Bill Acton, then Marketing Director for Guild acoustics, surveyed dealers and players to determine when the best of each model had been made i.e. When Guild was acquired by Fender, Tim Shaw and others at the Fender facility in Nashville were charged with evaluating Guild flat-tops.
Like the electrics, these are no longer made and are not part of our story. It also was the site where some really wonderful Guild and Benedetto branded guitars were made. It has two important roles in this tale the Nashville folks played a major role in providing consistency and expertise as Guild circled the nation. Today, the Nashville facility works with artist instruments, serves as a center for R&D, and does warranty work for Fender, Guild, and other brands owned by FMIC. While it looks quite different than New Hartford, the functions remain the same. (LEFT) The Factory Floor at Guild’s New Hartford plant. It morphed over time to be a center for customizing artists’ instruments and it was Bruce who introduced the Fender Springhill guitars that preceded Fender’s acquisition of Guild. The Fender/Guild facility in Nashville, started by guitar veteran Bruce Bolen in 1995, was initially Fender’s center for artist relations in that city. And second, through it all, those involved want the traditional Guild guitars to remain faithful to the brand’s legacy while not being slaves to it. One is that Guild’s management knows the changes in locations, marketing strategies, and other aspects of guitar production and sales left the company with major obstacles to overcome if the brand is to prosper. Two truths become clear when one researches the Guild brand. So, twice in the last decade, Guild has traversed the continental United States. The Tacoma factory was closed in ’08 and production was moved to a factory in New Hartford, Connecticut, where Ovation and Hamer have been made since Fender bought those brands. That operation closed in 2005, when Fender bought the Tacoma Guitar Company, and production was moved to the Tacoma factory in Washington.
In 2001, its factory was closed and production moved across the country to the Fender plant in Corona, California. When Fender bought the company in late 1995, Guild was headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island. In the course of a change in ownership and three moves, the Guild line has seen major changes in materials, structural specifications, equipment, personnel, and techniques. Since its beginnings in 1952, Guild has gone through many changes in ownership, location, marketing approach, and design philosophy. The New Hartford Plant is strikingly similar to the one left behind in Westerly, Rhode Island.
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