First guilds from the new factory...

I work as a sales-guy in a musicstore, and the guy representing Guild (and some other Fender brands) came in this week after a visit to the Ovation-Hamer plant. He told me the first Guild acoustics were already being made. I wonder how long before they hit the shops. Of course he was telling how awesome they are, but hey, he's a sales-rep... I wonder if we are going to like 'em as much as the Tacoma's.

I wonder if we are going to like 'em as much as the Tacoma's.

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I've loved/owned Guild guitars built in every location. Why should the new plant be any different?

Looking forward to seeing/playing the latest!

6

'74 D-40
'06 D-55
'06 D-40BJ
'06 F-412
'98 Martin D-45V
'98 Collings D-1
'03 Taylor 214

Fingers are crossed. Let's hope they live up to Westerly/Tacoma quality... Any new models mentioned? Any sales literature you can pass along?

Nice. Good news. Looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

I think we should arrange a little pilgrimage at some point this summer, folks.

Yes, Frsoty was the first to recommend a tour of the plant. I live in Virginia so us East Coasters wouldnt have far to travel.

Mark

How anyone views any of this as good news is a mystery to me. This is the fourth move of Guild production in a decade. Fender's press releases always make farting noises about their dedication to Guild, high quality, blah blah. How many times does FMIC need to shovel bullspit at us for people to realize it's all nonsense. Remember FMIC promising that Guild electric production was going to start again? the usual crapola about highly trained dedicated workers in westerly..er, corona...er, tacoma....er, connecticut. Guild has become a brand for fender, no more and no less. They have problems selling acoustic fenders beyond the low-end squier cheese, so now it's time to build acoustic fenders with the guild name slapped on them. With every shift, with every promise, with every lie, fmic still thinks your dedication to a long defunct product line will keep you in the fold.

I was on the fmic a few years ago and castigated for questioning fmic and expressing serious doubts about fender's intentions when they moved to corona and had the "temporary retooling" for production of electric guilds. People said relax, trust fmic. Okay, since then have they done one single thing to make you think guild has a great future? Name one single thing...And then start listing the things they've done that lead you to wonder if they have a clue about where guild is going...

Amen to what the Count says !!

Gee, Count S, how do you really feel? :wink:

Can't say that I don't share your skepticism about FMIC, especially after they pulled the plug on Tacoma which was producing some exceptional instruments.

Sorry to say, Guild will never again be what they were, as we discussed in another thread. They were the "David" to the Martin and Gibson "Goliath", a darn good if not better guitar at a regular working guy's price.

The good news is this: the vintage Guilds are mostly still available at good prices. Highly unlikely I'll be buying any new Guilds regardless where they're made, but I'll always be in the market for Westerly Guilds. (That is, once I get back to work and start pulling in a full paycheck again)

count_scrofula said:

have they done one single thing to make you think guild has a great future? Name one single thing...

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They made some really nice guitars in Tacoma.

I don't really like the idea of the move, nor do I really understand it, but the move from Corona to Tacoma didn't drop the quality of the instruments, and there's no reason why another move would necessarily have that result.

Like I said, I can't say I really like the idea of another move, but I do hope they can sustain the quality achieved at Tacoma.

dedication to a long defunct product line

I own a Corona D-55 that is FAR from a "defunct product" by a long shot. In fact I like it better than the RI Guilds that I've played, lighter, louder and well balanced.

I take it someone has had a less than positive experience with Fender in the past.

scrof,

Man, I know exactly how you feel. Point is, what's done is done. We're trying to be optimistic about the future of Guild here without throwing in the towel.

You guys really shouldn't be all doom and gloom. There's no reason to believe that the folks in CT can't continue the Guild line.

What really is good news here is that they're starting to turn the crank. I guess that's what I'm saying, scrof. It'll be some time before they can crank out a great guitar, but the sooner they start the better. Tacoma will shut its doors soon, and then there will be an issue with new product for a while...

Anyway, this is a sign that Fender isn't killing the USA line. Let's cross our fingers.

This is only conjecture on my part, but it really does seem that since Schultz departed the helm, the FMIC folly is just turning in wider circles around the Guild dilemma. Kill it, bury it, or take it to another "glory era", but at this point I couldn't care less.

I'm upset with FMIC; they seemed to be doing it right in Tacoma. But I'm also pulling for 'em to do it right in CT and then leave it alone...

Can't resist not weighing in here....................

I'm with the count-s....... here, based on Fender's history with Guild, and the constant moving from one location to another, this indicates a pattern here, and not one that seens committed to the Guild reputation.

I would be curious for Fender's rationale for all these moves.................
the truth would provide valuable insight on to what's going on here.

We'll see. Waiting is.

' Strang

So sad how things change.
I tried a new GAD M20.It was a beautiful looking and sounding guitar.
I think anyone who loves the older version would be happy with it.
I think with all the moves and starts and stops,it just makes our vintage guitars even better!
Jan

Do I trust FMIC's handling of Guild? Absolutely not. When have they ever proven to know anything about making quality acoustics? Plus, the most "stable" Guild offering in terms of production, distribution and retail availability is the GAD line. And I'm not knocking GAD's at all, but they are not the same type of guitars Guild built up their name and reputation on. Of course things change & all that, but I cannot exactly see a stronger Guild emerging from a consolidated factory environment anytime real soon... particularly when Ovation is one of the key incumbent ingredients in the mix.

Much as I love Ray Davies, he never sounded too great banging away on a salad bowl.

chazzan said:

Can't resist not weighing in here....................

I'm with the count-s....... here, based on Fender's history with Guild, and the constant moving from one location to another, this indicates a pattern here, and not one that seens committed to the Guild reputation.

I would be curious for Fender's rationale for all these moves.................
the truth would provide valuable insight on to what's going on here.

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Chazzan,

Honestly, I can't say why FMIC moved Guild from Corona to Tacoma, except I suspect they legitimately wanted to expand the Guild production at the Tacoma facility when they acquired it.

The move to CT? I think it's obvious... Economies of scale. I doubt they have any plans for expanding production, but they're consolidating their production facilities -- and the Tacoma facility wasn't profitable enough.

Note, I'm not defending these moves, particularly the CT move, but I think the justification to FMIC is clear profit motive.

Of course FMIC is totally profit driven, which isn't necessarily a bad thing when viewed from a big picture perspective. However, the FMIC vision seems to vary with every management change and shift in beancounter philosophy.

Guild certainly went through management and ownership changes during the 70's, 80's and '90s, including the first few years under FMIC. However, the same guys were making the guitars, regardless of who was signing the checks. One need look no further than the beautiful (ahem) solid bodies from the hair band era to know there were some total knuckleheads making some of the marketing and management decisions for the company. BUT...production stayed in one place, performed and managed by people who knew what was necessary to make a damned good guitar. Those nasty pointy looking things are usually darned good playing guitars, because the same people and the same guitar-making philosophy still existed. Whether making acoustics, archtops, "traditional" solidbodies or freaked out wanker guitars, a tradition of quality stayed with the products. Where is that tradition, where are those experienced craftsmen, when production facilities and employees crisscross the country four times in less than a decade? Is there one single person making guilds now who was involved in making them 20 years ago? Ten years ago? Five years ago? Last year?

Look soon for a Guild with a fiberglass bowl body. yum.

Well, I'm just a dumb old East Texas boy, and know nothing of economics or business....but let's see, from Westerly to Corona to Tacoma back to Connecticut. Wouldn't have made more sense to have just stayed at Westerly? :?

West