GC Martin Night

deebeewhy

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Last night the La Mesa, California (just NE of downtown San Diego) GC did a Martin promotion, after which there was a free-for-all in which you could play any number of amazing instruments. It was great. I came away with a mug, a t-shirt, and a memory of an 000-18 I will not soon lose. There was not a single Guild, new or used, acoustic or electric, in the entire store, which was over-run with Taylor and Martin acoustics, plus SG, Les Paul, and Strat electrics. Bummer that there are so few opportunities to drop in an strum a Guild in a town of almost 2 million.
Daniel
 

Westerly Wood

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I am hoping the local GC by me will one day have some Guild offerings. Doubtful, but I bet Cordoba is trying to at least get the MIC offerings in there.
 

chazmo

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Unquestionably, this is where Guild's modern strategy has fallen flat. The only way to sell more new gear is more exposure and availability.

Wood, y'know, that's a good idea. Maybe that'll be possible in the future.

There was some angst about brand competition in GC when Fender held the cards (not to mention the inability to produce US Guilds in sufficient volume), but that should all change in time.

There's a wonderful Guitar Center in Emeryville, CA where I like to hang out when I'm out there for business. As you say, not a Guild in sight.

Of course, *none* of this muffles my plea to you guys to seek out the far more interesting mom-and-pop/boutique guitar shops. I'm sure they're there. Just do it.
 

davismanLV

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There's a couple of MIC Guilds at the local Sam Ash, but they're about three stories up on the wall and require a sales person and a ladder to get one to play. I don't usually engage the sales staff that much when I go guitar playing. GC leaves me alone. I did sell a really nice used Guild F-50 to a guy that was looking to buy his first "good" guitar. I kept putting different guitars in his hands and saying, "Here! Play this one!" He was fixated on this low end Martin that sounded like it had a pillow stuffed in it. On my way out, I saw the used Guild way up on the wall and grabbed it and ran into the room he was in and said, "Here, sorry, just ONE MORE!!" That's the guitar he bought!

Thing is, if you can't see a Guild, or compare a Guild, or FIND a Guild..... you're most likely gonna buy another brand. You can't make it that difficult for people.

As for the Martin Night.... it sounds like fun. Martin makes some mighty fine guitars. One of the best guitars I EVER played was a beautiful Martin D-42 at GC. Incredible sound!! The sister guitar right next to it, one serial number away sounded dead. Strange stuff.

Good you got to play some great Martins, DB! :encouragement:
 

deebeewhy

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DavisMan, I like Sam Ash, but their Guild inventory, at least on the site, is all MIC. MusicStoreLive largely the same way.
 

davismanLV

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I like Sam Ash, too, but honestly it's set up so awkwardly. I can go into GC and go into the acoustic room and immediately into the "good" room and play and check out guitars. Most of the people know me by face.... a couple by name. They always stick a head in and say, "You okay, dude?" They're really cool there. Sam Ash is set up weird with counters and guitars WAY HIGH out of reach and you HAVE to involve the sales staff to get a guitar and the last time I went there, there were two guys already playing in the tiny corner they have for that purpose. There was a tiny space with a stool between the two guys but I honestly would hardly be able to get between them without hurting my guitar or their guitars and .... I'm not comfortable playing THAT CLOSE to someone. I'd love to play the MIC Guilds. I would. Maybe I need to try a different time?
 
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adorshki

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DavisMan, I like Sam Ash, but their Guild inventory, at least on the site, is all MIC. MusicStoreLive largely the same way.
I think more than anything else that's a legacy of Fender's stated strategy of avoiding big-box retailers for US-built stuff when NH was just getting ramped up and they revamped the authorized dealer network, around '11 or so.
Also Fender treated MIC and NH product as different animals and each had its own minimum order requirements from Fender.
So it was easy for GC and Sam Ash to stock GAD's, but it was a major sticking point for smaller retailers.
Internally at Fender the MIC product was entirely corporate-controlled, NH had nothing to do with the line whatsoever.
At least with Cordoba there is now a single parent giving both kids equal opportunity (I hope)
Cordoba's gotta rebuild all those dealer franchises and I still think production capacity will play a large role with GC specifically.
It's not a new complaint but it's like the whole process of setting up retail supply lines has been reset and remember Cordoba only just started getting their own MIC product into US circulation less than 2 months ago.
I think putting it on Sweetwater first was good marketing from a standpoint of simply letting everybody know that at least they're here and real.
Patience grasshoppers.
(Hey, I've been waiting for 'em to re-open true custom ordering for about 6 years now)
I think ideally Cordoba'll be able to make it easier to stock the brand by allowing combined purchasing of both US and MIC product, let a customer decide what mix is appropriate for their needs.
 
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txbumper57

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DavisMan, I like Sam Ash, but their Guild inventory, at least on the site, is all MIC. MusicStoreLive largely the same way.

Just wait awhile Deebeewhy, Musicstorelive will start stocking American Guilds as soon as they ship from Oxnard. They do a good bit of American Guild Volume through there and the 14 day trial with free return shipping always makes things great. I like going through them because they are not trying to make a ton of money off of the sale of one guitar, Rather they price them so they make a smaller amount per unit but sell a greater number of units.:single_eye:
 

deebeewhy

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Thanks for that, guys. I have to hand it to GC, in that they're pretty relaxed about letting you play stuff, but there are two sticking points for me: 1) the good room is only good if you're the only one there (usually); and 2) the good room also is the great room if you look 20 feet up. I've made jokes about the J-200s being "out of reach," but no one has offered me a chance to play one.
 
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