fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,751
- Reaction score
- 8,884
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
<Fronobulax enters, nods at the audience and mounts The Soapbox>
I am seeing statements in other threads concerning Orpheum production, and by implication, operations at New Hartford, that I believe are incorrect. However I don't feel like charging in, telling folks they are wrong, questioning sources and then finding out (as so often happens) that the real issue is my memory combined with the imprecision of the English language sprinkled with an assumption that things never change.
Based on my attendance at LMG I, II and III and hearing Ren talk about the Orpheum at LMG III I believe that the creation of an Orpheum was not as "special" as others claimed. In particular: Guild purchased wood, stored it and assigned in internal grades to it. All the wood was aged/dried in the same place with managed temperature and humidity. Orpheum wood was selected the same as any other wood. Someone went into the storage area with an idea of what kind of wood they wanted, what grade they were going to use (based upon the expected price point) and picked the "best" of what was there.
Orpehums were built on the regular production line using the same equipment as regular production instruments. Orpheum parts may have gotten extra attention but it was the same people using the same equipment. In the same way there may have been more, or closer inspections but the build process was fundamentally the same.
I saw no evidence that "top tapping" was a major part of the Guild production process.
What made the Orpheum special was the design and not the build process.
Things may have changed since LMG III so what I say may have been true then but was not true a year later.
People may have assumed that Guild worked like everyone else. For example, top tapping was a big part of the process making a Collins guitar. Some companies do assign a single person to oversee the production of a single instrument, when that instrument is 'custom'. But neither of these were being done in New Hartford.
People away from the factory don't always get the story right. My dealer had been to New Hartford and we compared notes. He then told me all the claims that the sales rep had made about what happens in the factory and we decided that the sales rep had no idea how things were done. It was not clear whether the sales rep was clueless or was making claims needed to sell guitars but the rep was definitely not a reliable source for what was happening in New Hartford.
I am prepared to be corrected on any of the above points although if the source had not personally observed the process I may remain unconvinced. So if the source is a dealer then we can agree to disagree or delve deeper.
I do know that many dealers did travel to New Hartford and hand pick the instruments they added to their stock. But they were picking from already completed instruments and not in anyway interacting with or specifying production.
I understand that I might be extrapolating concerning the Orpheum. But the 60th Anniversary was in production at LMG III and I did talk to people on the factory floor about it and they told me that the process was pretty much the same as for a F30 Traditional - same steps, same machines and so on. What differed was the details - same neck, same frets but different inlays - and the fact that they had a little extra time to make sure everything on the 60th was as close to perfect as they could manage at their station. It's an opinion, not a fact, but I don't see any logic to claiming the Orpheum is more special during production than a 60th.
<Fronobulax observes the audience has diminished to a handful and many former listeners are inspecting tomatoes at a nearby produce stand, nods and dismounts The Soapbox>
I am seeing statements in other threads concerning Orpheum production, and by implication, operations at New Hartford, that I believe are incorrect. However I don't feel like charging in, telling folks they are wrong, questioning sources and then finding out (as so often happens) that the real issue is my memory combined with the imprecision of the English language sprinkled with an assumption that things never change.
Based on my attendance at LMG I, II and III and hearing Ren talk about the Orpheum at LMG III I believe that the creation of an Orpheum was not as "special" as others claimed. In particular: Guild purchased wood, stored it and assigned in internal grades to it. All the wood was aged/dried in the same place with managed temperature and humidity. Orpheum wood was selected the same as any other wood. Someone went into the storage area with an idea of what kind of wood they wanted, what grade they were going to use (based upon the expected price point) and picked the "best" of what was there.
Orpehums were built on the regular production line using the same equipment as regular production instruments. Orpheum parts may have gotten extra attention but it was the same people using the same equipment. In the same way there may have been more, or closer inspections but the build process was fundamentally the same.
I saw no evidence that "top tapping" was a major part of the Guild production process.
What made the Orpheum special was the design and not the build process.
Things may have changed since LMG III so what I say may have been true then but was not true a year later.
People may have assumed that Guild worked like everyone else. For example, top tapping was a big part of the process making a Collins guitar. Some companies do assign a single person to oversee the production of a single instrument, when that instrument is 'custom'. But neither of these were being done in New Hartford.
People away from the factory don't always get the story right. My dealer had been to New Hartford and we compared notes. He then told me all the claims that the sales rep had made about what happens in the factory and we decided that the sales rep had no idea how things were done. It was not clear whether the sales rep was clueless or was making claims needed to sell guitars but the rep was definitely not a reliable source for what was happening in New Hartford.
I am prepared to be corrected on any of the above points although if the source had not personally observed the process I may remain unconvinced. So if the source is a dealer then we can agree to disagree or delve deeper.
I do know that many dealers did travel to New Hartford and hand pick the instruments they added to their stock. But they were picking from already completed instruments and not in anyway interacting with or specifying production.
I understand that I might be extrapolating concerning the Orpheum. But the 60th Anniversary was in production at LMG III and I did talk to people on the factory floor about it and they told me that the process was pretty much the same as for a F30 Traditional - same steps, same machines and so on. What differed was the details - same neck, same frets but different inlays - and the fact that they had a little extra time to make sure everything on the 60th was as close to perfect as they could manage at their station. It's an opinion, not a fact, but I don't see any logic to claiming the Orpheum is more special during production than a 60th.
<Fronobulax observes the audience has diminished to a handful and many former listeners are inspecting tomatoes at a nearby produce stand, nods and dismounts The Soapbox>