Nothing is for sure with regards to Guild ;-)
Initially (see explanation later in this post) Newark St. models were and mosty still are made by
SPG (
Sound Professional Guitar Co, Ltd.) in Korea, which is however NOT Samick!
SPG makes their own guitars and was in the past (not today) also a manufacturer for Samick, but not Samick. Two different things. As far as I know it was only a customer-supplier relationship between Samick and SPG.
To also correct some wrong info I constantly read, Samick has never built guitars for Gretsch either...Some Gretsch guitars were made by Peerless in Korea, and then in late 2007 (?) production was transferred to the SPG factory. (Easy to see, "KP" serial numbers are Peerless, "KS" are SPG).
But now I explain why I said "initially". Some of the Newark St. models are obviously now made by
WMI (
World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd. ) in Incheon/Korea!
Read this thread:
www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?189534-New-Korean-factory-for-some-Newark-St-models
Just to add, the acoustic GAD guitars were (best guess) and Westerly Collection (for sure) guitars are made at
Grand Reward Education & Entertainment (GREE) in Hui Yang city / China.
Ralf