plaidseason
Senior Member
Oh the proverbial can o' worms that this discussion is.
I agree with the point that Fender should have used a distinct moniker for the GAD series. While the GAD guitars are quality instruments, it's pretty deceiving to the consumer to just lump them under a 50 plus year old brand name that has always been American made.
On the other hand I wholly disagree with the idea that GAD series can be lumped in with entry level, or student guitars. These are not $100 Samicks we're talking about. The GADs and similarly priced Epiphones are part of a growing trend to make high quality guitars at prices much more accessable to the average consumer than similar quality, American made models.
The questions we should be asking ourselves is how is a spec, factory guitar made in China or Mexico different from a spec, factory guitar made in Rhode Island, or Southern Californa? I have a lot of the same feelings about the post-Westerly era Guild, but who's to say which Westerly periods constitute a truly great Guild. Are the Dronge era Guilds necessarily better than the Gruhn era Guilds? I have a Gruhn era F44 that could probably stand with most of the factory guitars I've heard. I had a DCE1 but it was nothing super special, it was boomy and deep, which I loved, but it wasn't especially nuanced. And I'm sure there are plenty of GAD models that could blow it away.
I have a lot of issues with buying Chinese-made products, mostly due to human rights concerns (although these days I could say some of the same things about American made products). And I've always been a proponent of supporting the American worker by buying products made here in the USA. But nonetheless I'm not sure we can automatically say that a producet is inherantly better just because it was made here in the USA.
-Chris
I agree with the point that Fender should have used a distinct moniker for the GAD series. While the GAD guitars are quality instruments, it's pretty deceiving to the consumer to just lump them under a 50 plus year old brand name that has always been American made.
On the other hand I wholly disagree with the idea that GAD series can be lumped in with entry level, or student guitars. These are not $100 Samicks we're talking about. The GADs and similarly priced Epiphones are part of a growing trend to make high quality guitars at prices much more accessable to the average consumer than similar quality, American made models.
The questions we should be asking ourselves is how is a spec, factory guitar made in China or Mexico different from a spec, factory guitar made in Rhode Island, or Southern Californa? I have a lot of the same feelings about the post-Westerly era Guild, but who's to say which Westerly periods constitute a truly great Guild. Are the Dronge era Guilds necessarily better than the Gruhn era Guilds? I have a Gruhn era F44 that could probably stand with most of the factory guitars I've heard. I had a DCE1 but it was nothing super special, it was boomy and deep, which I loved, but it wasn't especially nuanced. And I'm sure there are plenty of GAD models that could blow it away.
I have a lot of issues with buying Chinese-made products, mostly due to human rights concerns (although these days I could say some of the same things about American made products). And I've always been a proponent of supporting the American worker by buying products made here in the USA. But nonetheless I'm not sure we can automatically say that a producet is inherantly better just because it was made here in the USA.
-Chris
