Used Martin's, Gibson's, Taylor's

Stuball48

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First, admittedly, there are a lot more produced but soooo many more used models to choose from, both acoustic and electric, than used Guilds. I think of several reasons for this:
1. Not, consistantly, as good
2. Peer Pressure - 'Get a _____"
3. Want to try different brand
You have any thoughts on why so many other used brands show up and Guilds don't?
 

Westerly Wood

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I nearly bought a 70s Martin D-28 for 2300 a few months back, before the lockdowns. But I passed. It sounded fantastic. I always peek around for an old Gibson J-45 too. Not much into Taylors, though I have owned 3. But I would not mind a Lemon Grove dread, those are great. LIke a 510 or 810. But those brands are just usually out of my financial reach, or I have the money but cannot justify spending that much right now. Used Guilds are just so well priced for those of us who GAS, and for the money, really well built and sound great. Very consistent. So I nearly always end up with another Guild dread :)
 

fronobulax

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There are a lot more of them.

Agreed. I think the peak of Guild's production was 25,000 instruments in a year and that was at Westerly. Seems to me Martin has been making 100,000 a year for many years so just making the assumptions you think are reasonable and crunching the numbers...
 

Guildedagain

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I've rarely been drawn to Gibson acoustics although I've owned a few all the way back to a 30's LG1 or something like that. I can't even look at a Taylor, the bridge and pickguard styling throw me off. Guilds on the other hand seem to pop up and become yours, sometimes at alarming rates.

I'm trying to thin the heard now and it's really difficult, each one is so nice. I just took the F30 out of the case for the first time in months a couple days ago, thinking should this one go on the chopping block as another "one too many guitars", and one strum and it was like Holy Sh*t, this thing's a keeper. That was without even the minute or so of fog lifting that guitars have to go through to sound pretty.

Really impressive.

I've been realizing you need to walk away from a guitar after a while and listen to it with fresh ears to really hear it.

I've never lived in a peer pressure environment to own any particular guitar, unless it was to get something with a whammy bar in the 80's... but having seen Woodstock the movie so many times since the very early 70's, I'd always be proud to play something with a Guild badge on the headstock, regardless of who knows what it is.

I played at a regional Permaculture Guild Fest a couple summers ago, and whenever somebody would come by to feed me or whatever, I"d say, "Hey, check out my Guild" as the word Guild was already in the air. I like plays on words and thought it was too cool.

Guilds forever.

This was my first one, over 20 years ago now, picked it up at a famous pawnshop that's long gone now. It was the best deal on a great acoustic, anything comparable was twice the money or more. I fussed with it for a while to get it to play and sound amazing, then eventually let it go on eBay and it went to the UK to a friend of Dave Davies looking for an acoustic for an upcoming recording project.

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Cougar

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I always peek around for an old Gibson J-45 too.

Early on, that was always a dream guitar for me. Then when Gibson's J-15 came out and was getting rave reviews, I started looking at those. They have an abalone rosette, and occasionally Bozeman would make a burst. I even got on a list at Music Villa in Bozeman, who got first dibs on the bursts.

But fortunately, just as a burst J-15 became available, TX notified the forum of a New Hartford Guild F50R on reverb. I put in an offer for the F50R for about the same price as a new J15, and it was accepted! Forget the J15, haha!

Quite a while later I saw a great deal for a red custom shop flamed maple Gibson J-45 that I just had to give a try. It was very underwhelming and wasn't even that pretty. I unloaded it locally within a month or two.

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bobouz

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Yeah, Gibson acoustics are very inconsistent totally. Some sound fantastic, while others are duds.
I've historically found that to be true of Gibsons, Guilds, and Martins - which are the only acoustics I've been seriously interested in since the '70s. Have never been drawn to Taylors, although it seems like the consistency of their build quality is one of their hallmarks.

As for the original question, my guess is it's just a matter of production numbers, and overall the other top brands simply have more instruments in circulation.
 
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