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Diggey

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Are some of the big box guitar dealers dropping Guild Newark? I noticed Guitar Center and Musicians Friend seem to be Losing Guild models and then list the models as unavailable. Just wondering if anyone noticed, not making a statement about buying from local stores or why big box companies are bad. Just wondering what's up with that. GC isn't showing any new ones. MF is selling out and then not giving updates as to when more will come, such as the Polaris and CE-100. They say unavailable. Few others have dropped them as well, I've noticed.
 
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guildman63

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Guitar Center never really carried new Guild electrics to my knowledge. As for Musicians Friend, most NS electric models list as available. Those that are not currently available list to ship by November 9, 10, or 28 depending on the model. It seems to me that they are selling well, and everything looks fine to me.

Update: specifically, the S100 is no longer listed, but the CE-100 is currently available, and the Starfire II, III, IV and V, as well as the S200, M75, T50, X175 and A150 are either available or will ship in November.
 
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chazmo

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Interesting observation. Didn't we just see a post about GC just starting to carry new Guild electrics? Might be that it's location-dependent.
 

fronobulax

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I do not recall that Guild electrics ever were in GC so someone, probably, me, is not remembering things correctly. There is a thread reporting Guild electrics in a GC (in Oklahoma, I believe) but last I checked no one else had similar reports. There have been threads stating that the newest Newark Street models are delayed and not appearing in the stores as soon as hoped. That doesn't have to mean anything more than delivery schedules were optimistic. But it is bad business to advertise a product that cannot be delivered which may explain why they are not listed.

I don't think there is anything to be concerned about or any lesson to be inferred. The original Newark Street models took six months to show up in limited quantities and some dealers, who ordered later, waited a year. The demand may be greater than the supply which would be a good thing for Guild.
 

adorshki

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There have been threads stating that the newest Newark Street models are delayed and not appearing in the stores as soon as hoped. That doesn't have to mean anything more than delivery schedules were optimistic. But it is bad business to advertise a product that cannot be delivered which may explain why they are not listed.
You just made something click for me:
Hanjin bankruptcy.
Korea's biggest shipping outfit (7th largest on the planet) went into bankruptcy proceedings about 2 months ago and it threw a gigantic wrench into all asian export trade especially consumer electronics but with consequences so far out some merchants were worrying about Chrismas items back in September .
 

GAD

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You just made something click for me:
Hanjin bankruptcy.
Korea's biggest shipping outfit (7th largest on the planet) went into bankruptcy proceedings about 2 months ago and it threw a gigantic wrench into all asian export trade especially consumer electronics but with consequences so far out some merchants were worrying about Chrismas items back in September .

Good call. Gigantic wrench doesn't even begin to describe the issue, and you may be right about it affecting Korean Guilds.
 

adorshki

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I'm in Southern Calif, Los Angeles, and the ONLY stores I've ever seen carry new Guilds is Sam Ash.
GC had 'em up until around '00 or so. I got my D25 at a Guitar Center but they'd lost 'em to local independant Guitar Showcase by the time I scored my F65ce.
IT's been mentioned that Guitar Center had far greater volume requirements than Guild could deliver, at least regarding New Hartford product.
Wouldn't surprise me if that was also the case beginning with Corona, and the mass liquidation of product at closure there and at Tacoma certainly couldn't have made things better.
GC did carry the MIC line though.
Those were actually Fender corporate controlled product, Guild US had nothing to do with marketing or servicing them.
 

fronobulax

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Those were actually Fender corporate controlled product, Guild US had nothing to do with marketing or servicing them.

Explain please. The warranty process at my local dealer was the same for NH and MIC instruments sold there so I'm not sure what this means. The owner only dealt with one Guild sales rep even though he offered NH, ARCOS and GAD, at least initially.
 
