Guild Guitars refurbished by MIRC

[georgeatjp]

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here. Yesterday I purchased a used Guild GAD G212 that seems to have been refurbished by MIRC. I didn't notice it until I bought it, but there was a new serial number pasted on the label inside the body, and a USED stamp on the head. The exterior appearance in the photo is perfectly fine, but does this indicate that the guitar has cracks in the body or neck, or other potential structural issues? I sent an e-mail to MIRC, but I wonder if they have a history of tuning guitars from over 10 years ago. This is my first Guild and I'm really looking forward to this guitar as there are very few modern 12-string dreadnought (spruce and mahogany) models. Please let me know your opinions about MIRC.

PS: Since it is an intercontinental transaction, the product has not arrived yet.

 

[georgeatjp]

This is the guitar I bought.

 

[georgeatjp]

You can see the USED stamp and S/N sticker.

 

[F30]

Sure looks nice. Many of these guitars you'll have a hard time finding what the problem was or issues resolved.
I hope it arrives shortly and and feels and sounds great.

 

[chazmo]

Welcome aboard, George.

Yes, that is a Guild that was sold to MIRC by Fender as-is with no factory warrantee. Most of the time, this was done by Fender when a guitar had some sort of blemish that the factory didn't want to fix. They may have rejected it because of the streaky grain on the soundboard, but I doubt it. In any case, I don't see anything obvious on your guitar. If it works fine when you get it, then there's not much to talk about. MIRC will be unlikely to answer your query, but it's not a bad idea to try!

Good luck, and hope it arrives in good shape for you.

 

[Wilmywood]

I suspect that number sticker is their way of IDing a guitar in stock. Here is the sticker from my 2011 Chinese Guild

 

[chazmo]

I suspect that number sticker is their way of IDing a guitar in stock. Here is the sticker from my 2011 Chinese Guild

It is MIRC's serial number, wilmy. MIRC (used to) put their serial number over the inner label and emboss USED on the back of the headstock, just like George's guitar.

 

[georgeatjp]

Sure looks nice. Many of these guitars you'll have a hard time finding what the problem was or issues resolved.
I hope it arrives shortly and and feels and sounds great.

Thank you, I'm relieved to hear that.

 

[georgeatjp]

Welcome aboard, George.

Yes, that is a Guild that was sold to MIRC by Fender as-is with no factory warrantee. Most of the time, this was done by Fender when a guitar had some sort of blemish that the factory didn't want to fix. They may have rejected it because of the streaky grain on the soundboard, but I doubt it. In any case, I don't see anything obvious on your guitar. If it works fine when you get it, then there's not much to talk about. MIRC will be unlikely to answer your query, but it's not a bad idea to try!

Good luck, and hope it arrives in good shape for you.

Thank you Chazmo. I've been voraciously reading posts related to Second Factory and MIRC, so I've seen you a lot. As you say, the spruce center is like bleached, but would they put a stamp and serial number on it, even if it's just an aesthetic issue like this? Reverb says that they are not necessarily placed on all guitars due to the manufacturer's contract, but what about guild?

 

[chazmo]

As far as I know, George, all guitars that were sold to MIRC were marked this way by the time they got to the end customer. I don't know if there's any contract involved between Fender and MIRC regarding this marking of the guitars, but in any case, there is no doubt that your guitar was sold by MIRC without a Fender warrantee to whomever bought it originally.

By the way, your GAD looks very nice. There's no reason to expect anything untoward.

 

[Wilmywood]

I suspect the 'used' stamp on the headstock was done by the mfr to avoid any misunderstanding about factory warranty?

 

[georgeatjp]

As far as I know, George, all guitars that were sold to MIRC were marked this way by the time they got to the end customer. I don't know if there's any contract involved between Fender and MIRC regarding this marking of the guitars, but in any case, there is no doubt that your guitar was sold by MIRC without a Fender warrantee to whomever bought it originally.

By the way, your GAD looks very nice. There's no reason to expect anything untoward.

I didn't consider the Chinese-made Guild at first, but I got interested when I saw guitarists like James Blackshaw and Rob Noyes mainly using it. They captivated me with their sweet and rich sound.

 

[ReevesRd]

@georgeatjp, my Guild CO-2 is a MIRC refurbished guitar. This particular instrument had some separation of the binding from the body and a lacquer check on the side of the neck heel near the fretboard. These were repaired and sealed to ensure there is no issue in the future. There is a bit of scuffing on the side of the headstock. Other than the scuff on the headstock, the other repairs are not noticeable.

A local brick-and-mortar store sells MIRC factory seconds. All of these models sell quickly. I wouldn't worry too much about your purchase.
Yours seems to be in good condition. Welcome to LTG.

