Yamaha acquires Guild

[jjbigfly]

Yamaha makes solid instruments in all respects. Guild is again making very nice USA built instruments (have not played any of their imports).
I cannot see either brand going downhill….

[drive-south]

I assume the Guild imports will continue flowing at a very high quality level.

Who knows what happens with US production. Fender and Cordoba both did a disservice to Guild in my opinion. I may be the only one that feels this way but hear me out. Guild was always a value brand. Great bang for the buck in a US made guitar. Fender tried to milk the brand for every penny by jacking prices beyond the Stratosphere. Cordoba has done nothing to change that trajectory. Iove my D55 but no way I'd pay $4k for one.

Fender management showed that they have no patience. They buy up brands like Guild and Tacoma and shut them down if they don't lay golden eggs on day 1.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

It really would be a beautiful thing. I've been a Guild guitar fan for a very long time, and actually induced them to do an early 're-issue' of their F-20 when I worked at Sam Ash, NYC in the mid 1990's.

The best 12 string I ever owned was a 1964 F-212, the first full year of production. No fret markers, 2" nut, flat fingerboard, no volute.


Best,
Howard Emerson

Those are good 12 strings Howard. I had a 1974 F-212 that was a good one too...

Wish the people at Guild and Cordoba success under the Yamaha umbrella.

[guitararmy]

It would be neat to own a Guild from every era/factory.
I still miss my old D-55…

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by rstaight

I hope Yamaha keeps the brand going and imparts it's, lessons learned into the brand.

I worked at a fortune 100 company for twenty years. A privately owned company that was a leader in their niche. And now for a large publicity traded company.

What I have seen all too often, is a large company buys a smaller competitor. Then takes what they are doing better, be it processes, engineering, or customer base. Then shuts it down.

I hope this isn't a step in eliminating the competition.

Yamaha is NOT worried about competition from Guild.

[nitram]

Originally Posted by janinep7

I think this is actually terrible news. :/

I would have been a lot happier to read "Martin Acquires Guild," or something along those lines.

No knock on Yamahas; they are fine guitars. I just hate to see a small US-based company that produces quality products get swallowed up by a foreign corporate giant.

As opposed to a small foreign company being swallowed up by an American one? That's never happened has it?

I stand corrected; a small company being gobbled up by a larger company. Foreign or domestic. The problem is the same. The redundancies favor the acquirer, not the acquired.

[7NationArmy]

A USA-made guitar is a guitar that has been manufactured in the United States. This designation typically indicates that the guitar's design, materials, construction, and assembly have all taken place within the United States.

[7NationArmy]

The name "Yamaha" is derived from the name of its founder, Torakusu Yamaha, who started the company in 1887 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer.

[srick]

Originally Posted by brad4d8

We're looking at this from a Guild/steel string perspective. I wonder how much the Cordoba line entered into the decision. Before Cordoba started making inroads, Yamaha was the leading player in the world market for intro and student level classical guitars, even marketing a concert level instrument in the '70s (Konrad Ragossnig played one for a while). This union would in all likelihood restore them to that sales pinnacle.

Exactly - Cordoba and Yamaha makes a very convenient marriage. It will be interesting to see where Guild figures into this equation.

[lowrider]

This can't be anything but good for Guild guitars. Since I've been paying attention, they've really been an importer of mid level, OK, guitars, and they've made a very small amount of guitars in the US.

Yamaha is a very good company with high standards. Even if they do nothing other that raise the level of Guild imports, it will be a good thing. If they can bring Guilds US manufacturing back, it will be good for everyone.

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

It would be neat to own a Guild from every era/factory.
I still miss my old D-55…

I currently have Guilds from Hoboken, Westerly and New Hartford. I also had a Tacoma era F40 for a while, so missing Corona, Oxnard and NYC for the complete set. Can't speak to the latter three, but the others are all top notch instruments.

[Wellington]

Maybe Yamaha will overhaul the import Guilds or start making them in their own Yamaha plants in China, in my opinion that would make them even better.

[Glennwillow]

Yamaha acquires Guild...

Oh, very interesting!!!

I think Cordoba and Yamaha are good organizations; I think this could be a very good thing for the Guild brand.

- Glenn

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

It would be neat to own a Guild from every era/factory.
I still miss my old D-55…

Given the amount of times Guild has been sold/reorganized, that is a N+1 collector's dream! Your collection would just grow and grow it seems.