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Guildadelphia

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Lots of variables at play here. I recall MIC Guild acoustics at both GC and Ash and a NS electric here or there at Ash. I would imagine the change over from FMIC to Cordoba has had some impact. The truth is, most GC's and Ash stores primarily stock Fender (and Squier), Gretsch (mainly cheaper Electromatics and Synchromatics),Gibson (Epiphone), and Ibanez...at least in the greater Philadelphia area. The larger GC's also have PRS, Music Man, and Tom Anderson. They are all more than happy to order any brand that they deal with. It was very different back in the days of the big independent shops in the Philly area. Every independent dealer seemed to carry plenty of Guild, electric and acoustic. It will be interesting to see if Cordoba gets more aggressive in trying to get the big box stores to stock more NS electrics. They have not been shy about adding new models to the line. I wonder if they will reach out to independent dealers who cannot afford the huge buy-ins that Fender and Gibson requier as an alternative. There are some local independent shops that in the past were big Fender, Gibson, etc dealers that might be interested in carrying a well known name like Guild again if the terms are reasonable.
 

adorshki

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Explain please. The warranty process at my local dealer was the same for NH and MIC instruments sold there so I'm not sure what this means. The owner only dealt with one Guild sales rep even though he offered NH, ARCOS and GAD, at least initially.
PM sent primarily because I think it's only of interest to us right now, as "history", but I stand by my statement.
I probably was guilty of taking verbal shortcuts while trying to keep an explanation of how/why the current system evolved, "short".
Newer members may not be aware of why so many dealers carry only the MIC product and that just helps their understanding.
Under Cordoba all that is subject to change, and as we've seen in recent threads about Guitar Center, even they are free to change their business model and may well start stocking US-built product again.
A lot of folks would love to see that and I don't think it'd be a bad thing either.
 

fronobulax

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PM sent primarily because I think it's only of interest to us right now, as "history", but I stand by my statement.
I probably was guilty of taking verbal shortcuts while trying to keep an explanation of how/why the current system evolved, "short".
Newer members may not be aware of why so many dealers carry only the MIC product and that just helps their understanding.
Under Cordoba all that is subject to change, and as we've seen in recent threads about Guitar Center, even they are free to change their business model and may well start stocking US-built product again.
A lot of folks would love to see that and I don't think it'd be a bad thing either.

This issue seems to be that you are drawing the line between FMIC and its wholly owned subsidiary Guild differently that I would. We both agree that after they entered the warranty system GADs were not sent to New Hartford to be repaired. But one of the Guild marketing guys I met at an LMG had marketing responsibility for the MIC Guilds as well as the NH Guilds and even the Arcos Guilds. He was the Guild brand manager and responsible for selling the products from three different factories. The NH factory was actually owned by FMIC, not Guild, and other brands were made and serviced there.

We're probably on the same page and in violent agreement :)
 

adorshki

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He was the Guild brand manager and responsible for selling the products from three different factories.
Right, "Brand Manager" would be a title for exactly the kind of position I suspected the "Guild Sales Rep" had as well, a "Fender Corporate" employee with responsibility for marketing all of the "Guild Branded" products.

True, technically everybody was a "Fender Employee", but I think the guys building the instruments on the floor only had to answer to the plant manager, and he probably only had to answer to someone in Fender who was not the Guild Brand Manager but an Operations and Expenses type corporate level manager.

We're probably on the same page and in violent agreement :)
Yep.
Like I said, I took some verbal shortcuts to keep that initial comment short, but the conversation makes me realize there are probably very similar structures in place at CMG right now.
(For the benefit of newcomers/folks who may not be aware of this yet):
Cordoba Music Group owns and markets several brands of which Guild is one, and even though the Guild branded instruments are sourced from 3 different countries, they're presented as a united front under the brand name, the Guild website is example #1 of that marketing philosophy (and was under Fender as well).
There's probably still a "Guild Brand Manager" employed by CMG, responsible for making sure each of the 3 lines ("GUILD" "Westerly Collection" and "Newark Street") is promoted properly, (and probably for input in setting and achieving sales goals too), but Cordoba now has the ability to offer different (from Fender policy) inventory plans to dealers, as Guildadelphia mentioned above.
It also occurs to me that might simplify the dealer's "behind the scenes" warranty procedures too.
I'm becoming ever more hopeful about seeing domestic built product IN STORES.
:friendly_wink:
 
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I just received a flyer from my local Guitar Center and they list Guild electric guitars. I will have to check if they are in stock next I am in there. Another GC across town stocks Rickenbacker guitars. I think they are all different in what they stock.
Thanks John
 
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