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Guild Guitars


Norton666

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I need some schooling on Guild guitars. I grew up listening to my dad pickin on an old Guild and to this day, it is the definition of great acoustic tone. Are there any Guilds still made in the US? If so , which models? How do they sound?

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Fender bought Guild. Fender had Guilds made in Corona. These were not highly regarded. Fender bought Tacoma. Fender moved Guild production to the Tacoma Factory - they are spectacular. Fender bought Ovation/Hamer. Fender shuts down Tacoma. Fender moves Guild production to Connecticut.

 

The guitars you would purchase now, I really don't know where they are made. The Connecticut Guilds may good too, but haven't heard any reports yet.

 

Guild is now nothing more than a label that Fender slaps on a guitar that can be made anywhere that Fender chooses. The Tacomas are very nice.

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1992 magazine ad... a bit off-topic, I just thought I'd share it
:p

slashplaysguildsmallqm8.jpg

 

Well, if Slash plays a Guild, I'm gonna sell all my guitars and get a Guild!

 

I'm not sure where they were built, but all of the MIA Guilds I have played recently (an F-40, a CO-1 and a D-55) have been spectacular guitars that sounded great. The Chinese-made GAD's sound great too and are one of the best acoustic deals around

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I own a couple of US builts and love them. One is a Westerly, the other is a Corona. Though the Corona's gets a rap from some, I do believe they are still built like a lot of other manufacturers....that is, some are better than others.

 

In the case of mine, I love the solid mahogany sound and can't really compare it to others because of the all mahogany side, back and top. The build is perfect, the finish could have been better on the neck (some flaking). Like another comment here, the Tacoma made D40's are considered by many as the best instrument Guild ever made....unfortunately they are very hard to find.

 

I love the "F" series guitars over the dreds...not for their sound, but for ease of play and comfort to hold. I once played a used "D55" that sounded incredible....but it was too expensive for me.

 

My experience with Gad's (Chinese built) isn't a very impartial one. I tend to prefer US builts with any guitar, but as others have mentioned, they really like theirs. I have played Gads, and just couldn't "find" the love in them I have for their US counterparts. Let's hope they continue to make a great US built guitar in their latest new plant. I have no reason to believe they won't keep up the tradition of a fine US instrument.

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I play a 2002 Corona built D55, and I can still not find any defects, Finish, fit, playability and tone are all great. Exactly what I would expect of a pro-grade, production guitar.

I play a 1985 Westerly built D25 arch-back, which has a lot of bar-room mojo, but is a equaly well built "players" guitar.

I feel Coronas get a bad rap because of Fenders obivious disrespect of the Guild Marque. The old New York to Hoboken to Westerly moves for expansion were one thing, but the Corona move was a downer to so many loyal Guild fans. Sort of like if Martin moved to Cleveland !:mad:

The Corona plant was a electric facility with no background in building high-end Acoustics.Although the designs were the same, what about the experience of the production people? None came along for the move. So IMHO, Fender made a good move when they transfered Guild production to Tacoma, where the workers had a solid Acoustic background. The proof was in the pudding, as the reviews and sales of Guild really ramped up. New models and features were comeing on line,( red spruce tops on certian models), then whamm, another across coast move?

Who knows the future for U.S.A. built Guilds, only time will tell. Nothing has been produces as of yet...But I am hopefull of yet another recovery of one of the best,...but it will take time.

As for the Guild Asian Division Guitars, (GAD) they are fine import units, at a good price, sort of like Epi to Gibson. And there are still plenty of good deals on used American Guilds.

So whatever Fender does next, it will be a long time before all of us old Guild fans give up on such a great guitar design.

Just my ramble.

Dale.

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Im a long time Guild Fan - own a '71 D-55 ( sensational guitar ) The new ones are hit and miss , theirs some fantastic ones out their and a few dogs here and their - the new D-55's are mixed - the early ones with the Ebony bridges are not my favorite - when they switched back to the EIR bridges they got a closer to original sound - but the older BR bridges have the best sound - their tops are also alot nicer. Honestly even thou i love guilds alot of the newer ones have been hit and miss for quality - Id play it before i bought it - or deal with someone you trust who has a liberal return policy if you buy it over the net ( but i wouldnt buy it over the net ) i recently talked to a Guild dealer who dropped the Guild line because the company is hard to deal with and slow to do warranty work. The Gads are a very good guitar for the money - ive heard their made in the same factory that Blueridge are made at .

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rtmuzyka wrote:

 

 

I have a 1965, or earlier, guild d 50 #42855.  It has been sitting in its case for 45 years.

 

It is in excellent shape.  Minor dings on the front.  What would it be worth?

 

Thanks

 

Dick

 

How is the neck angle?  Any issues from the long term storage (ie. is it badly dried out)?  Do you know if its Brazillan rosewood?

btw - welcome to HCAG, Dick, and a warning - you are going to get flamed for digging up an old thread (however I can see why you might have done it).  Might have been better to start a new one.

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Guild has always made great guitars, and they still do = right here in the USA.  I have recently bought a New Hartford CT- built Guild D40 - Bluegrass Jubilee and it is one very terrific guitar!  Ihave friends that still play 30 year old D25s and D40s and they also are bonafide cannons.

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rtmuzyka wrote:

I have a 1965, or earlier, guild d 50 #42855.  It has been sitting in its case for 45 years.

It is in excellent shape.  Minor dings on the front.  What would it be worth?

Thanks

Dick

This would ordinarily be a legitimate question to present to an Acoustic guitar forum. One would ordinarily assume that such a new poster would indeed be a legitimate new poster with a simple question. That, however, is not the case.

This poster, like at least 26 others in the past couple of months, revived a dead thread, in this one the last post was in July of 2008.

He could be some dork from GJ, or the Political Potty, just having fun trolling.

He could be a shill, paid to do this crap, trying to create the appearance of activity on an otherwise dead forum or to falsely inflate the member count/post count/hit count.

He now takes his place on the ever growing list of alleged 'new members' who have revived zombie threads, made a couple of posts, and then disappeared into the ether :

gpie1288---2 posts

robert froyd--1 post

blueharp1--3 posts

el;vin lateagan--4 posts

Kiddarkness--1 post

biopticpaper--1 post

Guitarsaver--2 posts

kgraham7s--1 post

frnell--1 post

bnewell--2 posts

Quanto--1 post

hot_burrito_1--1 post

Robb Hughes--1 post

hbrector--1 post

Alexia Snear--1 post

Myriam NT--1 post

campfire-guitars-- 1 post

yagerhawk--1 post

swfinse--1 post

eanna--1 post

aieauka--2 posts

jonford--4 posts

Coastal--2 posts

jazzy64--2 posts

45311--2 posts

gsdrunk--3 posts

rtmuzyka--1 post

 

And BTW, I have not flamed every one of these alleged 'new members', so drop the crap about the mean old fretfiend running all the new members off. facepalm.gif

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