Oxnard made F-55 coming !

SFIV1967 said:

The two pictures on the webpage still show a 2014 NH made F-50R! Only the picture I posted in my starting post here shows the first Oxnard made F-55! So don't get confused with the webpage link. The F-55 will only be introduced at Winter NAMM in January I guess (hence the prototype) and I don't expect her in shops before mid 2018.
Ralf

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Ahhh , thanks

SFIV1967 said:

The two pictures on the webpage still show a 2014 NH made F-50R! Only the picture I posted in my starting post here shows the first Oxnard made F-55! So don't get confused with the webpage link. The F-55 will only be introduced at Winter NAMM in January I guess (hence the prototype) and I don't expect her in shops before mid 2018.
Ralf

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I hope that's right, Ralf. Winter NAMM has been big for Guild in recent memory. Are you going? And, perhaps if it's shown at NAMM it'll be out there soon, maybe before mid-2018.

txbumper57 said:

No Problem Chazmo. The only reason I realized the difference in the N.H. made 6 and 12 string traditional jumbos is that I could have swore the 12 string models had the same Ebony bridge as the 6 string models until I actually looked at my F512 and realized it was in fact rosewood. I felt kinda green then as I had owned the F512 for more than a few months and hadn't noticed the difference.

TX

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Yo, TX... I just got fooled. The rosewood bridge on my Tacoma F-512 was something I noticed right away when I bought my (first) new Guild in 2007. It had dried out in the store and really "enjoyed" the bore oil treatment I gave it when I brought it home from the store. Soaked it right up and darkened in the process. The light color was a dead giveaway. The ebony fretboard, on the other hand, barely took any oil and stayed, well, ebony colored. Nature of the beast(s). Anyway, I bought two old F-50Rs over the years and the bridges did not stick out in my mind although the '67 had a cloud due to it's era. I think that '67 *might've* had rosewood, but I'm pretty sure the '71 had ebony. All that said, I don't recall seeing ebony bridges being built at New Hartford during my factory tours, and that's what fooled me. Clearly, they were.

Product News

Guild's USA-Made Flagship Jumbo Returns

12/20/2017

Oxnard, CA – Guild is excited to announce the re-release of its flagship USA-made jumbo acoustic, the F-55. Formerly known as the F-50R, the new F-55 is built in Southern California and features a tight-grained solid AAA Sitka spruce top, solid Indian rosewood back and sides, and scalloped Adirondack braces for powerful volume and exceptional warmth, separation and clarity. Its strong, focused bass response, combined with sweet, singing mids and crisp highs give it a distinctive Guild voice that truly sets this guitar apart from all others.

Elegant cosmetic appointments and finishing touches include Guild's classic "V-block" and G-shield mother-of-pearl inlays, bound fingerboard and headstock, “railroad track” fretboard purfling, gold Gotoh hardware, a beautiful nitrocellulose lacquer finish in Natural or Antique Sunburst, and a sleek humidified case. Exceptional build quality and premium specifications make it a worthy heir to the historic Guild jumbo legacy.

F-55 in Natural - $3,499.99 Street • $4,380 MSRP
F-55 in Antique Burst - $3,599.99 Street • $4,500 MSRP

F-55E in Natural - $3,799.99 Street • $4,750 MSRP
F-55E in Antique Burst - $3,899.99 Street • $4,870 MSRP





Source: https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com/news/2017/12/guilds-usa-made-flagship-jumbo-returns/

As you will notice, the guitar to the right is exacly the prototype I posted in post number 1 of this thread. So it looks like they made already a sunburst one as well for NAMM.

Ralf

Beautiful. Wow!

But, US $3.5K street? Oh my.

I'll make a bold prediction... *If* they actually start selling at this price, used values are going to jump.

They had me at ebony fretboard... I have always been a $500 - $1200 guitar man. Never really threw down on a heavy like this or a D-55, Martin D-35, Taylor 900 series, anything from Collings etc.. you get the idea. I have always been cheap and truthfully never made the right business case for my wife to go along. May have to save for this one.

I too wish they would've just kept it an F50..

