American Made vs. foreign made Guilds

[MikeCourts]

Where do most Guild enthusiasts weigh in on where the best Guild models over the years have been made.

I’ve had discussions with way longer Guild playing musicians than I have been and it seems to me that most prefer the American made models

 

[AcornHouse]

I’m sure most of us will concur that the American made guitars are superior. There are favorites among the various US factories Guild has used over the years, but I think we all agree there isn’t a bad period like you see in other makes (yeah Gibson, I’m talkin’ ‘bout you Norlin boy!) The overseas guitars have their qualities, but they are being built to a price point.

 

[JohnW63]

I have always thought the off shore builds really had bang for the buck. I picked up a Guild in a music store and played it. Hey that sounds pretty good ! What model it is? It was a GAD D50, I think. Made in china at that time, right?

 

[GAD]

I have many of American, Korean, Chinese, and Indonesian Guilds. IMO the American-made Guilds are superior, but the import Guilds don't suck.

I should note that I have not owned any non-American Guild acoustics since most of my collection is electrics, but from what I've seen the same holds true.

 

[Prince of Darkness]

I have a Westerly collection acoustic made in China and a solid body electric, made in Westerly. The American guitar is by far the better instrument, but the Chinese one is still a fine instrument and great value for money

 

[ReevesRd]

The reason I came to Guild is because I was looking for an affordable American made acoustic. I have played MIC Guilds and prefer the Made in America Guilds. Most of us at LTG have favorites among the different US factories. But it seems that all of the US factories produced quality instruments.

 

[lungimsam]

It isn’t enough to know that the US made guilds are superior.
Please tell us why they are.

 

[GGJaguar]

I prefer the US-made Guilds. The fit and finish is better as is the quality of the parts used. I agree with what others here have said that Guilds made in Asia-Pacific do not suck and are a great value for the money. In fact, one of my favorite Guilds is the X-175 Special. I just love that guitar even though it has a thick poly finish and the parallel braces have been cut to allow for pickup installation. And yeah, the cut braces are a design flaw because they weaken the braces. I know Walter has had a NS X-175 for a long time with no issues, but my NS CE-100D had a sinking top because the braces were sagging/bending (but not coming unglued).

We've seen how the Indonesian Starfire I series have non-traditional archtop bracing to save money. Same goes for the Korean Starfire IV, V, VI that initially had a solid center block, but now only have a solid block under the bridge (money saving). As AcornHouse noted, they are built to a price point and we see that in the designs and construction methods. Except for crappy tuners and, perhaps, cheesy pearloid, I haven't seen the same sorts of cost cutting done to US-made models. Changes are made on the non-US Guilds to hold the price point as best as possible while US-made Guilds increase in price significantly because no substantial changes are made.

 

[mushroom]

From someone who has never played a non US Guild acoustic, and in the same vane as the question in the original post, what is people’s opinions of the Mexican made ones?

They seem to be very competitive in price.

 

[MikeCourts]

I prefer the US-made Guilds. The fit and finish is better as is the quality of the parts used. I agree with what others here have said that Guilds made in Asia-Pacific do not suck and are a great value for the money. In fact, one of my favorite Guilds is the X-175 Special. I just love that guitar even though it has a thick poly finish and the parallel braces have been cut to allow for pickup installation. And yeah, the cut braces are a design flaw because they weaken the braces. I know Walter has had a NS X-175 for a long time with no issues, but my NS CE-100D had a sinking top because the braces were sagging/bending (but not coming unglued).

We've seen how the Indonesian Starfire I series have non-traditional archtop bracing to save money. Same goes for the Korean Starfire IV, V, VI that initially had a solid center block, but now only have a solid block under the bridge (money saving). As AcornHouse noted, they are build to a price point and we see that in the designs and construction methods. Except for crappy tuners and, perhaps, cheesy pearloid, I haven't seen the same sorts of cost cutting done to US-made models. Changes are made on the non-US Guilds to hold the price point as best as possible while US-made Guilds increase in price significantly because no substantial changes are made.

Not being an expert but longtime player I would agree will just about all your thoughts as well. Plus, I prefer to buy and stay with as many American made products period as I can find

 

[richardp69]

Echoing most everybody else, the imports offer good value for the money but sound, tone, value retention and resale value/ease of resale is far and away better with the made in the USA builds. I've owned guitars from every US factory and some have been better than others but each facility produced some nice sounding Guilds.

 

[beecee]

Interesting topic for a first day on the forum.

If you're looking to start a dogfight you're not going to get it here.

The lack of vitriol on these boards is very refreshing.

 

[AcornHouse]

I've only had one of the import acoustics in hand for a brief period after enabling it for a student. As mentioned, it was a fine instrument, but I could tell the differences fairly easily. The finish was a thicker poly and around some of the end grain surfaces at the top of the headstock and the heel, which are notorious for needing extra sanding to truly get smooth (which is the nature of wood), they felt a little rough and bumpy. The hardware is usually no name 2nd tier stuff and the nut work is sub-par, something I had to correct in the import Thunderbird and Aistocrat I owned. It caused no end of string binding which leads to tuning issues.
I must say, one thing the imports do very well is fretwork. I have been impressed with that quality.
Sound wise, the instrument was, again, fine, but didn't have that alive feel that I get with my vintage US acoustics. (I prefer skinny necks, which means the current US output is of no interest to me.)

 

[Walter Broes]

I like the Newark Street X175's a lot.

It has a lot to do with my musical preference and taste in guitars, and my age I think. I got into guitar in the 80's and I was already into Rockabilly and related guitar styles, and a true hollowbody guitar with a medium light build, two single coil pickups and a Bigsby was just not available new, they just didn't exist. Extremely frustrating as a Euro kid in the 80's - American vintage guitars were unobtanium for me then, they didn't get imported as much and if you could find one, they were out of reach for a kid in high school. If something like a NS X175 was available then, I would have been extremely thrilled.

I love my vintage X175's, but I still have two of the NS ones : one I got new for around 1K, and one I got used for 500 Euro. They're plentiful and cheap, so I don't feel bad about tweaking and modding them a little bit, and they sound and play great. After schlepping my precious vintage guitars around for over 20 years, getting on a plane with the Korean-built guitars is a breath of fresh air. Also, I'm not worried sick about leaving a guitar backstage unattended, or taking them somewhere in a gig bag instead of a case.

If Guild built a new 1950's reissue X175 or X500 in the USA chances are I'd like those even better - but also that they'd cost as much as nice vintage examples. So there's that. The NS ones do just fine for what I got them for.

The NS M75 reissues are really cool too IMO - and I'll probably buy one as soon as a nice used example crosses my path at the right price.

 

[MikeCourts]

Echoing most everybody else, the imports offer good value for the money but sound, tone, value retention and resale value/ease of resale is far and away better with the made in the USA builds. I've owned guitars from every US factory and some have been better than others but each facility produced some nice sounding Guilds.

I was going to add that having been a Gibson owner as well for periods on and off depending on the types of music I was doing that I was pretty surprised how close the Ephiphone imports were in terms of pure sound compared to the “thump” of a J-45

 

[Uke]

As far a build goes, I have a Westlerly D-55 that I will live in when the apocalypse finally arrives.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I just think their value for the $ is incomparable for US made guitars. MIC is very competitive and there are scores of good quality brands out there to choose from. But the US market, it's hard to find a good deal, and I think Guild has always offered great value for the money. Even in today's inflation market, on the verb, you can find old US builds for under $700.

Re MIC, I think we all agree the GAD line was tops. There are still some out there. I also would not mind trying out their P250 guitar, and the slope shouldered one that came out a few years ago.

All the while, I have tried out some MIC Westerly Collection Guilds at the local GC that were just crap...

 

[Roland]

I had a D-240 for a while. It was a very nice guitar. Fit and finish were immaculate. It sounded good. Honestly, I play a lot of Country/Bluegrass and American made guitars reign in Country/Bluegrass. I traded the D-240 for a D-20 to fit in. Actually Martin's reign, but I couldn't go there. I just do not like Martins. Sometimes you have to draw the line. Anyway, there was nothing at all wrong with the D-240. If I ever buy another guitar it will probably be one of the 100 series Westerly Collection Guilds.

 

[Rocky]

I don't own any import Guilds, but I do own a number of import guitars, and every one of them is a fine instrument. They may have needed a hardware upgrade here or there (as have my American made guitars), but they're all fine playing and sounding instruments. I'm certain that's true of Guilds as well.

Most of the imports, while fine instruments, do not do double duty as works of art. Which is commensurate with their price tags.

 

[Westerly Wood]

One question I always had was why someone would spend 500-700 bucks on a MIC Guild when you might be able to hold out for a US made D4 on reverb.