GAD's Are They Considered "Real" Guild Guitars?

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I own a GAD-JF-48 guitar.
I am very impressed with the guitar.
Tone is excellent. Playability is great.
Craftsmanship is flawless.
But, is it a "Guild"?

 

[fungusyoung]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

Opinions here are somewhat split down the middle. I only mean that in terms of whether GAD's should say "Guild" on the headstock or not (i.e. whether they are "real" Guilds or not).

Few would argue that they are a very nice foreign made and fine lower priced alternative. Thoughts seem to range from some believing they are equal or superior to American made Guilds to they are an embarrassment to the Guild name, American history & quality.

Personally, I think they are a great bang for the buck, but I'd prefer a used Westerly instead.

 

[Graham]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I own a GAD-JF-48 guitar.
I am very impressed with the guitar.
Tone is excellent. Playability is great.
Craftsmanship is flawless.
But, is it a "Guild"?

I think they are.

 

[california]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

Built to guild specs in someone else's factory -- could be worse. Guilds made in China certainly seem to be more like Guilds than Epiphones made in China/Korea/Japan are like the Gibson's their cloned from. Enjoy your guitar!

 

[capnjuan]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I own a GAD-JF-48 guitar. I am very mpressed with the guitar. Tone is excellent. Playability is great. Craftsmanship is flawless. But, is it a "Guild"?

is a Volvo made in Canada a Volvo? Ford bought Jaguar; Jaguar is in the UK; is a Jaguar a Ford or a Jaguar? GADs are made to Guild standards and specifications ... FWIW: On this BB, I think I've head more crabbing about newish Corona models than I have new GAD models. If it walks like a duck....cj

 

[zplay]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I own a GAD-JF-48 guitar. I am very mpressed with the guitar. Tone is excellent. Playability is great. Craftsmanship is flawless. But, is it a "Guild"?

is a Volvo made in Canada a Volvo? Ford bought Jaguar; Jaguar is in the UK; is a Jaguar a Ford or a Jaguar? GADs are made to Guild standards and specifications ... FWIW: On this BB, I think I've head more crabbing about newish Corona models than I have new GAD models. If it walks like a duck....cj

Oh Good: it had gotten too quiet around here since the Acoustic Guitar article row petered out. Time to kick up some more dust! :lol:
To follow capn's line, is a current American-made Guild a Tacoma, since it's made in the Tacoma plant by Tacoma-trained builders?
Is every Guild post-Fender take-over something other than a real Guild? Still, I suppose there's got to be something other than just the name on a headstock that speaks to the tradition or approach of a guitar company, such as some elements of build and tone.
I personally haven't the continuity with Guilds over the decades to speak to this. I just know that I liked the GADs a lot that I played and they don't seem to me to diminish the Guild name.

 

[Guildmark]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

Hmmm. I just got to wondering. Is a WW-II M1 carbine made by Singer Sewing Machine better than one made by IBM?

 

[Scratch]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I'd buy a Chinese made Guild ball cap!

 

[Bing k]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I'd buy a Chinese made Guild ball cap!

I've been looking for one for ya, but had no luck yet. :evil:

 

[california]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

Is a BMW made in North Carolina a BMW? A Nissan made in Tennessee at Nissan? Honda's have come from Ohio since the '80s.... and
you can never be quite sure where a Fender is made, but according to the stickers they're set up in the US.... are they still Fenders? Of course, you'd have to ask FMIC, the company that makes GADs in China......

 

[West R Lee]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

:evil: I' reading.....think I'll bite my fingers again! :wink: Man, these things are getting sore.

West

 

[Graham]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

:evil: I' reading.....think I'll bite my fingers again! :wink: Man, these things are getting sore.

West

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[dklsplace]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

Well, GAD's are "real" guitars, & they say Guild on the headstock.

 

[Firebird]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

You can talk all you want about build quality, Guild specs, yadda-yadda. What the GAD Guilds don't have is the corporate Guild tone that EVERY American Guild has, new or old. That is, when you pick up a real Guild and strum it, you immediately know its a GUILD guitar and not some other brand. A Martin sounds like a Martin and a Taylor sounds like a Taylor across the entire product line. Sure, a mahagony D40 sounds different than a maple F50, but they both sound like a GUILD and not something else. The GAD guitars, as nice as they may sound, do NOT sound like a GUILD and therefore in my book cannot hold the same status as any American made Guild, old or new.

