Any winter NAMM gossip?

merlin6666

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Yay for the maple guitars, looking forward to the reviews. But I think that with those laminated affordable 200 level WS Guild may have done the right thing to attract the entry level players. I tried their first ones out maybe 1.5 years ago when they came to the local store, and I really liked them and it looks like they moved reasonably fast (unlike the 100 level WS). That F250 actually looks quite appealing in the pictures.
 

fronobulax

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So these are not made in the USA?

There are new models discussed above that are made in the USA and others that are not. The best answer to your question is to be specific. That said, the maple instruments are Made in USA but I think everything else discussed is Westerly Collection which is not made in USA.
 

ClydeTower

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There are new models discussed above that are made in the USA and others that are not. The best answer to your question is to be specific. That said, the maple instruments are Made in USA but I think everything else discussed is Westerly Collection which is not made in USA.

I was specifically referring to the DS240 and P240 (as mentioned in my post)...
 
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Westerly Wood

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damn, i really like the DS240 and the 260. very nice additions! I bet we start to see these models in guitar centers. the one near me has a couple MIC Guilds (westerly collections) for sale.
 
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SFIV1967

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And this new DS-240 Memoir... Looks like it took some cues from the Orpheum, does it not?
Sure it does!

MFyTmeA.jpg
versus the 2013 Opheum model:
Guild_12-fret-Orpheum.jpg



So these are not made in the USA?...I was specifically referring to the DS240 and P240
The entire Westerly Collection was and is made in the factory in China.
All new USA (Oxnard/California) made models are listed under https://guildguitars.com/guitars/acoustic-guitars/guild-usa/

Ralf
 
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chazmo

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Right on, Ralf. I notice the DS240 Memoir is a 14-fret slope whereas the Orpheum is 12-fret, but the headstock is what really caught my attention. Very interesting.

And, yeah, Claude, this guitar we were discussing is MIC. Very interesting indeed.
 

chazmo

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By the way, Ralf, excellent detective work unearthing these new gems on the web site. So bizarre that the main page doesn't talk about them... :)
 

fronobulax

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Chaz, I think the parlor size 12 fret slotted "Orpheum" look alike is the P240. The DS240 is the sloped shoulder "J45"... which could also take its cues from the sloped Orpheum I guess.

So these are not made in the USA?

OK. When I first read this I did not interpret "these" to specifically mean the P240 and the DS240. I responded looking for clarification. My response was pointed out to me to be somewhat snarky and while I can make excuses I have to agree. So I will apologize to Clyde for my comments. I'm sorry.
 

ClydeTower

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Right on, Ralf. I notice the DS240 Memoir is a 14-fret slope whereas the Orpheum is 12-fret, but the headstock is what really caught my attention. Very interesting.

And, yeah, Claude, this guitar we were discussing is MIC. Very interesting indeed.

If the "Memoir" series is inspired by the Orpheum line (which it obviously is), considered by many to be Guild's best of the best, I find it odd that Guild would chose to build them oversees rather than in the USA. I would have thought they would want to associate Orpheum's established reputation for excellence to their top tier line.

But what do I know...
 

johnny3j

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I work for Freeman and we produce that and summer NAMM every year.. I am not involved with it ( don't ask me how that happened ) but we do have people on the ground. I will turn over stones on my end..

Any LTGers attending the NAMM show are welcome at our booth (# 5002 in Hall D - Peterson Tuners).
D30Man, hope you can finagle your way onto the Freeman crew for future NAMM shows :smile-new:
We also exhibit at some other Freeman produced music educator shows like TBA and TMEA in San Antonio, do you ever work those?
 

walrus

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If the "Memoir" series is inspired by the Orpheum line (which it obviously is), considered by many to be Guild's best of the best, I find it odd that Guild would chose to build them oversees rather than in the USA. I would have thought they would want to associate Orpheum's established reputation for excellence to their top tier line.

+1.

walrus
 

Walter Broes

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If the "Memoir" series is inspired by the Orpheum line (which it obviously is), considered by many to be Guild's best of the best, I find it odd that Guild would chose to build them oversees rather than in the USA. I would have thought they would want to associate Orpheum's established reputation for excellence to their top tier line.

But what do I know...

Nothing odd about it from a market/fashion standpoint. Almost every guitar manufacturer is doing great with pre-war inspired "parlour" guitars (not actually parlour sized, usually more between O and OO sized..., but everybody calls them parlours now), they're all the rage.

Same goes for slope Shoulder prewar Gibsons, they're becoming mythologized and are high fashion, the vintage ones as well as everbody's interpretation of them.

So from where I'm sitting, it's basically common sense marketing, it's what the market wants right now, and what sells.

What I'd really like to see is some USA made F30 and F40 (in old nomenclature) sized guitars, but we'll give the Cordoba folks a little time - they're only just picking up a tiny little bit of speed on their US production and catalog. We'll probably see some of those in the following years.
 

