New Guild Jetstar

DrumBob

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Here are my initial thoughts on the Jet Star that arrived the other day: The fit and Sea Foam Green finish is excellent. Very good workmanship. The fretwork is likewise well done. I have yet to plug it in, but have played it acoustically for about a half hour so far. The playability is very good; smooth, easy chording and string bends, no dead spots on the fretboard, straight neck, relatively light weight and what I've now realized is an almost perfect sized neck; a bit of a chunky C shape, not too thin, but not a baseball bat. It feels good in my hand, and I'm a pill about skinny necks, which I abhor. My NS SF-IV and S-200 have the exact same necks, so Guild's consistency in this respect is excellent.

So far, I'm impressed with the Jet Star. Will be plugging it in tonight to see how she sounds.
 

matsickma

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Just noticed the Jetstars are made in China and not Korea. Is China costs less than Korea?

DrumBob, did you ever plug the Jetstar into an amp?
M
 

GAD

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Just noticed the Jetstars are made in China and not Korea. Is China costs less than Korea?

DrumBob, did you ever plug the Jetstar into an amp?
M

Where did you see that? That changes things.
 

GAD

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I see it on the Sweetwater pics. Damn. Anyone know more info about where they're made?

Guild-NS-Jetstar-Headstock-Back.png
 

adorshki

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Here's hoping!

Didn't know if you'd seen his previous posts about which models came from Samick, etc, so provided his handle in case you wanted to pm him.
He's not able to visit as much as he used to, job change.
But he was really up on those Asian sources.
 

SFIV1967

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Didn't know if you'd seen his previous posts about which models came from Samick, etc,
No, I never said that any Newark St. Guild came from Samick (in Korea), it was a myth on the web regarding Samick. SPG however used to be a former Samick factory but when Samick moved production from Korea to Indonesia former employees bought out the factory and founded SPG. I always said that the first Korean factory Guild used in 2012/2013 was SPG (Sound Professional Guitar Co, Ltd.) in Korea. SPG guitars have KSG (Korea, SPG, Guild) Serial numbers. They make all the semi-hollow models like the Starfire series and the Aristocrat.

The second factory CMG uses is WMI (World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd. ) in Korea which made so far all the solid body models like the Bluesbird or the T-Bird. They have KWM (Korea, WMI) serial numbers. The S-100 switched from SPG to WMI during CMG's ownership of Guild. (WMI has the lid over the pot chamber fixed with 6 screws on the S-100 model vs. the lid with 4 screws on the former SPG made versions).

Now the info that the Jetstar comes out of China is also news to me. And I can't remember a GY serial number...I make a guess. The G actually could stand for Guild. And the Y for Yako Musical Instruments (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd.in the town of Zhangzhou city near Xiamen, China. Yako has a 22 acres guitar factory also producing for FMIC (Squier, Gretsch). They ship like 25.000 guitars a month...Look at the Jetstar tuners, they look like Stratocaster tuners, so it could be Yako. I don't think CMG would risk using an unknown new factory. Yako has the FMIC connection to California. And another guess: As CYG (China, Yako, Gretsch) was already used for Gretsch they couldn't use it for Guild, so they used GY instead. Again, just my guess.

EDIT: As of 2020 P.T. Samick in Indonesia is a new additional manufacturer for Guild. See: https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/hey-ralf.202089/post-1872910

Regarding the factories see also here: https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index.php?threads/where-are-ns-guilds-made.199536/post-1846847

Ralf
 
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GAD

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No, I never said that any Newark St. Guild came from Samick, it was a myth on the web regarding Samick. SPG however used to be a former Samick factory but when Samick moved production from Korea to Indonesia former employees bought out the factory and founded SPG. I always said that the first Korean factory Guild used in 2012/2013 was SPG (Sound Professional Guitar Co, Ltd.) in Korea. SPG guitars have KSG Serial numbers. They make all the semi-hollow models like the Starfire series and the Aristocrat.
The second factory CMG uses is WMI (World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd. ) in Korea which made so far all the solid body models like the Bluesbird or the T-Bird. They have KWM serial numbers. The S-100 switched from SPG to WMI during CMG's ownership of Guild. (WMI has the lid over the pot chamber fixed with 6 screws on the S-100 model vs. the lid with 4 screws on the former SPG made versions).
Now the info that the Jet Star comes out of China is also news to me. And I can't remember a GY serial number...I make a guess. The G actually could stand for Guild. And the Y for Yako Musical Instruments (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd.in the town of Zhangzhou city near Xiamen, China. Yako has a 22 acres guitar factory also producing for FMIC (Squier, Gretsch). They ship like 25.000 guitars a month...Look at the Jetstar tuners, they look like Stratocaster tuners, so it could be Yako. I don't think CMG would risk using an unknown new factory. Yako has the FMIC connection to California. And another guess: As CYG (China, Yako, Gretsch) was already used for Gretsch they couldn't use it for Guild, so they used GY instead. Again, just my guess.
Ralf

Thanks, Ralf. Good stuff.
 

SFIV1967

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I checked some other things. CMG imports "Guild" "electric guitars" from Reliance Musical Ltd. in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. The port of loading is in Xiamen, China. And Yako Musical Instruments (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd. is located in the town of Zhangzhou city just near Xiamen. Also FMCI's shipping records show that Yako uses Reliance International Corp. (mother of Reliance Musical) based in the same room of the building in Hong Kong to ship to FMCI.
So yes, the Jetstar factory has to be Yako in my opinion.
By the way, Yako received the first order for Squier in May 1995, so 23 years ago already. And those deals were always done through Reliance as Tony Bacon wrote in his Squier book. So Yako is a very well known factory obviously.

Street view of Yako's factory:

V9dZ02I.jpg



Now another interesting question:
Are the LB-1 pickups still coming from Boo Heung Precision Machinery in Korea in a Chinese made guitar ??? Or will those have Chinese made LB-1 ???
Maybe DrumBob can check what stickers are on the bottom of the pickups!

Ralf
 
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SFIV1967

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One more comment. The white Jetstar on the Guild webpage shows a TW17 serial number whereas the green and the black one show a GY17 serial number.
So it looks like CMG evaluated various factories in 2017 and decided for Yako at the end.

XHo3wC1.jpg
m1lV9CV.jpg


Ralf
 
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adorshki

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No, I never said that any Newark St. Guild came from Samick, it was a myth on the web regarding Samick.
Ralf

Apologies for the inaccurate implication.
Samick was the only name I could recall off the top of my head and I did remember you mentioning them while covering where the various models were made.
Probably would have remembered better if I was an actual owner.
As usual your detective work was amazing!
 

GAD

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If Yako is making guitars, then they might be downright dangerous. :)

a861452b4dafd844d6715e0f2f78e04c9c5c8cbc_hq.gif
 

Mr. Lumbergh

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Here are my initial thoughts on the Jet Star that arrived the other day: The fit and Sea Foam Green finish is excellent. Very good workmanship. The fretwork is likewise well done. I have yet to plug it in, but have played it acoustically for about a half hour so far. The playability is very good; smooth, easy chording and string bends, no dead spots on the fretboard, straight neck, relatively light weight and what I've now realized is an almost perfect sized neck; a bit of a chunky C shape, not too thin, but not a baseball bat. It feels good in my hand, and I'm a pill about skinny necks, which I abhor. My NS SF-IV and S-200 have the exact same necks, so Guild's consistency in this respect is excellent.

So far, I'm impressed with the Jet Star. Will be plugging it in tonight to see how she sounds.
It seems almost like a Gibby Firebird 0, but good from what you're describing.
 
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