Guild F-512: Oxnard Rebirth and Gestation Period Update...

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Hello again, LTG friends,

Please bear with me for a moment. Just sit back in your favorite chair and enjoy the reverie...

Isn't it mysterious (and sometimes hilarious) how "life works?" A year or two ago, hostage to insomnia in a no-star hotel in some very far-flung, obscure land, I found myself viewing YouTube videos of guys and gal's jamming on acoustic guitar covers of famous songs. Well...one video led to the next, and the next, and...(well, you get the idea)...eventually, I stumbled across this:

(You'll appreciate this post MUCH more if you actually watch the linked video!)

Although transfixed by both the heartfelt performance AND by the stunning instrument, and despite viewing the video 3-4 times in wide-eyed, looped-succession, I still somehow managed to eventually navigate away from that link without bookmarking it, and soon, I had only the memory of that very inspiring 4 minutes 53 seconds which the author/player, Mr. Mark Turner, shared with the world...shared with MY world. I thought about that stirring, dimly lit video, the moving performance it rendered, and that impossibly beautiful sounding guitar many, many times over the weeks and months that followed (the particular song also evoked some warm memories of my childhood, when first I heard it), but alas, I was unable to relocate it on YouTube, despite numerous searches over the course of more than a year of intermittent effort. Insufficiently motivated (I suppose), I eventually gave up hope of ever finding it again, and I just hoped the nagging "itch" [to figure out what kind of guitar Mr. Turner was playing] would soon subside.

Well, it didn't! Quite the contrary: a few months ago, while riding in an Avis Rental Car shuttle bus back to yet another airport terminal, what song comes over the radio? The same one from the YouTube video, of course! ("Wildfire"). Naturally, I was instantly transported not back to the airport terminal, but instead, back to that amazing-yet-vexing YouTube video (linked, above) which had eluded me for so long. My motivation renewed, I flew home and immediately (without even unpacking!) redoubled my efforts, determined to locate that YouTube video -- and ultimately, identify that unbelievable guitar in the video -- once and for all! I scrolled through page after page after page of bloody "Wildfire Cover" video's, before finally, hidden deep beneath a mountain of chaff, I hit paydirt! Thus began my (as yet, unrequited) love affair with the Guild F-512!

Fast-forward to today. I've conducted due diligence, attempting to learn as much as possible about the Guild 12-string acoustics in general and the F-512 in particular. A key part of that education and information gathering process has been studying various threads here on the LTG Forum and becoming a member! After yet another round of fruitless and frustrating searches across the USA (primarily in the Northwest) to locate a "New-Old-Stock" (NOS) New Hartford F-512 hidden away or forgotten about in some darkened corner of a warehouse somewhere, I began reaching out to Authorized Guild Dealers, seeking timely and reliable information about the prospects and timeline for new F-512 production from the new Cordoba-Oxnard production facility. As I reported in the thread concerning Ren Ferguson leaving Guild ([URL="http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?190257-Ren-leaving-Guild&p=1737345#post1737345"]http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?190257-Ren-leaving-Guild&p=1737345#post1737345
and subsequent replies to this posting), information has been scant and wildly variable. Until now, that is. I just received this email from Cordoba Music Group/Guild Guitars:

Thank you for your interest in Guild Guitars!

Please accept our apology for the delay in responding. We have been experiencing a very high volume of inquiries and we are doing our very best to respond to each and every email as quickly as possible.

Thanks again for your patience!

Great question! Our current estimation of when the new F-512 will be available is early to mid-2017! This will be the first 12 string produced out of our new USA Guild Factory in Oxnard!

If you would like to provide your current location, we'll be happy to add you to our USA Guild Database to provide you with further updates on the release of our new models!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to respond directly to this email and I'll be happy to address them - please do not modify the subject line of your email reply, as our system will not recognize it. Please do not resubmit another inquiry through our website as it will open another issue.

Have a great day and thank you for choosing Guild!

Best regards,

Xxxxx Xxxxxx | Service Department
Cordoba Music Group
1401 Stellar Dr, Oxnard, CA 93033
P 310-857-1709 | F 310-857-1690
Cordoba Guitars | Guild Guitars
HumiCase | Aquila | Savarez

I gleaned a few insights from this response which I'd like to very humbly highlight to the LTG community:

1. With patience, Cordoba/Guild Guitars will respond to direct email inquiries from customers (or even potential customers, like myself);
2. The beloved Guild F-512 IS slated to re-enter new production as the very first Guild 12-string produced in the new Oxnard, CA facility;
3. The estimation for availability of new production F-512's at U.S. Authorized Guild Dealers is "early-to-mid 2017";
4. An "estimation" is a forecast/educated guess/target, not a guarantee;
5. "Early-mid 2017" means (to me) anytime between January 1st and September 31 (assuming a "trimester" logic implied by the language: the year broken into THREE equal parts: "Early" (e.g. Jan-to-Mar) "Mid" (e.g. Apr-to-Jun) and "Late" (e.g. Jul-to-Sep) 2017. Again, though, the reliability of any dates or date range must be moderated by the previous global qualifier: "estimation."

