F-150 westerly - how do I find age & country of manufacture?

I'm selling my F-150 but am unable to answer some questions from buyers. The label doesn't show a serial number for me to age the guitar or country of manufacture. How can I find out these things?

hessodreamy said:

I'm selling my F-150 but am unable to answer some questions from buyers. The label doesn't show a serial number for me to age the guitar or country of manufacture. How can I find out these things?

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Welcome hessodreamy , When did you buy it ? Westerly series are not that old a model . As to serial number just a guess maybe inside on the neck mounting block ? There some owners here that could help you out soon as they come around .

Good luck

If "Westerly" means you know from some other source that it was made in Westerly, Rhode Island then the country of manufacture is the USA. I'm not going to look up exact years but Westerly was opened after 1965 and closed before 2015.

If, on the other hand "Westerly" refers to the Westerly Series then it is almost certainly made in China within the past five years because the Westerly series has not been around that long.

If you feel like searching you will find several threads here when the Westerly series was introduced with numerous complains and concerns about using the name of a US factory for a serious of imported guitars.

The fact that your buyers are asking suggests they are trying to decide whether your instrument is a Made in USA Westerly or a made in China "Westerly" because the specs and market value are significantly different. Those of us who are willing to take advantage of a seller's ignorance, look forward to getting a USA Westerly at a Chinese "Westerly" price.

The lack of a serial number on the label almost certainly means "Westerly" but if you post pictures there are several visual clues we could use to confirm.

Right-o. The label says "The Westerley Collection". I'm pretty sure it's a Chinese one from just a couple of years ago, based on what I paid for it (on ebay). And I guess people asking about the year is them trying to get a USA westerley. Here's the label and the front of the guitar:

F-50's were made in the U.S., F-150's in China.

hessodreamy said:

...I'm pretty sure it's a Chinese one from just a couple of years ago....

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Still, good looking guitar!

hessodreamy said:

I'm pretty sure it's a Chinese one

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It is. You need to have confidence in yourself ;-)

I've had three made-in-China Guilds. One became a graduation gift to a nephew, and the other two remain in my herd. They are good guitars on their own merits, notwithstanding where they were built.

They can represent really good "tone for the buck" values - I don't know what your pricing plans are, but if yours sounds as good as mine do, any guitar-player who is chasing "tone" and not an "investment piece" will gladly put down the cash.

The Westerly Collection guitars are made in China and I bet your F-150 was made at GREE (Grand Reward Education & Entertainment, the GREE factory is located in Guang Dong province, in southern China.)

They were intruduced in 2015: http://guildguitars.com/introducing-the-westerly-collection/

http://guildguitars.com/g/westerly-f-150/

Regarding the Serial Number and year of manufacture and Country of origin: You can find it on a black label on the neck heel inside!

Here is an example of a recent 2017 model, your F-150 will use a different (older) serial number system as explained below.




The neck block label numbering is not easy however...

For the China made models it starts with "G". But the system was changed already since 2015.

Originally in 2015 they used a 8 letter/digit serial number and it always started with G1 = Guild China, most probably GREE factory.

A D-120CE for instance has G1157208 as serial number which is year 2015.

Now the Arched back models use "G2" but they are still Made in China. For instance G2172173.
So the number behind "G" seems to means something else, it could be the specific factory used or simply 100 series vs. 200 series.
But there might be a possibility that the arched back models are not made at GREE but a different Chinese factory, hence the G2.
So G1 might mean made by GREE and G2 another factor in China. Maybe. Maybe not.

Anyway, the next two numbers after G1 or G2 were the manufacturing year (like 15 stands for 2015) and the last 4 digits are the running numbers for a max of 9,999 Guild Westerly Collection guitars per year from China (at that time)
At least that was my understanding so far.

Now it starts to get really confusing as a D-120 and a F-1512E I recently found have no longer a 1 or 2 after the G ! They only have G and 6 to 8 numbers afterwards!

The serial is simply G170693 as example, as shown in the picture above. Anyway, the 17 is again the year 2017.

So my new theory is:
As the new California produced 2017 guitars have serial numbers like C170815 (a D-20 as example where C stands for California) maybe CMG changed the system for GREE as well and GREE made Guild Acoustics from some point in 2017 onwards simply use G with 6 to 8 numbers behind.

The latest arched back Westerly Collection guitars also use a new style label with "Designed in California" and a different Guild logo, compared to the 2015 style label:



Hope it all clarifies your questions.

Ralf

Thanks, @SFIV1967 for the in-depth response.
Yes, guys, the label is indeed on the neck heel. I guess I didn't look hard enough. It turns out it's a 2015 Chinese model.
It's still a lovely guitar with a big, bright sound, but if I'm keeping only one then I'm sticking with my more intimately-voiced Gibson which seems to better compliment my singing.
If I were allowed to keep two, on the other hand...

hessodreamy said:

If I were allowed to keep two, on the other hand...

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What makes you think you aren't allowed to keep two? We can help with that. ;-)

fronobulax said:

What makes you think you aren't allowed to keep two? We can help with that. ;-)

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Fro, please send hessodreamy the "Successful Gassing" LTG guide, so that he gets the key to Guild hoarding, without jeopardizing his familial unity.
All the tricks are in the guide (how to sneak them in, how to present the acquisition as a necessary VALUED step for the whole family, where to borrow money, etc etc.....)

Haha, you guys are a BAD influence. As it goes, I'd rather focus my multiple-guitar GAS on electrics than acoustics. Also, with a couple of twins on the way, I'm supposed to be acting responsible, apparently.

hessodreamy said:

Haha, you guys are a BAD influence. As it goes, I'd rather focus my multiple-guitar GAS on electrics than acoustics. Also, with a couple of twins on the way, I'm supposed to be acting responsible, apparently.

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Well "Let's Talk undersaddle transducers" might be a compromise. Twins are a good thing. My '67 and '13 Starfires are clearly fraternal twins. We have specialists who can help with Electric G.A.S. - Grot and GAD for starters. If all else fails, give the F-150 to the mother of the twins and teach her to play.

If you have a couple of twins on the way, that would be like..... FOUR BABIES!!! So, yeah, you'd better just keep one guitar, but no.... I think you get one guitar PER PAIR of babies. Isn't that a rule? I think it's a rule, somewhere......

I'm sure buying a guitar in honour of your offspring is a thing. So I'd best buy two.

looking for selling info, on a 2015 westerly collection
Guild F 150. This guitar is in like new condition.just wondering what the resale value would be. no info on line for these

mclkar54 said:

looking for selling info, on a 2015 westerly collection
Guild F 150. This guitar is in like new condition.just wondering what the resale value would be. no info on line for these

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Answered here in your other thread:

Ralf

^ Value, I suspect, would be under $850 sold in the US, if that's where you are, mclkar54. As Ralf said in your other thread, might be closer to 6. Good luck!

chazmo said:

^ Value, I suspect, would be under $850 sold in the US, if that's where you are, mclkar54. As Ralf said in your other thread, might be closer to 6. Good luck!

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Yeah, reverb sold listings show several in the range of $650-750, with one outlier at $950.