Westerly Wood

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this might be the first MIC Guild model I am seriously considering. the DS240. I like the ebony striped DS260 too, but a good old slope shoulder dread would be a blast. I bet the tone is big too. Excepting there is a 1976 D25 that popped up in Tucson a couple days ago, I plan on checking it out tomorrow afternoon. around $500 which is a great price if it is in good shape. Might be hard for me to pass this time, but I do a pretty good job not buying Guilds over the past years. My last Guild acoustic purchase was like 4 years ago or more :)
 
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adorshki

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If the "Memoir" series is inspired by the Orpheum line (which it obviously is), considered by many to be Guild's best of the best, I find it odd that Guild would chose to build them oversees rather than in the USA. I would have thought they would want to associate Orpheum's established reputation for excellence to their top tier line. But what do I know...
Apparently they want the MIC models to bask in the halo of the Orpheum rep.
I can understand that, but something else just occurred to me:
Perhaps there's a clue in the fact that the "Memoir" series aren't called Orpheums?
I'm suspecting it may have to do with the expense of building them in the US to the quality point expected, for the anticipated low volume of sales.
Maybe just not in the cards for Oxnard's production capacity, "yet"?
I am gratified to see they've finally got the F55 and F512 Maples ready to go out the door.
It does make more sense to me to get these rolling as I suspect they'll see return on investment through sales more quickly than they would with US-built Orpheums, at this point.
Make sure Oxnard's viable then start making the "outliers" in terms of volume.
The big shocker to me was the D260.
Ebony body?
There's gotta be a reason it hasn't been a major body tonewood historically.
Curiosity drove my search for opinions and I found this thread:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665192
Which yielded post #9:
"Contrary to the other posts in this thread I have seen and played guitars made out of ebony (acoustic guitars) and they've sounded great. It's expensive as hell and heavy too; it results in an almost piercingly rich tone. "
Huh.
Ok I'm guessing expense has been lowered due to the use of the figured wood that literally used to get left on the forest floor; and thank you Bob Taylor for investing in the resource back in 2011:
https://www.taylorguitars.com/about/sustainable-ebony
 
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adorshki

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What I'd really like to see is some USA made F30 and F40 (in old nomenclature) sized guitars, but we'll give the Cordoba folks a little time - they're only just picking up a tiny little bit of speed on their US production and catalog. We'll probably see some of those in the following years.

A couple of months ago Clyde had reason to talk to Oxnard about finish questions with his F55 I think it was, and mentioned that Oxnard hinted at a pending "F" body offering (which I assume had to be the F30 because they'd already formally announced the intention to make F55 Maples) and at least they've got a slot set up for the "OM" in their model numbering system.
So I think an F30 will be made as an "OM30".
I was even expecting this year, but maybe the only thing they want to announce right now is guitars that are actually ready to ship.
But as I've mentioned before, I'm troubled by the lack of a slot for 16" lower bout "F" body where the "classic" F40 should be.
http://guildguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/guild-acoustic-naming-structure.pdf
Maybe they'll get flexible with the "F" for jumbo designation somehow.
 
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merlin6666

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The big shocker to me was the D260.
Ebony body?
There's gotta be a reason it hasn't been a major body tonewood historically.
Curiosity drove my search for opinions and I found this thread:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665192
Which yielded post #9:
"Contrary to the other posts in this thread I have seen and played guitars made out of ebony (acoustic guitars) and they've sounded great. It's expensive as hell and heavy too; it results in an almost piercingly rich tone. "
Huh.

We should keep in mind that these D2xx models have laminate bodies. So what kind of veneer they stick on the outside of the plywood is merely decorative, and pretty much anything can be used that is considered pretty. Though I find that maple burst on the F250 looks quite well made in the picture.
 

adorshki

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We should keep in mind that these D2xx models have laminate bodies. So what kind of veneer they stick on the outside of the plywood is merely decorative, and pretty much anything can be used that is considered pretty. Though I find that maple burst on the F250 looks quite well made in the picture.

Excellent catch, forgot about that "2" prefix in the imports meaning arched back which have traditionally been laminated by definition.
It also answers my "unwritten" question about how easy the stuff is to work, too.
Still, as the outside layer of the laminate, the sound's gonna be "ebony-colored", same as maple and 'hog color the sound in any of the traditional US-built archbacks.
It's the outside layer that does the sonic reflecting; with all due respect, it's not "merely decorative".
 
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AcornHouse

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Remember, there's ebony, then there's ebony. They are labelling it striped ebony, which is not going to be the same ebony as fingerboard or bridge material. It could be Macassar ebony, which is what is usually thought of with that name, or it could be some Asian, rather than African, variant. There's a lot of different types of ebony, just like there are a number of woods that are called mahogany, even though they are no related botanically.
 
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