 

[georgeatjp]

@georgeatjp, my Guild CO-2 is a MIRC refurbished guitar. This particular instrument had some separation of the binding from the body and a lacquer check on the side of the neck heel near the fretboard. These were repaired and sealed to ensure there is no issue in the future. There is a bit of scuffing on the side of the headstock. Other than the scuff on the headstock, the other repairs are not noticeable.

A local brick-and-mortar store sells MIRC factory seconds. All of these models sell quickly. I wouldn't worry too much about your purchase.
Yours seems to be in good condition. Welcome to LTG.

I just looked it up and it's a good guitar.

By the way, I wonder what criteria the guild used to decide whether to send it to bandsaw or sell it to MIRC. Even if the neck and body were deeply cracked, would they have sent it for refurbishment and distributed it? I haven't heard of any serious problems like that in other threads, but I'm a little concerned.

 

[chazmo]

George, I think your concern is unwarranted. If the guitar was broken in some way, it almost certainly would've been bandsawed. And, don't forget, MIRC has its own quality control people that wouldn't sell a broken guitar. Most MIRC-sold guitars are great! I can't really speak for MIC Fender stuff that got MIRC'd (like your GAD), but the US-built stuff only went to MIRC if there was some sort of blem... *not* a functional flaw in the guitar.

The only recorded issues we have noted here with MIRC, if I'm remembering correctly, was not MIRC's fault, really. It was a huge stain on the era of the closedown of Tacoma, WA when a bunch of Contemporary series guitars got sold through MIRC and had bad necks (in one way or another). I/we always warn people of this issue, which is well-documented here. I don't know if Guild just sold MIRC parts off the shelf or whole guitars.... Either way, caveat emptor on those.

 

[georgeatjp]

George, I think your concern is unwarranted. If the guitar was broken in some way, it almost certainly would've been bandsawed. And, don't forget, MIRC has its own quality control people that wouldn't sell a broken guitar. Most MIRC-sold guitars are great! I can't really speak for MIC Fender stuff that got MIRC'd (like your GAD), but the US-built stuff only went to MIRC if there was some sort of blem... *not* a functional flaw in the guitar.

The only recorded issues we have noted here with MIRC, if I'm remembering correctly, was not MIRC's fault, really. It was a huge stain on the era of the closedown of Tacoma, WA when a bunch of Contemporary series guitars got sold through MIRC and had bad necks (in one way or another). I/we always warn people of this issue, which is well-documented here. I don't know if Guild just sold MIRC parts off the shelf or whole guitars.... Either way, caveat emptor on those.

Maybe I was worrying too much. Indeed, looking at MIRC's website, I felt that they were doing an honest job. You're right, it's unlikely that they would distribute fundamentally broken guitars, and it makes sense that most of them are safe, with the exception of the ones from the Tacoma closure era that we often see here. Thanks for the advice, I was surprised to find such a great forum. I will share more photos once it arrives.

 

[Cougar]

You're right, it's unlikely that they would distribute fundamentally broken guitars....

Right. Usually the issue on a MIRC guitar is some small blemish. I've heard more than once that a new owner of a MIRC guitar can't even find anything wrong. It it's something that can be fixed, MIRC will fix it before selling it.

I will share more photos once it arrives.

Definitely! On a whim, I picked up a very inexpensive GAD 12-string. After having a local luthier give it a good setup (cost about 60 bucks), I was totally blown away at how good it sounded. I think you'll be really happy with that G212.

 

[mavuser]

I believe most MIRC instruments are dead stock/unsold and a handful of customer returns. There is absolutley no blemish (none different than what you would find on an identical standard retail model), but rather, the instrument is no longer manufacturer direct, and has gone through a distributon line. The manufacturer and/or distributor is going to take losses, they hedge these losses by voiding the warrantees, and designsting them "used" or "2nds."

The term "refurbished" can mean a lot of things. in this case most of the time it means covering/changing the serial number, stamping the back of the headstock "used," and making sure the guitar tunes up. The manufacturer has already taken major losses on these, as such there is no factory of people getting paid to do a set up on every MIRC unit, nor is there a need for that, since the instruments are all brand new. In the case of a true customer return or cosmetic blemish, there would be another level of inspection/set up/repair, where necassary- but I imagine those scenarios are few and far between, and this is primarilly a clearing house for dead/unsold stock. All the ones i've ever seen were brand spankin new.

 

[Westerly Wood]

The Guild GAD line was one of the best built MIC acoustic guitar line ever. Right up there with Eastmans.

 

[Boneman]

Welcome to LTG! And happy impending NGD! Looks very clean, brand new like, I think the guitar will be fine, with no noticeable flaws. Good luck