It's a Gas!
Gasman -- As I said - you are certainly entitled to your opinion, as we all are. And here of all places - Don has given us this wonderful forum to talk about things we are all greatly interested in and some amazingly passionate about. Am I a hardliner when it comes to Guild? Yes, I have to admit that I am. I feel like I have an investment in the company and would like to think that the quality continues - whether I ever purchase another new Guild or not.
In the 70's and 80's - many guitar companies decided they should have a more affordable, economical line of guitars - call them a student line or 'starter guitars'. Guild had Madeira and Martin had Smegma. I played a number of Madeiras and they were not to my liking at all. They were oversees (matters not where) for Guild, and like the other companies, Guild delineated them with a different name. They could see the market possibilities and they could see what was happening in Asian guitar building - good business forethought.
As I am on the road a considerable amount of the time, I get to play A LOT of other guitars. After 35+ years of playing professionally, I wouldn't give a fig for 90% of the Martins I've played - mostly because they aren't what I'm looking for, but also because I find them overpriced and overhyped. But, hey! people love them and are willing to pay large amounts of coin for them. They are just not for me. Same with Gibsons - and I've owned and played a great number of them. Over the years, I've owned instruments by Gibson, Epiphone, Alvarez, Alvarez-Yairi, Ovation, Yamaha, Ibanez, Stella, Harmony, and lots of other brands. I've truly searched the guitar planet in an effort to find my style, my sound, and how to best produce it....and I always come back to Guild.
Don't get me wrong, I've played some Guilds that I thought were lesser instruments - though I've never played any that completely sucked. In any line, there are some that sing and some that don't. I just always felt that as a general rule Guild had a higher percentage of wonderful sounding instruments for what I want than did others. I've had players play my instruments and say, "Man that's a great sounding guitar - wish I had one." Only to go off and purchase another brand without even considering Guild.
One of the reasons is that Guilds aren't as easy to find and never have been. And while I think a lot of that is bad business over the years and not hiring the right reps...some of it is that Guild has always been a player's shop and they've had their head in the workshop rather than in the marketplace to a degree that has set up such a situation. Al Dronge was a player with an interest in players and what they thought. All this was true to the very closing of Westerly. I could always call and get someone knowledgable to chat with and work out ideas and problems. If people think hardcare Guild owners are a rare breed (you'll find that echoed here periodically), exponentially magnify that when you talk about old style Guild dealers like Greg Tringas in Pensacola; Al Whitney in Alexandria, LA; Jay Pilzer in Franklin, TN and so forth. They were people who were passionate about Guilds while recognizing that Guilds weren't for everyone. I've oft told the story of Al Whitney taking me in the back of his shop where he kept his best models in their cases and matched me up to the 1975 Guild G37 I still own - that process started in 1976 and continued until I finally bought that guitar in 1977 or 78.
It's that passion that seemed to trickle through this company from Al Dronge and Carlo Greco down to those reps and dealers and then to the players. I believe Guild attracts a certain, yet indefinable breed of guitar lovers. And it's that passion that calls into question the why of Fender building a "student line" overseas and putting the Guild name on the headstock when they couldn't keep the higher end models at any quality. I understand why Fender bought Guild - they wanted a higher end quality name for their acoustic lines. Guild sold because it desperately needed an infusion of capital to keep its doors open. I understand Fender's decision to close Westerly (though I've never been happy about it) as a cost-effective move against serious renovation of that facility. I NEVER believed that NOT ONE Guild employee of Westerly was willing to move to California - there was more to it and that was just a thin corporate line - a snow job Bill Acton came up with to justify a lame attempt at relocating. Corona was a mistake - I understand that as Fender does. You can't have your expensive line of guitars where bridges pop off because electric guitar people finished the tops before gluing the bridges on. I think it was a brilliant move and possibly the salvation of the Guild name to purchase Tacoma and have the higher end guitars made there. Tacoma made great guitars before (not that I'd own one - different ethic) and from what I've seen thus far - they're doing the same great work with the new upper line Guilds.
As I've said before, the Chinese Guilds (how appropriate it is to call them GAD!) are nice work for an inexpensive line - though I believe they are a bit overpriced. I think they are comparable to Dean, lower Tacomas and lines like that. But their sound and structure doesn't resemble Guild at all. You can't just pick up any decent quality student line and slap a well-established and well-loved name on it and expect it to fit. To use your Japanese car reference, you have Lexus and Toyota and they are great cars with a good reputation for quality and durability. But if Toyota suddenly decided to add a new line and went out and slapped the Lexus or Toyota names on say...a Ford Fiesta or a Geo Metro or a Yugo...Lexus and Toyota lovers would spit and sputter just like people spit and sputter here.
That's all we're saying. There's a heritage to the Guild name...an expectation. There's a sound and a certain ethic. "Sorry, but the GADs just don't mesh!" is what I think people here have been saying. No one's criticizing the guitars themselves. The Chinese have done a splendid job of building student level guitars, entry-level instruments. No one's taking anything away from them. Those being flogged here are the powers that be at Fender (FMIC) and people like Donnie Wade who don't give a fig for what long-time, hardcore Guild players think or have to say. I don't like Taylors, personally, but they so popular and successful because Bob Taylor listens to his players.
OK - I've gone on too long. Forgive me...but I think this is my explanation for why GADs have gotten the reception here that they have. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, so it seems. To old-guard Guilders, GADs are not Guilds. They are well-built Asian guitars, but bear no resemblance to what these Guilders have come to love, respect and desire from the name Guild. It's what is making Westerly Guilds all the more precious and Fender's actions, much like the Pre-CBS moniker in Fender's history, of such disdain. It's not the Chinese that are being criticized - sadly, if so, they are taking the rap for Fender's (FMIC's) corporate blunders.
Enjoy your GAD, but just understand this is all new to people that have put up with constant tumult from the corporations behind their beloved Guilds. Best to you. Hope you enjoyed your nap. dbs