GUILD History in a nutshell

adorshki

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While looking for some background on the Contemporary series this morning, I stumbled across this article from Acoustic Guitar magazine, I think it's the Dec. '07 edition.
On careful reading it offers some insights on a very under-reported period of Guild's history, namely the Corona and Tacoma years, but an excellent overall recap in general, so linked here:
http://www.acguitar.com/article/default ... cleid=7843
Pretty good stuff, actually. The only detail I took exception to was the dating of the introduction of the GAD series to 2005. They were already being listed in a spring 2004 (Corona) price guide. The same one that caused me to run out and buy my Ritchie Havens D40. :wink:
 

adorshki

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southernGuild said:
:wink: Good one Al, Thanks.
I have only seen this article in bits and pieces. Nice to read the whole thing.
:wink:
I'm actually thinking it'd be a nice reference on the "FAQ" sticky but I'm hopin' someone'll agree and ask one of the mods to do it for me.... (wink wink, nudge nudge) :lol:
 

southernGuild

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That's a good idea.
When I first became aware of that article I searched long and hard to find it, but I only found small sections. I was prepared to seek out a back issue of the magazine for it ( I am a subscriber), but that was also restrictive.
Being able to read it all here is certainly appropriate too. :D
 

chazmo

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I think I removed links in the FAQ thread, Al. This is a very interesting read.

I think there is a thread that has important links somewhere.... Not sure. Anyway, let me know if you find it.
 

adorshki

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Chazmo said:
I think I removed links in the FAQ thread, Al.
Ahhhh...makes sense, they have a tendency of becoming non-functional over time, don't they? Amongst other potential "glitches"..
 

chazmo

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adorshki said:
Chazmo said:
I think I removed links in the FAQ thread, Al.
Ahhhh...makes sense, they have a tendency of becoming non-functional over time, don't they? Amongst other potential "glitches"..
yeah, it really wasn't clear either what really constituted useful stuff in there either. One man's information is another's advertisement, y'know, that kind of thing...

Regardless, IMO, this is definitely the most significant (apparently self-written and well-researched) article about Guild since Hans' book.

By the way, we met Tim at LMG2 last year as one of the panelists for the business discussion. It was fascinating! We may be continuing along that vein this year, but we're not sure yet.
 

adorshki

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Chazmo said:
Oh, by the by, we do have a "links" forum... Should we move this there?
Sure why not.
Also regarding authorship, the first couple of paragraphs about the founding years did sound "suspiciously" familiar to me...like they were heavily borrowed from Mr. Moust's book itself, although I'm not tying to imply "plagiarism". Maybe it's just becasue thath part of the history's fairly well known. Or maybe author actually had book in hand and was creating the "Reader's Digest Condensed" version..
 

chazmo

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adorshki said:
Chazmo said:
Oh, by the by, we do have a "links" forum... Should we move this there?
Sure why not.
Also regarding authorship, the first couple of paragraphs about the founding years did sound "suspiciously" familiar to me...like they were heavily borrowed from Mr. Moust's book itself, although I'm not tying to imply "plagiarism". Maybe it's just becasue thath part of the history's fairly well known. Or maybe author actually had book in hand and was creating the "Reader's Digest Condensed" version..
That could be, Al. Who knows, maybe he was using the OT as a reference. Maybe that's why I liked the article so much! :)

OK, moving to links.
 

Kslam

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A good read. Thanks for posting! And, given all the responses that this recent thread elicited, the quote below stands out to me more than it might've otherwise.

Rhode Island’s wildly fluctuating humidity and temperature and the facility’s aging machinery meant the factory would require a serious and expensive overhaul.
 

fronobulax

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Kslam said:
A good read. Thanks for posting! And, given all the responses that this recent thread elicited, the quote below stands out to me more than it might've otherwise.

Rhode Island’s wildly fluctuating humidity and temperature and the facility’s aging machinery meant the factory would require a serious and expensive overhaul.

That jumped out at me as well. It sounds to me like someone who is parroting what they were told because it sounds much more Black and White than the reference thread implies. While we're editing the article, I might also rephrase the transition from Hoboken to Westerly. If I remember the OT, there was a period when both factories were making guitars as well as a period when Hoboken was still a Guild factory but doing nothing but repairs. The article isn't wrong on that point but like so many things Guild, there are subtle nuances needed to really tell the story.
 

adorshki

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fronobulax said:
While we're editing the article, I might also rephrase the transition from Hoboken to Westerly. If I remember the OT, there was a period when both factories were making guitars as well as a period when Hoboken was still a Guild factory but doing nothing but repairs. The article isn't wrong on that point but like so many things Guild, there are subtle nuances needed to really tell the story.
That's how I remember it.
But that's what you get in a "nutshell". :lol:
 

davismanLV

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Yeah, I can't get to the specific article that's referenced. Too bad. I'd have loved to read it. What I did find was a fun quiz, "What Kind Of Guitar Player Are You?" I'm a Woodshedder - You’re in it for the love of playing music. You need a stage like an Eskimo needs more ice. Your most important critic is yourself. Music is your escape, and you’re at your most content locked away in that world where you and your guitar are the only two things that exist.

Well, they sure got that one right !! :cool:
 

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Hey, I'm right there with ya Tom. In fact, I'm sure that at least once, someone in the house has suggested to me during one of my musical escapes, "Take it behind the Woodshed". :crushed:
 

adorshki

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I'll share the detail from that article that will always stick with me: The reference to the fact that an entirely new high tech and state of the art finishing booth was built in Corona.
It was something I never saw specifically mentioned anywhere else and shed some light on reports that Corona was notorious for finish blems, but the whole issue seemed to have been hyped up put of proportion by folks who wanted to promote the "Westerly superiority" myth . Funny how often those folks had Westerly built guitars in their eBay offerings...
I think our own Scratch got a Corona D40 as a blem second and couldn't find the blem..tells me they must have been using some pretty high QC standards ( I would bet now that there probably were more than a few Coronas that were let out as "seconds" for that reason only).
Another reason it stuck with me is because my Corona D40 actually has the best finish of the bunch (of mine). It's so good I wondered for a while if it might be poly as there were unsubstantiated reports that poly was used in Corona.
I gotta admit though I've also wondered if the thickness might be one of the reasons it's actually the "sonic runt" of the family...
That article put the question about what lacquer was used to rest, at least. It was NCL.
Everything elkse in that article was stuff we've seen before, it was just nice to see it all in one place.
From what I can tell what we really need is more "inside stuff" about the Tacoma years.
 
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Walter Broes

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It was something I never saw specifically mentioned anywhere else and shed some light on reports that Corona was notorious for finish blems, but the whole issue seemed to have been hyped up put of proportion by folks who wanted to promote the "Westerly superiority" myth ..
I don't know, but I vividly remember all the Corona guitars that got listed on Ebay with the serial numbers blanked out, and finishes that looked like cracked mirrors. Something was off in Corona, or production would have stayed there.
 

twocorgis

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I don't know, but I vividly remember all the Corona guitars that got listed on Ebay with the serial numbers blanked out, and finishes that looked like cracked mirrors. Something was off in Corona, or production would have stayed there.

I think that's nonsense Walter, and IMHO Corona Guilds are unfairly maligned. I've had two Corona made Guilds here, both 12 strings, and both fine guitars. My JF30-12 had probably the best finish of any Guild I've ever seen personally.

Of course, that being said, I still think Hobokens are the coolest!
 
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