After the glowing report from New Hartford tour

[West R Lee]

Oh did it sound like I was "putting down a factory" or that "another team sucked"? West

Not at all! In fact YOU were one of the reasons I joined, since I've got a bit of prejudice in favor of my 2 Westerlys myself. Way back in '07 before I joined I actually printed out your quotes from Hideglue to store in Hans' book, in case I ever wanted to try to make a point to somebody about Westerly's quality.
I'm only saying I don't think there's anything wrong with the so-called "factionalism" here, I think it's actually a good thing. What I meant was I'M not going to put down any of the various factories just because I believe Westerly was actually the best, although now I can understand you might have thought I was trying to imply somebody else was. Sorry!

Gawlee adorshki......I didn't know I'd ever had a positive impact on anybody :shock: . I'm glad you joined us sir.

West

 

[JerryR]

Doesn't give a chihuahua? :?

you betcha!

Do you think if I start saying "Oh chihuahua" when I make mistakes in my songs, it will have more of a 'resonance' to it :?:

 

[chazmo]

West,

There are prototypes of D-55s from 2008 (I'm talking about New Hartford, that is), but the first one you'll find will be from January of 2009. That's when production began in earnest, and it was the D-55 only for a little while.

Thank you Chazzy. Just wanting to know when the clock started ticking. :twisted: Just kidding.....just kidding!!!!! Actually, I was really wondering.

West

Westy,

Would love to hear your opinion, A/B-style, if you have the chance to get your hands on some of the new product. IMO, the New Hartford guitars have a nice mix of old and new and have stuck with traditional techniques/materials in the important ways while integrating new processes and materials where it makes sense. I'm impressed. In particular, they've done a lot to ensure the stability and long-term durability of these guitars while still taking some heft out of them. Time'll tell, of course, but I'm very optimistic.

 

[cjd-player]

Doesn't give a chihuahua? :?

you betcha!

Do you think if I start saying "Oh chihuahua" when I make mistakes in my songs, it will have more of a 'resonance' to it :?:

That will be a lot harder to rhyme with, Jerry. :mrgreen:

 

[Bill Ashton]

Interestingly, at LMG Kim had a (or the ) New Hartford D55 prototype, his personal guitar. It was significantly lighter in weight than my Tacoma D55. Very nice piece. More interestingly, last summer when I was looking around for Guilds but had not quite decided to pull the trigger, I found a NH D55 and a lesser model D (can't remember if it was a D50 or D40) at the guitar store on Route 101 in Milford NH (Guitar Gallery?). That particular D55 was set up very high and played very stiff...it was there that I found the tuners had changed to the Gotohs...and this guitar was easily as heavy as my Tacoma. Didn't try anything else as there was a banjo player just outside the acoustic room door :roll: , plus she-who-must-be-obeyed was out in the car

At that time, I couldn't say that I was impressed with New Hartford, and in fact that is probably why I jumped on my Tacoma when I found it. After playing every guitar in the product line...well, almost...at LMG, my opinion has changed considerably.

 

[adorshki]

Factionalism. Kind of like the two-party system. What fun we will have! :lol:

I think we should have unlimited parties. :wink:

 

[West R Lee]

West,

There are prototypes of D-55s from 2008 (I'm talking about New Hartford, that is), but the first one you'll find will be from January of 2009. That's when production began in earnest, and it was the D-55 only for a little while.

Thank you Chazzy. Just wanting to know when the clock started ticking. :twisted: Just kidding.....just kidding!!!!! Actually, I was really wondering.

West

Westy,

Would love to hear your opinion, A/B-style, if you have the chance to get your hands on some of the new product. IMO, the New Hartford guitars have a nice mix of old and new and have stuck with traditional techniques/materials in the important ways while integrating new processes and materials where it makes sense. I'm impressed. In particular, they've done a lot to ensure the stability and long-term durability of these guitars while still taking some heft out of them. Time'll tell, of course, but I'm very optimistic.

I'd love to give you my opinion Chazzy, but the only New Hartford I've played was at Arlington last year. A D55, she looked beautiful and felt great, but it is so noisy in that place, I couldn't really hear her.

Now I will say this.......and DON'T mean to ruffle any feathers, but I still have a tough time with the open tuners on a D55, but that's just me. When I bought my first Guild in '79, open tuners were standard on what would have been considered the lesser models. The gold tuners on the D55 were attractive enough I guess, but for some reason I still draw that correlation between the less expensive guitars and open tuners, though I've seen sets of Waverlys open tuners that were outrageously priced.

West

 

[adorshki]

Now I will say this.......and DON'T mean to fuffle any feathers, but I still have a tough time with the open tuners on a D55, but that's just me. When I bought my first Guild in '79, open tuners were standard on what would have been considered the lesser models. The gold tuners on the D55 were attractive nough I guess, but I for some reason I still draw that correlation between the less expensive guitars and open tuners, though I've seen sets of Waverlys open tuners that were outrageously priced.
West

I just want to know the gears can't possibly get gritted up, even by accident! And I'm pretty lazy, I don't want to worry about having to clean 'em out.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Ah, tuners...

They also put me off on that D55 in NH I mentioned before.

Early on in the tour, I asked Frank U. about them. His initial response was
that they changed from the Grover to significantly lighten the headstock.

During the Q & A, I think it was intimated that the Gotoh's were better tuners,
much better than the venerable Grovers...

 

[West R Lee]

Ah, tuners...

They also put me off on that D55 in NH I mentioned before.

Early on in the tour, I asked Frank U. about them. His initial response was
that they changed from the Grover to significantly lighten the headstock.

During the Q & A, I think it was intimated that the Gotoh's were better tuners,
much better than the venerable Grovers...

Hmm, as I recall, Gotoh tuners are made in Japan, but then I now drive a Toyota. :wink:

West

 

[chazmo]

I don't think anyone's too worried about ruffling feathers, West. After all, LTG is all about open discussion on the guitars, and the day we start getting upset about it is the day we switch our browsers over to the AGF and berate folks for their ridiculously poor choice of strings and for having wings or finger-joints on their headstocks.

My tour group was led by the the plant manager, Darren, and we spent several minutes in the final assembly room talking about the tuner choice. He feels that the Gotoh tuners (both sealed back and open) are the best choice in the industry right now. Also, the open-back mechanism on these Gotohs is vastly improved from the '60s-era stuff (that's a fact). My own personal feeling after getting very frustrated with trying to clean/restore old, sealed mechanisms is a definite preference for these slick open-backs and my belief that (as long as parts are available) they will not need to be replaced.

I'll bet the Guild folks had long debates about putting open-backs on the Traditional Series line... They feel *very* strongly about preserving the legacy while improving the product, and any change in the Traditional specs is a known risk. For example, though, it's hard to imagine anyone, say, objecting to the beautiful, upscale ebony-wood faceplates that they're now using on the NH G-shield Traditionals; on the other hand, re-introducing open-back tuners raises a quality/price question for folks who remember the legacy of these things.

Anyway, if nothing else, seeing those open-backs makes it easy to identify the New Hartford D-55s and F-series guits. They're using sealed Gotohs some of the other models and on the new Standard Series stuff that's coming. I kinda' wish they weren't.