What's going on at Guild?
 

I was recently told that the Orpheum series would expand further in January of 2014.

But it's hit the eleventh month of their original announcement, and I can't find hardly any news of the instruments.
Has anyone tried them or heard any sound clips of the sort?

They are out of the Custom Shop, so I don't know how many are out in the wild.

The only clips I can find, for now, are from Guild, either as demo clips or from the " Guild Guitar Lounge ".

When a group of us visited the factory last month, there were very evident in production, however none was available for us to play (the "petting zoo" was more limited).

It has been my understanding that as they come from a "custom shop" component of the Guild operation, they are only built for orders from dealers, and not for spec just lying in a warehouse...in fact in their shipping area I did not see any, though there were a bunch of the new Fender dreads on the way out.

I was kind of hoping to try their Orchestra or Rosewood slope-shoulder, but was Justas happy as I didn't have the $$$ if I just had to have one;)

I don't understand the concept. They seem like good guitars but I wonder if the Guild brand will support guitars in this price range. They lack any historical association to Guild or Epiphone and are closer to a modern take of Gibson/Martin designs. I have to think they would do better to market and upgrade the traditional Guild designs like D-55 on down.

Well, there is certainly a historical connection to Epiphone, as Guild was started following that firm's move to Philadephia with some of the remaining workers who did not move with the company. That said, such association probably only adds history to their archtop guitar production.

This past year was Guild's 60th birthday, and the Orpheum series was released as a play on "what might have been" had they been manufacturing earlier. A nice thought, but I'd like to see one to play myself too.

First off, the Orpheum series isn't a "modern take" on anything. They're meant to represent what Guild might have done if they had been around in the 1930's/'40's. I'm not sure why anytime any guitar maker does anything different they're accused of trying to be more like Martin or Gibson. Secondly, I'm not sure why you wouldn't think that the Guild brand would support guitars in that price range. Guild is a blue blood name in factory built guitars & the guitars speak for themselves. Lastly, how exactly would you "upgrade" the D55? More abalone? :)

Maybe a silly question, but does Guild build a lot of guitars?

I ask because I can't find new ones anywhere in Edmonton, or pretty much anywhere in Canada. I believe some US retailers that sell online won't ship to Canada either.

I may be missing some place, or maybe they just don't make a lot, or like to ship them to Canada....

Would you be able to share if you saw any new guitars from the Orpheum Series?
Any small bodies?

I had always though of the Orpheum name as being the same as Recording King - guitars made by a number of builders and distributed by the major music companies like C. Bruno.

The history of Orpheum instruments is hard to get a handle on. While I have read somewhere that Orpheum was a trademark of the Epiphone company, the Orpehum moniker apparently pre-dates the arrival of Anastasios Stahpopoulo in NY. At one point the owner of Orpehum banjoes sued Epiphone alleging they had stolen one of his patents. I always figured the Orpheum name came from Martin Beck's large Orpheum show circuit which sprang up in the 1890s.

As best I can determine everyone from Kay to D'Agelico produced archtops and mandolins under the Orpheum name.

Not trying to keep a dying thread alive, but I got an update today that they are trying to get more sound clips out on their website; but was also sent these three.

http://www.guildguitars.com/news/pat...-guild-lounge/
http://www.guildguitars.com/news/wat...e-on-wsj-cafe/
http://guildguitars.com/news/band-of...-guild-lounge/

Guild availability
 

There have been threads on that subject, but in a nut shell.........

Guild is part of Fender, but just because a dealer has bought into the Fender franchise doesn't mean he has access to the Guild product line. You have to buy into Guild and a lot of dealers aren't willing to spend the money when they're doing well with Martin, Gibson and Taylor acoustics.

I'm not sure, but I don't think Gibson makes their dealers buy into the Epiphone product line. Likewise Martin with Sigma. Maybe a dealer ( LA Ted? ) can fill in the details there.

I'm not sure I understand the business model, but it's their company and I don't remember them asking my opinion.

Their are a few listed on this dealers site.

http://www.acousticmusic.org/Flat-To...s-p-1-c-5.html

I'm neither a dealer nor Ted, but a few years back there was at least one high-end specialist whom I spoke to, who was "asked" to take on Epiphone :rolleyes: ; don't know what Henry J.'s present policy is in this regard, but TMK this guy's still got NOS from 2009...

As far as the Orpheum/Guilds are concerned, Sweetwater has a few in stock for those who are interested...

I'm certainly no expert either but I don't think the comparison of Fender/Guild with Gibson/Epiphone is a sound one. Guild is Fender's top-shelf acoustic name, as well as a high end electric name. Epiphone (for the most part) is a lower end version of Gibson guitars. I look at Epi somewhat like Squier, except I think Epiphone is a several notches better. Martin no longer owns Sigma, but if they did it would be the same thing, you buy into Martin you get the lower priced line. Otherwise the store would just be full of really expensive instruments that most people wouldn't or couldn't buy. Now I'm not saying I like Fender's way of handling this situation, I do however somewhat understand their position.

I think Guild's making a big mistake with both the blue rosette and the tiny pickguards. These are small details I know, but if I'm investing big bucks these little things can be a deal breaker.