I hope LTG readers interested in the subject matter (the long-awaited return of the Guild F-512) find this post as useful and informative as it is entertaining and encouraging. As for myself, I'll be placing an order for a new Oxnard F-512 (Rosewood) forthwith, at a local Seattle Authorized Guild Dealer. Like many others here and elsewhere, my excitement is almost uncontainable, as is my faith and expectation that the (largely) new people and the (entirely) new facility at Cordoba/Guild Oxnard can and will produce the next generation of the F-512 to the same standard of breathtaking excellence in form, function and sonic performance (or...dare I say it...perhaps even surpass it?!) as that achieved with the previous NH and TAC made examples of this venerable, peerless guitar.

So, with just a little bit of luck and perhaps some fortuitous celestial alignment, it's only a (relatively short) matter of time now before a magical, new Guild F-512 finds its way into my loving hands and arms. The only question remaining, then, is whether or not Mr. Mark Turner (the player on the YouTube video, above, who is clearly and entirely responsible for my whole "Guild-F-512-Envy syndrome" in the first place) should be required to help shoulder a portion of the financia burden of my acquiring this magnificent axe? Any hungry litigators in the house...?
 

davismanLV

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Good information, Lacidar. Gauging by their "predictions" and hitting deadlines so far, I'd guess it will be towards the later part of their estimate. They have been running behind in deadlines so far. But maybe they're gotten better.

One thing that might have helped you locate the phantom youtube video, is on the left side menu, there's a History category. Click on that and it will show you every youtube video you've watched, in the order you watched them. Easier to look through that list than search, sometimes. I hope that helps you in the future. Now, I will watch the video...... :encouragement:

Here's a little help with the video:

 
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txbumper57

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Great Video and good info as well. Cordoba has been great about answering emails and even giving information over the phone on their customer service line. If I am not mistaken, Member Bing K here on the forum who also owns Guitars of Montana has a New Guild F512 from New Hartford in his shop possibly for sale. Not trying to overstep my bounds but since he is a Current licensed Guild Dealer and the guitar is Brand New it should come with a full factory warranty from Guild/Cordoba. Just a suggestion if you don't want to wait until next year.

TX
 
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Thanks so much for the tech tips, Davisman. Question: I DID use the "link" icon to attempt to embed that YouTube URL, but obviously I wasn't successful. How did YOU do it for me? (P.S. I DID also try searching my YouTube history, as you suggested, by the video somehow STILL eluded me! In the end, diligence paid off). Thanks again, Davisman.
 

Cougar

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Like many others here and elsewhere, my excitement is almost uncontainable, as is my faith and expectation that the (largely) new people and the (entirely) new facility at Cordoba/Guild Oxnard can and will produce the next generation of the F-512 to the same standard of breathtaking excellence in form, function and sonic performance....

Whether you go this way or not, I think this is a very reasonable expectation.
 

davismanLV

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Okay amigo, I'm not sure but when you link to video, sometimes it's easy to delete a code (a bracket or something) which will throw the whole think off. I didn't look that closely but the OTHER thing that took me forever to figure out, is that youtube gives you a direct link when you hit the "Share" button. I thought that was the best thing and then I found out that .... you need to copy and paste the link in the address bar of the browser which has a "watch?v=" in it and then the file name. For some reason if it doesn't have that address, it won't post here on the forum. Which is weird but, don't use the "share" link from youtube. Just go to the address bar in your browser and then copy that one, then paste it in using the "Insert Video" icon and you'll be gold!!

The history is good when you've remembered something fairly recent, and not had too much to drink. And there are other factors as well. The main thing is you FOUND it and so here we are..... :encouragement:
 

chazmo

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Once you've heard / felt the siren song of the F-512, it's difficult to play anything else.

I'm a little surprised to hear that the F-512 is the first one they'll do. At this point, they're most familiar with working with mahogany and smaller-bodied guitars, but I'm sure there is dealer pressure to motivate getting the high-end going. I wouldn't at all be suprised to find out that dealer demand for F-512 (and maybe the F-50R) is going to force their hand.

All good news, but as Tom indicated, they've been kinda' unreliable in their predictions. At this point, they are probably spending all their time/money on January NAMM model introductions, whatever they are. I'm excited to see what happens.
 

Rayk

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Hi my name is Ray and I have not stopped thinking about the 512 from my first purchase of the F212 😠
 
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Unfortunately, the F-512 in Montana is in a private collection and is NOT for sale. I just checked. Bummer...
 

jeffcoop

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Once you've heard / felt the siren song of the F-512, it's difficult to play anything else.

This is why I've never actually played an F512. It allows me to remain content with my G312.
 

Rayk

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I know I'm so ashamed I'll take NH one then lol
But it is true ever since I got f212 I been drooling over the 512 hindsight haha .
 

Cougar

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Hi my name is Ray and I have not stopped thinking about the 512 from my first purchase of the F212 😠

It sounds like you forgot to add: "....and I approve of this message." :tiger:
 

adorshki

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You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
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