Ed Roman's opinion on Guild factories

[Dr. Spivey]

I looked at his website about a year ago. He's a doofus. :lol:

 

[cjd-player]

I looked at his website about a year ago. He's a doofus. :lol:

Definitely a "classic used car salesman" kinda vibe.

 

[kevin the bass man]

[quote="Dr. Spivey":30feef86]I looked at his website about a year ago. He's a doofus. :lol:

Definitely a "classic used car salesman" kinda vibe.[/quote:30feef86]
well he is selling his blue bird mobile home/RV/ bus thing for only 100,000

 

[cjd-player]

[quote="cjd-player":3c7xzex9][quote="Dr. Spivey":3c7xzex9]I looked at his website about a year ago. He's a doofus. :lol:

Definitely a "classic used car salesman" kinda vibe.[/quote:3c7xzex9]
well he is selling his blue bird mobile home/RV/ bus thing for only 100,000

[/quote:3c7xzex9]

So in the hierarchy of life, is a used bus salesman worse that a used car salesman?

Inquiring minds wan to know. :mrgreen:

 

[stclrob]

Fun on a bun, stclrob:

NICE!

I guess my point in starting this thread was I've never seen a seller bash a Guild factory. We are usually in agreement that Guild has never really had a "dark age" (though there's always the warning of 2nds and USED stamped ones). After reading some replies, it appears this guy is just an oddball.

 

[kevin the bass man]

[quote="kevin the bass man":q9msqjwc][quote="Dr. Spivey":q9msqjwc]I looked at his website about a year ago. He's a doofus. :lol:

well he is selling his blue bird mobile home/RV/ bus thing for only 100,000

[/quote:q9msqjwc]

So in the hierarchy of life, is a used bus salesman worse that a used car salesman?

Inquiring minds want to know. :mrgreen:[/quote:q9msqjwc]
:lol: :lol: definitely :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[adorshki]

[quote="cjd-player":3gfy5wfw][quote="kevin the bass man":3gfy5wfw]well he is selling his blue bird mobile home/RV/ bus thing for only 100,000

So in the hierarchy of life, is a used bus salesman worse that a used car salesman?

Inquiring minds want to know. :mrgreen:[/quote:3gfy5wfw]
:lol: :lol: definitely :mrgreen: :mrgreen:[/quote:3gfy5wfw]
I hate to argue but as a former used car salesman I'm insulted. Those bus/RV guys are down there with lawyers and the guys in computer stores. 8)

 

[twocorgis]

So in the hierarchy of life, is a used bus salesman worse that a used car salesman?

Inquiring minds wan to know. :mrgreen:

According to JP:

"I chased a rainbow down a one-way street; dead end
And all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen"

Hope there aren't any insurance salesmen here...

 

[kevin the bass man]

[quote="cjd-player":1p22i7rp]

So in the hierarchy of life, is a used bus salesman worse that a used car salesman?

Inquiring minds want to know. :mrgreen:

:lol: :lol: definitely :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I hate to argue but as a former used car salesman I'm insulted. Those bus/RV guys are down there with lawyers and the guys in computer stores. 8)[/quote:1p22i7rp]
Maybe I misread the question, but I was saying that used bus salesmen (at least in this case) are worse than used car salesman 8)

 

[adorshki]

[quote="kevin the bass man":2tj32vjt] :lol: :lol: definitely :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I hate to argue but as a former used car salesman I'm insulted. Those bus/RV guys are down there with lawyers and the guys in computer stores. 8)

Maybe I misread the question, but I was saying that used bus salesmen (at least in this case) are worse than used car salesman 8)[/quote:2tj32vjt]
OOPS....You're right!

 

[dreadnut]

I'm not sure why he would say the last few years at Westerly were no good, other than because he hates Fender. They cranked some really sweet guitars out of there until they closed the doors. There are a whole bunch of models I'd like to have that were made in the late 90's - '02. That's when the abalone soundhole rosette was added to many of the higher-end models, and they really expanded the model lines too. My '98 DV-52 is definitely a keeper :wink:

I will agree with him (kind of) on one point: The Tacoma-built D-50 is one killer dread, finest one made since Westerly IMHO. Wish I had a New Hartford D-50 to compare it to, but Elderly still doesn't have any of them.

 

[West R Lee]

Seems to me like this guy is must be pouncing on what are rarely reported finish blems from Corona and completely ignoring all the warrranty-less seconds and Graphite neck block guitars from Tacoma! I stand behind my D40 100% as do many other Corona owners around here stand behind theirs! 8)
He's in Las Vegas. I think that tells us all we need to know! :twisted: :lol:

Not to mention he's probably got a pile of Tacomas in his store..........and I'm sure very, very few Hoboken or Westerlys. I've been in his store, I was unimpressed.

