Yamaha acquires Guild

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

It would be neat to own a Guild from every era/factory.
I still miss my old D-55…

I have played a few Guild guitars, going back to the mid '70s, but the only Guild I own is a B-301 that I bought last November. Wonderful bass! Made in RI in 1978.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

It would be neat to own a Guild from every era/factory.…

Well, I've got a JF30-12 from Corona, an F50R from New Hartford, and an F512 from Oxnard. They are all spectacular. The all-solid mahogany MIC GAD D125-12 is pretty darn good for the 400 bucks it cost me, too!

[Cypress Knee]

I used to have a number of Guilds from a first year issue D-35 that I backpacked through the Rockies during the John Denver heydays of the mid-70's. My favorite was the '73 F-50R on the left. When my fingers began wanting a bit more space on the fingerboard I downsized the all of my 1 11/16th fingerboards and moved to 1 3/4. I still have the JF 55-12 and a Mark V classical. I use F 512 in my sigline because most people recognize that as Guild's top of the line 12 string. There was a short period when somebody tried to change the nomenclature so that the numbers would match the appointments, but that did not last too long.


L to R: 1973 F 50R....1989 GF 60R.....1995 JF 55-12.........1993 D(V) 62...........1980 D 55

[ozzman]

Asian guitar makers will eventually own Martin, its a matter of time.

[scotchnspeed]

Originally Posted by ozzman

Asian guitar makers will eventually own Martin, its a matter of time.

Nah. Still a strong family connection. Taylor will fold first.

[George Henry]

Yamaha might be doing what Eastman has already done in acquiring Bourgeois, finding a way to access a market segment where they were effectively shut out.

[zuzu]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I have played a few Guild guitars, going back to the mid '70s, but the only Guild I own is a B-301 that I bought last November. Wonderful bass! Made in RI in 1978.

I too own a Guild B-301. I bought it new in late '76 and it is still my #1 gigging bass now. It will gig this weekend. Sounds like nothing else.

[zuzu]

Yamaha may have an eye to the future with this. There are still a lot of supply chain problems around, and manufacturing particularly can be hampered by such things. Shipping costs are rising some also. It may be they will eventually seek a manufacturing footprint somewhere in North America.

[GGJaguar]

Originally Posted by egordon99

And pretty sure Martin is NOT in the business of acquisitions

Remember when Martin bought Vega in the 1970's? And then sold it off?

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by GGJaguar

Remember when Martin bought Vega in the 1970's? And then sold it off?

I wasn't around for most of the 70s.

[Corndog]

I'm hopeful that two things might come from this.

One, Yamaha will continue to build Guilds in Oxnard, CA but improve their availability and distribution. When I was looking to try an M20 and/or M25 about a year ago there were none be be found at two shops anywhere near me though they are Guild dealers that say they have them. Even after calling for confirmation, and told they had them, none were there. And the factory is 30 miles from me. How underwhelming.

Second, maybe Yamaha wants to build guitars in Oxnard, CA and improve their availability of their higher end guitars. I waited over a year on a list to be notified when an FS5 arrived. I bought it but it was damaged and returned. No others were available as a replacement. Yamaha's availability and distribution also suck. On the good stuff at least.

[srick]

Originally Posted by Corndog

I'm hopeful that two things might come from this.

One, Yamaha will continue to build Guilds in Oxnard, CA but improve their availability and distribution. When I was looking to try an M20 and/or M25 about a year ago there were none be be found at two shops anywhere near me though they are Guild dealers that say they have them. Even after calling for confirmation, and told they had them, none were there. And the factory is 30 miles from me. How underwhelming.

Second, maybe Yamaha wants to build guitars in Oxnard, CA and improve their availability of their higher end guitars. I waited over a year on a list to be notified when an FS5 arrived. I bought it but it was damaged and returned. No others were available as a replacement. Yamaha's availability and distribution also suck. On the good stuff at least.

Guild's biggest stumbling block in the years after Al Dronge's death were probably its distribution network. Fender thought they could make it work, but they had their own competing lines in house. The top management at Fender had no idea with what to do with Guild. The folks on the front line had great ideas, but I don't think that the top management was there to back them up. And it's absolutely true that Yamaha's guitar distribution network needs a boost.

Putting my thinking cap on, this takeover may be centered around improving that network by combining the three. As much as we all want to believe that it's all about the guitars, it's really all about the sales numbers - and always has been. Yamaha will now have multiple lines in the market to compete against Martin, Taylor and Gibson.

[Tenn]

I am a Guild fan and love a good D-40 Traditional. So do not take my comments as a flame on.

You cannot improve distribution until you have more dealers willing to support the brand. My impression is that there are not a lot of dealers willing to take on the brand as sell through to the musician is not that great. Why? I do not know. But Guild has tried over the years. The latest effort was to bring Ren Ferguson from Gibson. That did not really work.

Somehow Guild must create a need to buy by the guitar playing public, which they have failed to do since the 70s in my mind.

[mawmow]

I bought a nice brand new Guild F-30 a few years ago (has 1 3/4 in. nut width).

I had read that Ren Ferguson went help Guild for a while after he retired from Gibson.

Anyway, this recent Guild is very good !

I hope Yamaha plan to help Guild be a winner again.

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by GGJaguar

Remember when Martin bought Vega in the 1970's? And then sold it off?

They bought Goya, too, kept it for a while, then either shut it down or sold the trademark.