Guild Luthiers

Butch

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Carlo Greco

We’re all of the F512’s and F612’s produced with the figure inlays as opposed to the block inlays built by Carlo Greco?
 

dbirchett

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Does anyone know the history behind modifying the X-175 to a thinner guitar to come up with the X-170? Whose idea it was?
 

PTC Bernie

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I'm sure I'm going to catch it for this, but it's always been my understanding that George was more of a "concept" guy and it was Kim Walker who brought the ideas to fruition........?

Don't get me wrong, I think George is a great guy and a wealth of knowledge. I love his shop, especially since they moved off the main drag.
 

chazmo

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Bernie, no flak intended, and I may have this wrong... But I think George was at Guild for quite a bit longer than Kim. I don't recall who was there first/last/whatever, but I don't think the so-called "Gruhn era" was entirely (or even mostly) Kim Walker's responsibility.
 

merlin6666

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I'm sure I'm going to catch it for this, but it's always been my understanding that George was more of a "concept" guy and it was Kim Walker who brought the ideas to fruition........?

Don't get me wrong, I think George is a great guy and a wealth of knowledge. I love his shop, especially since they moved off the main drag.

That's what I thought and I didn't put him on the list, certainly well-known outside of Guild for sure.
 

adorshki

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I'm sure I'm going to catch it for this, but it's always been my understanding that George was more of a "concept" guy and it was Kim Walker who brought the ideas to fruition........?

Bernie, no flak intended, and I may have this wrong... But I think George was at Guild for quite a bit longer than Kim. I don't recall who was there first/last/whatever, but I don't think the so-called "Gruhn era" was entirely (or even mostly) Kim Walker's responsibility.
To me this tends to confirm Bernie's perception:
https://www.vintageguitar.com/3275/1985-guild-nightbird-prototype/
In that interview George G recounts how he designed 6 models for Guild in '84, at Mark Dronge's request.
Then he says he designed the Nightbird but Kim actually built the prototype in Gruhn's shop:

"While most prototype instruments made by major manufacturers are built in their own factory and typically utilize standardized tooling and components, Guild let us build the prototypes in my shop in Nashville. Since the inlay pattern is the same as on the acoustic Guilds of my design, we were able to get a peghead veneer and fingerboard inlays from Guild, but the rest was entirely hand-built by Kim Walker, who was then my repair shop foreman. Kim later went on to work at Guild as Quality Control and Final Inspection foreman ..."
He joined a group of investors who bought Guild with in '87 I think it was, but got out when he decided it wasn't his cup of tea. Anyway, even if specific dates are off, point being I don't think he was actually "with Guild" for more than 2 years, but I think Walker was.
I believe he brought Kim with him and I'm pretty sure Kim stayed after he left but with due apologies, I don't have links to those conversations with Kim Walker at hand.
I'm running strictly off memory.
 
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PTC Bernie

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...............................He joined a group of investors who bought Guild with in '87 I think it was, but got out when he decided it wasn't his cup of tea.................


Was Jere Haskew part of that group that he was referring to that bought Guild in '86?
 

adorshki

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Was Jere Haskew part of that group that he was referring to that bought Guild in '86?
Oh by golly, there it was in that Vintage Guitar interview.
I don't know much about Haskew except the name, no joking.
But you got my curiosity up and a Google of his name yields these excerpts from an article from the Chattanoogan (I bolded pertinent points):
"Jerre went from showman to businessman and was executive vice president of Commerce Union Corporation in Nashville, and then the CEO at Commerce Union Bank in Chattanooga. In 1986 he started a venture capital company called the Haskew Company.
Jerry dabbled in many business endeavors, one of which he owned - Guild Guitars whose endorsees included Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and many other major artists.
Among his travels Jerre recalls meeting Johnny Cash on a plane. With the aid of the stewardess, Jerre seized the moment and sent information of his guitar company along with a note to the man in black, who was sitting in first class.
A few moments later, the young lady told Jerre that Mr. Cash would like to see him. As he pulled back the curtain to first class, Jerre was asked to sit down next to the celebrity. Johnny stretched out his hand and said “Hello, Jerre …I’m Johnny Cash.” In that surreal moment, Jerre conducted a business deal with the icon.
“Johnny said to me, ‘You are right, I should be playing an American made guitar. Are these guitars as good as you say they are?’ and I said, ‘Yes sir, they are.’ He asked if I could do one in cherry-sunburst and I said, ‘Yes, and that would look really good against your black outfits.’ Then he said, ‘Yeah, two great minds think alike, don’t they Jerre?’”
Two months later, Jerre was invited to the Cash residence. He took the guitars made especially for Johnny to Hendersonville and, as he walked in, he saw pictures of Billy Graham and Presidents gilding the walls.
“He loved the guitars and I spent half the day with him. He made me feel like I was the important one - he was that special of a man. He played those guitars for seven years exclusively,” Jerre asserts.
So it looks to me like he was either he was part of the original group with Gruhn or was the "individual" Gruhn mentions who bought that group out, if not both.
 
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