West

 

[fronobulax]

his site[/url].]Guild Guitars Originally Were The old Epiphone Employees after Gibson bought it & ruined Epiphones forever.

Hmmm.

Sinnce Guild was founded in 1952 and Gibson did not buy Epiphone until 1957 the quote is at least suspect. If he allows that summary of corporate origins to stand then I would have my salt shaker handy when assessing his opinions on factory locations.

I will also note that it seems to be LTG's collective opinion that no factory was totally consistent. There are times and places where a factory may have tended to be "good" or "bad" but just as soon as anyone pushes a mild generalization into a pseudo statement of fact, counter-examples will appear.

Bottom line is that evaluating an instrument "in your hands" is a much better indicator of quality than time or place of production.

The Epiphone Connection...

According the the Holy Book of Hans, page 10, (and I am paraphrasing) Epiphone was reported in 1952 to have been closed due to labor troubles for 4 months. Epiphone was expanding and moving production. It was during this period, generally, that George Mann, former VP of Epiphone, and Al Dronge got together, hired some Epiphone workers who did not want to leave the Manhattan area, and started Guild.

I may have left a few things out, but I think that's the basics.

Dave

I consulted the Bible too. Since there is a gap between the sale of Epiphone to Gibson and the founding of Guild, Roman's statement is literally false. However it is true that there were former Epiphone employees associated with Guild's beginnings. It's just that their motivation had nothing to do with Gibson. Since I tend to be persnickety (some would say too much so) Roman's sloppiness with the story makes every opinion that comes out of his website suspect for me ;-)

 

[adorshki]

Since I tend to be persnickety (some would say too much so) Roman's sloppiness with the story makes every opinion that comes out of his website suspect for me ;-)

'S funny, that's one of the things I remember learning from a great "World Affairs" teacher in high school, when he was trying to explain the concept of interpreting news releases with the proverbial "grain of salt". You say "persnickety", I say "healthy dose of skepticism". Or "Caveat Emptor"

 

[yettoblaster]

My take on Ed Roman's MO comes from watching years ago as he sung the praises of Heritage while he was courting their favor, then about a year or so later was slagging them terribly in print, after he was either dropped as a dealer or moved on to his next pet line.

Years ago I thought his site was fun because he had tons of guitar porn up on his web page: multiple shots of guitars on hand, and plenty of models of brands I liked (including many archtops).

As the years passed he became more enthralled with his own special order ideas from various manufacturers (especially Heritage, when they would play ball with him), and "re-topping" Les Pauls, etc.

Eventually he started his own lines (contract makers?) and that's when he really began slagging almost any other maker of production guitars. He also started posting long diatribes of supposed conflicts between himself and say, the guys in Kalamazoo (Heritage), and other suppliers. I thought that was in questionable taste, so moved my porn journeys to other sites where nice pics of jazz guitars were still displayed (without rants about how evil production guitars are)..

 

[West R Lee]

After looking at some of his store pictures online a couple of years ago, I had to see his place when I visited Vegas. I don't know where his online pictures were taken, but the store I was in was tiny in comparison.....maybe 1500 sq.ft. Online it looked like Super Walmart full of guitars.

:lol: Also notice at the bottom of the article posted by this guy, he says to never buy guitars built in several named states (What the hell is that?), one of those was Texas. I'll bet there are a few Collings owners that might take issue with that statement.

West

 

[cuthbert]

Guys, I don't think you know who Ed Roman is...the man's got a reputation among Jackson/Charvel and BC Rich fans...basically they want to skin him at sight.

He's been accused of fraud, giving misleading information and rant, he rants a lot. I suggest to make a brief internet search about him, some stories are really entertaining...well they are if they happen to you. :lol:

 

[danerectal]

Wasn't Ed Roman a purveyor of BC Rich guitars? Are they not made in California?

 

[cuthbert]

Wasn't Ed Roman a purveyor of BC Rich guitars? Are they not made in California?

Yes he also boasts to have been a great friend of the Rico family and having helped their business back in the 70s...

Hint: when he starts to talk trash about a certain brand or industry it means that he had...troubles with that company, if you notice in his website he rants about DiMarzios, the truth seems to be that Larry revoked his "authorized seller" clearance to sell his pickups some time ago....

 

[dreadnut]

As my friend once said: "Opinions are like a$$holes, everybody's got a couple." :lol: :lol: :lol: