Fender sells Guild.

walrus

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Thanks, little, for that blast from the the past! Too many uses for the word Cordoba!!

walrus
 

geoguy

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Oh, no . . . does Ricardo Montalban's presence mean that new Guild guitar cases will be covered in Corinthian leather?

* edit: Default types quicker than I do!
 

ladytexan

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Info about Cordoba:

Until October 2012, when Córdoba opened its first American workshop in Oxnard, California, the company’s instruments were built in Spain, Portugal, and China. The new shop is dedicated to a recently debuted Master Series line of instruments that pays homage to the grandfather of the modern classical guitar, Antonio de Torres Jurado, as well as other luthiers instrumental in its development: Hermann Hauser Sr., Miguel Rodríguez, and Manuel Reyes. The guitars in the Master Series, overseen by master luthier Kenny Hill, are patterned closely after the originals, but sell for a fraction of the price.

Founded in 1997, Córdoba is an outgrowth of GSI, the premier boutique for classical and flamenco guitars, both new and vintage. Tim Miklaucic, the CEO of Córdoba and GSI, was first exposed to fine classical guitars when he studied with Celin Romero and other members of the legendary Romero Quartet in the 1970s. In 1977, while a student at the University of California–San Diego, Miklaucic began importing guitars from Spain. In 1983, while working on a PhD in philosophy at UCLA, he founded GSI.

By the mid-1990s, GSI had become the US distributor of José Ramírez guitars. These costly instruments sold in impressive numbers, and Miklaucic and company saw a potential market for high-quality nylon-string instruments at lower price points. With the help of German luthier Edmund Blöchinger, Miklaucic refined the bracing and design of the initial instrument, which they began building in Spain, under the name Córdoba, after the city in Andalusia, southern Spain, where Rodríguez, Reyes, and other guitar makers had their shops.

Now, the Córdoba Music Group has several factories in the south of China, producing about 5,000 instruments a month, ranging from entry-level ukuleles to higher-end all-solid guitars built in a small boutique shop. Córdoba also has a shop in Valencia, Spain, overseen by Blöchinger, which builds around 100 more-expensive guitars a month, and the firm distributes the string companies Savarez and Aquila, as well as HumiCase, a line of cases with built-in humidifiers.

Reading the entire article makes me very, very afraid. :nightmare:
 
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jcwu

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Soon to be found on eBay:

"...and everyone who's in the know knows that the pre-Cordoba Guilds were the best Guilds..."
 

Los Angeles

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Well, I've wanted to get Fender as far away from our beloved brand as possible for quite a long time. It seemed they were always going from one failed experiment to the next, and never had a long term plan in place. Then came New Hartford, and Fender surprised me. I thought the "dark years" were finally behind us with New Hartford and that the quality of instruments produced there would mean a steady incline in brand awareness and marketshare.

Then, of course, when they didn't "auto-magically" sell like they hoped they shut the whole damn thing down in a flash.

With any major change comes apprehension but also comes opportunity.

Maybe - just MAYBE - a smaller company can step back and understand that premium instruments sell and that downturns are inevitable. Someone who cares about both employees and fans will know that there are ups and downs and the trick is to level it out. We can all hope that Cordoba knows this already.
 

davismanLV

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Who says Oxnard is not pretty? It's near where I grew up in Thousand Oaks in Ventura County. Right over the Camarillo grade on highway 101 (Ventura Highway) just before you get to Ventura. The harbor at Port Hueneme is lovely. I had a roomie once who kept his sailboat there. It's as good a place for a Guild to be built as any other I can think of. This could be a good thing. At least Fender isn't gonna be in charge any more. This sounds like it might be good news!!
 

twocorgis

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Who says Oxnard is not pretty? It's near where I grew up in Thousand Oaks in Ventura County. Right over the Camarillo grade on highway 101 (Ventura Highway) just before you get to Ventura. The harbor at Port Hueneme is lovely. I had a roomie once who kept his sailboat there. It's as good a place for a Guild to be built as any other I can think of. This could be a good thing. At least Fender isn't gonna be in charge any more. This sounds like it might be good news!!

I aree Tom. And for those that think that Cordoba only makes classical guitar, they do have a line of steel strings, with Spanish heels!
 

SFIV1967

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Here's the official press release on the FMIC webage: http://spotlight.fender.com/newsroom/news/408/

Note: "Upon finalization of the sale, Cordoba Music Group is expected to begin production in Oxnard, Calif."

And the CMG press release: http://cordobamusicgroup.com/news/c...nd-from-fender-musical-instrument-corporation

cmg-letterpress.jpg


Ralf
 
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Brad Little

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Thanks for the link, Toni. I don't know, I'll take a wait and see attitude. I've never played a Cordoba, but they get a lot of respect over on the Delcamp classical forum. I'm awful with spatial awareness, so I have no idea what 50,000 sq. ft looks like nor how it compares with the ground floor area a in New Hartford. Also, I wonder how accurate the impression that they are mostly handmade I got from the article is, or do they have modern CNC machines for a lot of the piece work. I guess we'll find out.
Brad
 

Brad Little

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Here's the official press release on the FMIC webage: http://spotlight.fender.com/newsroom/news/408/
Note: "Upon finalization of the sale, Cordoba Music Group is expected to begin production in Oxnard, Calif."

Ralf
From the press release:
"....[FONT=open_sansregular]letter of intent to sell the Guild guitar brand and related assets to Cordoba Music Group, the manufacturer of Cordoba acoustic guitars, ukuleles and accessories...."
I wonder what's included in "related assets." Machinery? Wood? Existing product? Contract with Doyle Dykes?
Brad[/FONT]
 

davismanLV

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Toni, what specifically about that article makes you "very, very afraid"? I read the whole thing.... I saw nothing terrifying. Did I miss something?
 

SFIV1967

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tjmangum

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I'm awful with spatial awareness, so I have no idea what 50,000 sq. ft looks like nor how it compares with the ground floor area a in New Hartford. Also, I wonder how accurate the impression that they are mostly handmade I got from the article is, or do they have modern CNC machines for a lot of the piece work. I guess we'll find out.
Brad
50,000 square feet is about the floor area of your average Safeway Grocery Store.
 

mavuser

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Are they still going to make Guilds overseas like the F-150 R or Newark street Starfire bass?
 

Brad Little

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50,000 square feet is about the floor area of your average Safeway Grocery Store.
Well, we don't have them out here, but I would guess not much different than an average supermarket chain store (not superstore), so a fair amount of space.
 
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