I’ve been to the Hollywood Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd. but not to Cordoba's headquarters, as the Guild purchase happened after my job with the US company finished and I have not been to CA since.
The only LTG member who might have been there is
@Dylan McGee Jones .
But there might be something to see, especially when looking a bit in the history!
As you know, the two key persons for Guild and CMG are
Tim Miklaucic (CEO and founder of Cōrdoba Music Group) and
Jonathan Thomas (President Cōrdoba Music Group).
Let's start with Tim Miklaucic. He also is the owner and CEO of "
Guitar Salon International".
According to
their webpage, "
Tim began importing guitars from Spain in 1977 while a student at UCSD. He studied classical guitar with Celin Romero and the Romero family, who also introduced him to their collection of world-class instruments.
In 1983, while working on a PhD in Philsophy at UCLA, Tim’s love of the guitar led him to found GSI. In the following years he also founded Cordoba Guitars, Cordoba Music Group and the GSI Foundation to support music education in public schools.
For over 35 years, Guitar Salon International (GSI) has been the world’s largest dealer of fine classical and flamenco guitars. By building close relationships with both the makers and players of these instruments, and always maintaining a profound respect for the art, GSI has been able to serve students, professionals, collectors and aficionados alike. We have evaluated, acquired and sold the largest number of vintage instruments from the most desirable makers of history, and have subsequently assembled some of the most important private collections in the world."
See for instance here:
Classical Guitar shares music, musicians, and instruments that matter. Explore the rich traditions, history, and vibrant community surrounding classical guitar.
classicalguitarmagazine.com
Shortly after founding GSI, Tim Miklaucic also founded another company aound 1985,
Tornavoz Music Company, which by around 2011 (?) was renamed "
Cōrdoba Music Group". And we all know that CMG bought Guild in 2014.
And
Jonathan Thomas (now President Cōrdoba Music Group), started after university in year 2005 with Tornavoz Music Company! That's how they got to know each other.
Tornavoz Music Company called themselves “
The world's leading supplier of nylon-string guitars and accessories.”
They had the “Cordoba Guitars” brand in their portfolio.
Tornavoz Music Company and
Guitar Salon International (GSI) both were/are located at
1455 19th Street, Santa Monica CA 90404.
Here is an about 10 years old picture of the building:
Sometime between 2011 and 2013, after CMG was founded, the signs changed to "Cordoba":
And after the Guild purchase in 2014 the round sign now shows: Cordoba and Guild, here is a recent picture:
So why did I write all of this? Because inside is the showroom of
Guitar Salon International (GSI) ! And I don't know if there is also the "Guild Guitars" showroom, or if that one is in Oxnard, only
@Dylan McGee Jones could tell us.
Here is a picture from October 2020 of the GSI showroom:
And GSI shows that you can visit the showroom any time on appointment:
"
If you’re in the Los Angeles area and would like to come in to view and try out any of the guitars we have in stock, you’re more than welcome – we’d love to meet you. If you do so, we ask that you simply let us know beforehand – the best way is by contacting us by phone or email."
https://www.guitarsalon.com/contact/
And you see that they still produce videos from the location, like this one from 16.December 2021. Actually open it in YouTube, GSI has a ton of videos there!
Ralf
. Let's hope it happens someday?