 

[Scratch]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I'd buy a Chinese made Guild ball cap!

I've been looking for one for ya, but had no luck yet. :evil:

Thanks for thinking of me Bingster! Shoveling snow yet?

 

[Scratch]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

My only experience is comparing my GAD-212e with my other Guild 12ers. I really liked the sound of my (recently departed) GAD, but honestly, fellas, it just didn't light my fire like the others (three Westerly's & one Tacoma). How to explain? I can't describe other than to say the others feel better in my arms.

Strange comparison, for sure, but bear with me here... I'm a real Ford Mustang guy. I've owned eight over a thirty years period. Hot rods, classics...heck I've had and loved them all. My present 2005 model (Bullitt) is as much fun to drive today as it was the day I got him... Reminds me of great fun stangs I've owned in the past. Heck... some days I put the windows down and I'm Steve McQueen. Most days; however, I feel like grandpa McCoy...

If Bullitt were made in China, I wouldn't have purchased it. Just something wrong about that to me! I don't expect everyone to have the same tastes, but for me, its US Guilds and Mustangs. In their proper place, though, behind God,country & family...

 

[fronobulax]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

If it says Guild on the headstock/label and it was put there by someone authorized to use the name/logo then it's a Guild. Period.

It is true that there is a sound one expects from a Guild but the proper way to describe that is to focus on the sound and not the manufacturer or logo. My perspective may be different since on electrics and basses the PUs have at least as much to do with the sound as the rest of the instrument. Putting a Guild PU on an instrument made by, say Gibson, does not make the instrument a Guild even though it may sound like one and slapping an EB-0 pickup on a Starfire is a crime but it does not make the guitar a Gibson.

As far as the original question goes then, for me, a GAD Guild is a real Guild. That it not to say, however that they sound and play like every other Guild from the 50's on.

Tangentially, if the definition of real is based upon sound then there are those who would say that not all of Hoboken, Westerly, Corona and Tacoma are "real" Guilds either.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Siwash]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

They are a contemporary Guild. The old Guilds were made out East by a guy named Dronge. Frankly, looking it over, this topic gets tiresome. The old company's long dead, same as when Henry Ford died and they stopped making the Model T. Times change, companies change, all things must pass.

I've got a GAD 50, and I've admired the GAD jumbos, too. VERY nice made guitars, nicer than most Chinese guitar products. The important thing is for Fender to maintain quality control all over the place.

I've heard some absolutely lousy Westerly D-25s. Not all that's Guild is gold.

 

[capnjuan]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

...What the GAD Guilds don't have is the corporate Guild tone that EVERY American Guild has, new or old. That is, when you pick up a real Guild and strum it, you immediately know its a GUILD guitar and not some other brand... The GAD guitars, as nice as they may sound, do NOT sound like a GUILD and therefore in my book cannot hold the same status as any American made Guild, old or new.

Hi Firebird: no real argument but, in fairness to GADs, although there are 30 year old Guilds, there's no such thing as a 30 year old GAD so there can't be a comparison between the tone quality of the two. I'd also have to think that, because they are new and have straight necks, GADs as a group probably play better/easier than most 30 yo Guilds many of which have worn frets, lifting bridges, and are sneaking up on neck resets; i.e., showing signs of age like the Geezers who seek to own them.

Finally, in the 70s and 80s, Japanese companies like Greco, Burny, and Tokai knocked out some of the finest Les Pauls ever seen; certainly as good if not better than some/most of the LPs being made today. Guild's adventure w/ its Asian-built Dearmond line produced guitars whose necks stay on, are very playable, and sound pretty good. I don't own any GADs because I am not willing to wait for a GAD's top to loosen up and its woods to mature and not because I think they otherwise inferior to a standard Guild. I think we oughtta leave the GAD jury out for a few years to see if they survive the toolup, the market entry process, and see if their necks stay where they are supposed to. Peace....cj

 

[drowlins]

Re: GAD's Are They Concidered "Real" Guild Guitars?

I like my Gad-50. I also like my Hoboken M-20, and my Westerly D-35. American fords have Japanese wiring harnesses, even Mustangs. If it plays good, play it!