Bing k said:
... I'm not sure I agree that QC was one of the reasons to move out of Tacoma. I wouldn't have put it on the list at all and we probably handled more guitars from there than most dealers did ... The last shipments we received from Tacoma at the end of production there were top drawer all the way. And we're picky.
Hi Bing: I think it's fair to assume that FMIC left Tacoma because they thought they could make more money elsewhere. In 2008 and 2009, Guild released dozens and dozens of Contemporary CO/CV models and a number of Traditional models ... all without warranty. Said by eBay resellers to have only modest cosmetic problems, these guitars were made in Tacoma and offered at substantial discounts against MAP/MSRP/'List' .... they were, and are, dirt cheap.
I don't know whether these guitars were once sold and then taken back in exchange for blemish-free guitars. Assuming the eBay resellers are telling the truth about the extent of deficiencies ... and it would be in their interests not to ... Guild elected not to repair them at Tacoma or ship them to Nashville for repairs. Instead, they just dumped them ... giving up the better margin (eroded by the cost of repair) it could have earned on a defect-free guitar for getting out from under the warranty and possibly a modest write-up depending on whether they treat Warranty as a contingent liability on their books.
As best I can tell, every warranted guitar released from Tacoma was/is a hgh-grade, front-line Guild .... I also don't know how many crappy guitars were made but destroyed in Westerly. But having hundreds of unsold / unsellable guitars ... however you wish to express it ... would have eroded profits at Tacoma and unavoidably figured in any 'more profits elsewhere' decision by FMIC whether FMIC mgmt ever pointed directly to QA/QC or not. Further, if QA/QC
was a factor, FMIC isn't going to come out and say it was. Since the goal of the undertaking is to make money, then making fewer crappy guitars - regardless of where they are made - would improve profits.
I'm not saying Tacomas are bad guitars; I'm saying that in the short time they were there, FMIC/Guild made a lot of guitars they later refused to warrant. Not to rag too much here but any chance those new CNC machines will improve quality? :wink:
Respectfully, CJ