Yamaha buys Guild and Córdoba

[Ralph124C41]

I saw this news over at the acoustic guitar guitar forum ... Yamaha has bought Córdoba which includes Guild guitars.

Yamaha Guitar Group acquires Córdoba and Guild Guitars

The move brings Córdoba's portfolio, which includes Guild, DeArmond Pickups and HumiCase, into the Yamaha fold

www.guitarworld.com

Córdoba products include Guild guitars, DeArmond pickups, Córdoba nylon-stringed guitars, HumiCase cases and Aquila and Savarez guitar strings.

I just a few days ago acquired a used Guild DS-240 Memoir acoustic dreadnought (solid spruce top, laminated mahogany back and sides) and years ago I owned USA-built D-25 and D-55 dreadnoughts, all with solid woods. I also own a DeArmond Guild M-75, sort of a heavy (as in weight, not chugability) Les Paul type.

Guild I think has had several ownerships. According to Guildguitars.com, the company was started in 1952 in Manhattan. It was sold in 1966 to the Avnet Corp. In 1966 it was sold to the Fender group. And in 2014 it was bought by the Córdoba group.

According to WikiPedia, btw, the Avnet Corp. is today a distributor of electronic components. In the mid-1960s Avnet also bought some record labels including Blue Note and Liberty.

As for DeArmond Guild, it's my understanding that the Fender group purchased the DeArmond name and then commissioned Guild (which it owned) to start selling the DeArmond Guild guitars. But there were also DeArmond guitars sold without the Guild name such as the M-65. And then some of the bodies were used by various Squier models such as the X-155. My M-75 was built in Korean but the later guitars were made in Indonesia I think.

I also used to own a DeArmond Jet Star Spel, the "Green Gumby" model.

As for my thoughts on the purchase, I see it going both ways:

Guild's future will be back to becoming a major player with the help of the worldwide Yamaha juggernaut. ...

or ....

Guild's future may be cloudy as their products will be competing with Yamaha's. However I do think the products are different enough to warrant their continuation. A Guild acoustic sounds a good bit different than a Yamaha acoustic I think. I think Guild electric guitars are also good items but I'm not that knowledgeable about them.

 

[Eddie]

Yamaha is a HUGE company. Guild will have major resources behind it.

 

[Ralph124C41]

(Btw, after using a computer keyboard for the past 40 years or so I just today learned how to make that little acute accent mark that is used on common Spanish vowels.)

 

[WurWulf]

Major Yamaha acoustic guitar fan here and also a fan of DeArmand acoustic pups hope the spreading of Yamahas' wings doesn't spread them out of the level of workmanship in there acoustics because IMO the one's being produced now are extraordinary value for the money. The 2nd from the right is a LL26 with a DeArmond pickup in it
My Yamaha's

 

[Ralph124C41]

Major Yamaha acoustic guitar fan here and also a fan of DeArmand acoustic pups hope the spreading of Yamahas' wings doesn't spread them out of the level of workmanship in there acoustics because IMO the one's being produced now are extraordinary value for the money. The 2nd from the right is a LL26 with a DeArmond pickup in it

I've owned three Yamaha acoustics but none now. I do agree that Yamahas are just about the best acoustic for the money you can find. So maybe Yamahas will start offering their guitars with a DeArmond pickup?

 

[duceditor]

Guild could be reguilded. I.e., made, again, into the somewhat unique marque it long ago was. Or, based on what we've seen with so many other supposedly restored marques, just be another avenue of sales for products with little true uniqueness.

My 'better' years as a rocker were played on a Guild. A Starfire V.

It was a "good" guitar. Higher up the theoretical quality ladder than the Gibson ES-125 I' been playing earlier. But in truth ut wasn't really anything special. I never, even after using it daily in all sorts of exciting settings (Large concert venues, intimate clubs, various recording studios, etc.) fell in love with it. And in 1973 or 74 I traded it away even-steven for a Yairi acoustic that has gone much further towards winning over my heart.

Different is not itself, at least to me, "good." And in truth my Guild was not really all that "different."

Just out of some sentimentality I concidered replacing it with one of the "same" models today. Again, a Starfire V






Such duplicates almost exactly what I had 'back when'...




But what for? The sound? Nothing special. The looks? Ditto.

And then there's the softening of the model line. The mixing of costly and far less costly models with, frankly, little to differenciate them,

A Starfire V costs over $1500. A Starfire 1 only $550. For what are you paying?





At least until now the Guild line has fr a time been more a varied sales floor than a model/style/building philosophy. I.e., more marketing than design.

Yamaha does build quality. But from what I have seen they have shown more appreciation for what the an added name will do to increase sales than appreciating any underlying disign brief. (Just look at Line 6 since Yamaha bought it. Are Line 6 amps and gear really any longer truly unique?)

So how will this work out?

