New NS jazzbox model

[SFIV1967]

Ah, so the news IS out. I saw a "for your eyes only" preorder thing, and the header said "new for NAMM", so I was confused when NAMM came around and these were nowhere to be seen.

I have no idea what Guild marketing is doing currently, maybe with the move from Santa Monica to Calabasas half got lost on the way...

At least the stock pictures look bit better:



Built in Korea at SPG. It is a limited edition only.

Ralf

 

[Smiert Spionam]

That does look better -- but it's still a lot busier than it needs to be.

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

That does look better -- but it's still a lot busier than it needs to be.

You're going to have to explain that line of thinking for me.

 

[Smiert Spionam]

You're going to have to explain that line of thinking for me.

Just too much decoration -- my tastes run toward a more minimalist look. Gold hardware, inlays, and fancy headstocks leave me cold. I prefer to let the wood and the sound speak for themselves.

 

[Default]

That's why I want to build my own. Guild is just sad, anymore.

 

[Uke]

OK. I might very well be banned from LTG for this opinion, but I think the headstock looks better than the AA headstock. I always felt that awkward rectangular shield plopped down in the middle of an AA headstock looked very chintzy.

 

[GGJaguar]

OK. I might very well be banned from LTG for this opinion, but I think the headstock looks better than the AA headstock. I always felt that awkward rectangular shield plopped down in the middle of an AA headstock looked very chintzy.

 

[FNG]

Very few people can afford an AA. This is an entry level guitar. Walter hits the nail though, it looks cool to someone looking to dabble in jazz guitar, but quality sounds like a problem.

I'm sure they could build real Artist Awards, but who is going to buy them?

 

[Uke]

Given how David Bowie dressed, I'd bet he wouldn't have liked the AA headstock either

 

[mushroom]

A pretty easy way to elevate this a little more is if they had used some different tuners like Grover Imperials or something. The headstock looks a little undernourished to me.

 

[GAD]

Very few people can afford an AA. This is an entry level guitar. Walter hits the nail though, it looks cool to someone looking to dabble in jazz guitar, but quality sounds like a problem.

I'm sure they could build real Artist Awards, but who is going to buy them?

They would be $20,000 if made to the same standards.

 

[Walter Broes]

They would be $20,000 if made to the same stastandards

That much, you think?

Anyone remember how much these were?
American patriarch AA

 

[GGJaguar]

They would be $20,000 if made to the same standards.

You can get a 17" archtop with deluxe appointments for about $7K from a top builder like Mark Campellone.

 

[FNG]

7k? I'll take two!

 

[GAD]

That much, you think?

Let's not forget that the Kim Thayil US S100 was $7,000. Yes, it was limited to 30 pieces, but it's a slab of mahogany.

Anyone remember how much these were?
American patriarch AA

Retail was $9,999 in 2015:

 

[GAD]

The Benedetto Johnny Smith Award had a retail price of $11,000 in 2002. His other models were even higher:

 

[Walter Broes]

Let's not forget that the Kim Thayil US S100 was $7,000. Yes, it was limited to 30 pieces, but it's a slab of mahogany.

You certainly have a point there!

I do wonder If Japan might offer a solution for Guild guitars that are built to a spec instead of mostly just a price point. The obvious example there is the Terada factory in Japan of course, who built the bulk of the Gretsch hollowbodies since '89, to a pretty high standard I might add.

Now that Yamaha owns CMG, it seems less far-fetched than it might have before.

That said, CMG has a US factory in Oxnard, and the necessary equipment for arched acoustic guitar backs - which are no different from laminated arched tops, and seeing the majority of Guild's archtops are and were always laminated.......

A carved top guitar like the AA is more labor-intensive to build and demands more specialized skills than building laminated hollowbody electrics, and the market for solid carved archtops has always been more limited.

 

[Sleeko]

Opulent Brown was the deal!

 

[Rich Cohen]

I prefer my 1968 A-150.

 

[mavuser]

I like the guitar, for what it is /the target market. They certainly are not building these to compete with American AA's. I would have used Imperial or super rotomatic tuners, just aesthetically I think the size proportion would have been better (neck dive never bothered me). I also would have used a regulation AA pickguard. and I have no idea how the pickup sounds.

But all of those things can be changed. That is the beauty of these import lines.

I don't think I'd spend $1,600 on one though. These are not really my thing at all, actually. Figuring it likely needs upgrades, and a decent vintage Guild archtop can still be had for $2,000 give or take...if I were a buyer it would need to be under a grand