That is interesting about the stereotype because when I was a kid, I also thought Guild was a budget line of instruments. I don't know why I thought that and don't even remember anyone telling me that. Maybe because everyone was playing Fenders and Gibson and I didn't know anyone who played or even sold Guilds to my memory, so I figured they must be undesireable. I had a Guild classical guitar, but when I got serious into playing classical, the thought was Ramirez, cuz that was what the pros were playing mostly, it seemed. So I guess that reinforced the stereotype.
Now I only have my random sample of my one FMIC NS Starfire to compare to my Gibson and Fender and Ricky basses. But I would not call it a budget instrument since it holds its own with all of those, though the Ric is way above the others on the craftsmanship level.