 

coastie99

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DrumBob said:
Graham said:
DrumBob said:
capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.

It's piece not pice. :wink: :mrgreen:

Not that I'm keeping score or anything. Shirley we're not that petty. :wink:

Tie game, your serve.

"pice" is a typo
"shirly" is well, not a typo

Pardon me, but I'm a journalist and author with a BA in English. I notice this stuff.


DrumBob; meet Russell, meet Darryl !!
 

Graham

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DrumBob said:
Graham said:
DrumBob said:
capnjuan...Guild amps were history by the time I joined the company, except for the Tweedy Bird, a little pice 'o crap mini amp that plugged into the guitar. I had four of them and they all died within months.

It's piece not pice. :wink: :mrgreen:

Not that I'm keeping score or anything. Shirley we're not that petty. :wink:

Tie game, your serve.

"pice" is a typo
"shirly" is well, not a typo

Pardon me, but I'm a journalist and author with a BA in English. I notice this stuff.

OK now I'm confused. :shock:

Who typed shirly? :?

This isn't going well.

I'll just go back to taking notes without my BA in English.
 

capnjuan

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Maybe Darryl snuck in somewhere, threw off the cosmic central wave finder ... Bob: it can get a little loosey goosey in here. Shirley/Shirly/Surely that's at least partially/partly/in part apparent. Myself, I'm an English miner but there's very little English to be mined here in south Florida; Spanglish, Spanish, Creole and the Bahamian and Jamaican dialects of English. Also, our water table is 4' below ground so serious digging is costly and interrupted by the need to pump groundwater.

In the event of BB fouls, there are various penalties; 5 yards w/ or w/o loss of down, 15 yarders, Game Misconducts, Detention, and if the postor can't get their own screwed up posts edited in time, Jack Palance pushups where the muffor is obligated to determine how many are equitably required.

May I ask if you're published? If so where and on what subjects? You may already know that there are several journalists among the BB membership. As a word of caution, if you write the filler for the airline mags, consider just saying something like travel or comparative desalinization techniques; it's cyberspace ... and life's too short.

Best regards, John
 
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capnjuan said:
Maybe Darryl snuck in somewhere, threw off the cosmic central wave finder ... Bob: it can get a little loosey goosey in here. Shirley/Shirly/Surely that's at least partially/partly/in part apparent. Myself, I'm an English miner but there's very little English to be mined here in south Florida; Spanglish, Spanish, Creole and the Bahamian and Jamaican dialects of English. Also, our water table is 4' below ground so serious digging is costly and interrupted by the need to pump groundwater.

In the event of BB fouls, there are various penalties; 5 yards w/ or w/o loss of down, 15 yarders, Game Misconducts, Detention, and if the postor can't get their own screwed up posts edited in time, Jack Palance pushups where the muffor is obligated to determine how many are equitably required.

May I ask if you're published? If so where and on what subjects? You may already know that there are several journalists among the BB membership. As a word of caution, if you write the filler for the airline mags, consider just saying something like travel or comparative desalinization techniques; it's cyberspace ... and life's too short.

Best regards, John

John...I am author of the book "Great Rock Drummers Of The Sixties," and Features Editor with Classic Drummer magazine. I have also written over the years for Modern Drummer, Vintage Guitar, Blue Suede News, Drumhead, No Depression, Blues Revue, Blues Access, and many other local and regional newspapers and magazines.
 

chazmo

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Companies and focus... Always a fascinating study. The successful private companies are the ones that focus well. Those companies also have to know when to focus on something different (though usually related) when technology changes around them. The beauty of a private company is that it can / should keep its eye on the long ball and can weather business slow-downs while gearing up for the future.

Public companies, almost universally, are unsuccessful when they're too focused. The nature of "growth," which is essentially an imperative for a public company, seems to require some amount of diversification.

DrumBob, were you at Guild when Avnet came in?
 

capnjuan

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DrumBob said:
John...I am author of the book "Great Rock Drummers Of The Sixties," and Features Editor with Classic Drummer magazine. I have also written over the years for Modern Drummer, Vintage Guitar, Blue Suede News, Drumhead, No Depression, Blues Revue, Blues Access, and many other local and regional newspapers and magazines.
Thank you Bob; very impressive indeed. I don't play the drums but was always impressed by whoever it was behind Frankie Vallie and the Fours Seasons. I can still remember every beat and tone of those killer rolloffs or whatever they're call at the end of Dawn; and of course, Ginger Baker ... his Air Force work, at least to me, not up to his work with Cream but, IMO only, hard to top something approaching genius. Best Wishes, John
 

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MandoSquirrel said:
Anybody got a fleebay link to one of those benches?

Custom crafted in Ontario, Canada by Graham Industries, a subsisiary of FMIC, none presently in production. Chinese knock-offs pulled due to lead content.
Sorry Mando...... :wink:
 
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