The Old "Top Three" Then What?

[L20A]

We see a lot about the American top 3 production guitar builders.
What would be the next 3 American production builders?
I'm not thinking Boutique builds.

[mercy]

Well, Taylor and Guild though I cant think of a third. Larivee is made in the US but I dont know how many guitars they sell.

[Steve DeRosa]

• The new USA Guilds have been getting a lot of good reviews since their introduction - hope they ramp up their production as I'm still waiting to get my hands on one;
• They're no longer making flattop acoustics, but every Heritage archtop I've played in the last 30 years has ranged from very good to outstanding - and if you don't need the Gibson name on the peghead they're arguably the best value-per-dollar in a production-line all-carved guitar;
• Although their origins are Canadian, Larrivee guitars are produced in California - and I'm sure you're aware there's a lot of love around here for the Larries;
• Just for good measure a similar case could be made for the Godin line, as a significant portion of their production takes place in New Hampshire;
• Too early to tell whether Ovation USA will recover enough of a market share to be competitive...

[Nctom]

I would agree that Larrivee is THE fourth American-made guitar, although most of mine are the older Canadian models.

Guild would have taken this spot except for the almost continuous turnover in the past few years.

[Pitar]

The top three are subjective. I would place them as Martin, Breedlove and Larrivee, not necessarily in that order. Then we'd have Taylor, Yamaha and Eastman, order also unspecified.

[geelinus]

Assuming that we are talking only acoustic guitars, sales numbers probably indicate that "The Big Three" consists of Taylor, Martin, and Gibson --- although I'm not sure in what order.

After that, I'm guessing, again not necessarily in order, Guild, Breedlove, Larrivee, and I dunno???

Unless of course, we are NOT talking about just acoustic guitar guitars. Then Fender fits in somewhere in "The Big Three."

[zombywoof]

For me the "old" Big Three was Harmony, Kay and Martin. A Martin is what we all wanted. A Kay or Harmony is what we generally ended up with.

I guess the real question about what's next is - is Big Guitar Inc. on the way out? Me, I think not.

[tippy5]

Why can't you conceive (include in comparison) a boutique build?
Why settle for average tone?

[mercy]

Part of the concept of big is the # of units sold since producing guitars. Being defunct is by definition not big.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by mercy

Well, Taylor and Guild though I cant think of a third. Larivee is made in the US but I dont know how many guitars they sell.

Are you kidding?

[robj144]

Originally Posted by L20A

We see a lot about the American top 3 production guitar builders.
What would be the next 3 American production builders?
I'm not thinking Boutique builds.

First, what is your do you consider to be the top 3?

[L20A]

Originally Posted by robj144

First, what is your do you consider to be the top 3?

Martin Taylor Gibson

[robj144]

Originally Posted by L20A

Martin Taylor Gibson

Is there even 3 others if you're not talking small builders? There's definitely Guild and Breedlove. Who else?

[Tico]

Although there are things I don't like about each, here are the top four American factory-made guitars, listed in order of my personal preference:

1 Martin
2 Guild
3 Taylor
4 Gibson

[muscmp]

if epiphone, fender and yamaha are the top 3, what is next? this is based upon the other thread with epiphone being the best.

play music!