I can get over the name change. Nothing new for Guild to have weird naming changes.
At least now, they kind of make sense from a 'trim level' perspective.
The real test: How does it play and sound?

jazzy,

Well, there really isn't any "trim level" that is implied in the new names. At least that's my read of the naming document: http://guildguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/guild-acoustic-naming-structure.pdf The "-50" is supposed to be spruce/rosewood, and the "-55" is the flagship version. I don't know; it's very silly (in my opinion). Since they were taking a "fresh sheet" approach on this, IMO, they should've re-done the names to encode body shape (which they kinda got right), size of shape, tone woods, and trim level.

In the case of the F-55 (and forthcoming F-55 maple), I see endless confusion in our futures. Oh, and what were the JF-55 and JF-65, again?

chazmo said:

Beautiful. Wow!

But, US $3.5K street? Oh my.

I'll make a bold prediction... *If* they actually start selling at this price, used values are going to jump.

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$3500 street is an awful lot of money for a Guild. That's custom shop territory. It's hard to see them selling too many of them for that number.

twocorgis said:

$3500 street is an awful lot of money for a Guild. That's custom shop territory. It's hard to see them selling too many of them for that number.

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That's certainly what one might think (especially an old guy like me), but who knows? The MAP for a standard 2018 Gibson J-200 is now $5,099, and model variants go up from there!

Have you priced a Collings or a similarly appointed Martin, or a Taylor 900 lately? Seems reasonable for a US made flagship. Note the J 200 price above.

Yes, it's more than I'm likely to pay, but that's my problem.

Be happy if you're not sucked into the mandolin world. Take a guitar price and double it for the equivalent mandolin. $7500 is the starting point for flagship F style mandolins. $4500 for all the tone but no bling.

Interesting. I wonder, Bob, are they talking MAP, or MSRP for the Gibby?

And, while we're at it, perhaps Guild is equating "street" with MAP. That's not how I've always thought of it. In my experience, street price is somewhere between 20% and 40% off of MAP, or at least that's what I seem to remember for Martins, and maybe even Guilds (not sure). In any case, "street price" is a squishy number. I don't recall Guild ever talking about "street" price before in their ads, only MSRP and MAP. I wonder what they really mean here.

Rayk said:

De’spects say Ebony bridge also when I click on the images it says F50r photo block or something lol also the page has two guitars alternating across the top one looks Ike it has the Rosewood head cap the other Ebony .

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I think the link to the Guild catalog actually has photos of old New Hartford builds since those're all they had to build the web page with.
Suspect those're photos that were used for the "Archived" models from which the F50/50r has now been removed.
F40 Valencia still pops up there with same pickguard shape, for example:
http://guildguitars.com/g/f-40-valencia/
Note the difference in 'guard shape from the new announcement photo.

EDIT: Whoopsie, posted before reading all posts, and Ralf already said it in post #20.

Walter Broes said:

Yes. Strange they have to add to the history of ever-changing and confusing model names. All will be forgiven once they do a horsey-pickguard F-47 reissue..:laughing::laughing:

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Dey gonna have to dust off the 16" Grand Orchestra body bucks first.
NO slot for 16" jumbos in the line right now.
Jumps from OM 15" bout to F 17" bout.
The new F40's actually an F48....

chazmo said:

Interesting. I wonder, Bob, are they talking MAP, or MSRP for the Gibby?

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Well, I took that price from the Musician's Friend website. I'm guessing the other major online retailers will be in the same ballpark.

Seems like every time you blink, there's another price jump!

Just got a guild D40 traditional and a D55 on the way in January. Had D55 before and I am hoping this Oxnard build is high quality and flawless. Concerned but wait and see.

Walter Broes said:

Strange they have to add to the history of ever-changing and confusing model names.

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My guess is they're trying to stay consistent with Guild history?

jcwu said:

My guess is they're trying to stay consistent with Guild history?

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We won't know for sure until they decide to change the build formula without changing the model number on one of 'em.
And I still say when I hear "F55" I think "Ferrari".
Which may not be such a bad thing, on reflection.