NorthBayJ,northbayj said:Charlie Vegas said:Somebody show me a glut of single coil Guilds.Chazmo said:depressed/glut state of the used market causing an unfavorable re-introduction of electrics.
The economy isn't hampering the introduction of new Gretsch guitars.
I'm sympatico, but the new Gretsches are all produced in Asia, aren't they? I'm a bit relieved that FMIC hasn't turned the Guild archtop line in the Ibanez Artcore line, or turned it into Epiphone. Like it or not, a '59 Chet Atkins is going to go for what - upwards of $10k at least. A nice Franz-era jazzer is less than half that most of the time, and the Hoboken and Corona archtops are more accessible than that. The demand implied by the nameplate is that Guild is the less desirable brand. Present company excluded, of course.
The situation sucks - I would love to have a p90 X500, one of the 1990s/early 2000s models - or at least access to a market for one. It looks like the FMIC folks are sitting on the Guild brand until better times. Guild is, after all, their ace card if and when they decide they want to directly competing with Gibson in the market for full hollowbody / archtop American-made guitars. Stupid for them to not be laying the groundwork for that kind of direct competition right now? I'd say yes, but I'm not in the guitar business, so I should probably shut up.
I think you have it right on the nose about where Guild wants to go!!! Is Fender on board with that?? Dunno.
This crowd at LTG is extremely skeptical of Fender. We haven't seen a new Guild electric in, what, 6 - 7 years since Corona production ceased?? Charlie Vegas has every right to be incensed that three years after that first post it's still crickets!!! However, Fender knows there's at least a marketing opportunity here, and they do not want to squander it (my guess, that is).
I don't honestly know how strong Fender's appetite is to build more Guild electrics, but I *know* the guys in New Hartford would love to be given the task. Stay tuned.