In the end only time will tell. To me it promises some continuity -- maybe a good thing. But also certain cross-brand sameness.

Love to be found wrong!

-don

 

[howserx]

DeArmond & Guild. Two guitars I'd like to lay my hands on and try. I'm pretty GAS'ed out, but if I can try a new semi hollow I'm game...

 

[Eddd]

I like my Guild Surfliner.

 

[Naked Strat Brat]

Guild makes a jazz guitar, savoy model, I would love to own. I had one for two days, my Wife took it back to GC as I jusr had my first stroke and would not be able to play it, so returned it for the money she would be needing. Now I wish she would have kept it, was a almost white color, champaign? Hard to find new one in that color now.

 

[DougMen]

That's good news for Guild, because no they'll have a much bigger distribution and dealer network than they've had for the last couple of decades.
I know Fender bought Tacoma just to get their factory to build acoustics, but then they killed Tacoma, and closed the factory, because they decided to build their acoustics overseas.
I don't know why Fender bought Guild, because I think it was after they had decided to build all their Fender acoustics in Asia.
When they decided to get back to just guitars and amps, that's when they sold Guild to Cordoba, and also sold the largest distributor of all music related stuff, Kaman. That surprised me, because Kaman is huge and is/was a cash cow, but also requires a huge investment of manpower and logistics to run, since they handle thousands of items, from picks to strings, straps, stands, cases, pedals, tuners, books, and every other accessory under the sun, as well as some guitars and amps too.
At the store where I worked, we got the vast majority of anything that wasn't a guitar or amp from them. We did get some straps, cases, gig bags, and books from other sources, but almost everything else came from Kaman.

 

[Shaytan]

@DougMen can’t tell that was the case either with Fender’s nor Yamaha’s case (though I’d say it likely took a part in Fender’s initial motivation), many of these companies just buy competitors either to take down competitors, or to get their means of manufacture, market share, know-how, etc.

Fender’s purchase of Guild took place about by the same time they’ve also bought Jackson, a longer lasting business deal. Fender had always struggled in the metal, pointy guitar market and so it made sense to grasp a strong name in that segment rather than keep on pumping poor selling models, I can’t tell whether prior to that their acoustics were also struggling, though my intuition based on the seemingly recurring design of Fender of bolt-on acoustics, I’d say so.

As far as Yamaha goes - as you may expect from a company that makes all sorts of musical instruments down to motorcycles, they’re a big name, moreover in Japan. I’ve once read an article about just how big they are in Japan, to the point they have deals with music schools to promote and sell their instruments to students. Rightfully so, they’ve built a reputation for themselves, as not only with guitars, their wind, piano and digital instruments are also very well regarded as solid low to mid range options.

Given how broad their guitar range is, it seems rather redundant of a purchase, not to speak they’re a huge name to have anything to win by running multiple subsidiaries - unless, of course, the precise fact a Yamaha isn’t exactly what likely comes to your mind when thinking of *high* end instruments, these new names under their belt may give them a share in that market range.

 

[DougMen]

@DougMen can’t tell that was the case either with Fender’s nor Yamaha’s case (though I’d say it likely took a part in Fender’s initial motivation), many of these companies just buy competitors either to take down competitors, or to get their means of manufacture, market share, know-how, etc.

Fender’s purchase of Guild took place about by the same time they’ve also bought Jackson, a longer lasting business deal. Fender had always struggled in the metal, pointy guitar market and so it made sense to grasp a strong name in that segment rather than keep on pumping poor selling models, I can’t tell whether prior to that their acoustics were also struggling, though my intuition based on the seemingly recurring design of Fender of bolt-on acoustics, I’d say so.

As far as Yamaha goes - as you may expect from a company that makes all sorts of musical instruments down to motorcycles, they’re a big name, moreover in Japan. I’ve once read an article about just how big they are in Japan, to the point they have deals with music schools to promote and sell their instruments to students. Rightfully so, they’ve built a reputation for themselves, as not only with guitars, their wind, piano and digital instruments are also very well regarded as solid low to mid range options.

Given how broad their guitar range is, it seems rather redundant of a purchase, not to speak they’re a huge name to have anything to win by running multiple subsidiaries - unless, of course, the precise fact a Yamaha isn’t exactly what likely comes to your mind when thinking of *high* end instruments, these new names under their belt may give them a share in that market range.

Yamaha has been known for great affordable acoustics, but their very best is no match for Guild's iconic MIA guitars (like the F series Jumbos and D series dreadnoughts), and now they have a stake in the high end acoustic market, as well as having Guild's also iconic electrics, like the Starfire thin 335 style ones, and the SG style (sort of) S series, plus their full hollowbody electrics, and the also iconic Bluesbird LP style, and the M75 and X175, plus the unique new Jetstar and Starliner models.

 

[DougMen]

Deleted double post, due to Squier Talk's hiccupping and sometimes molasses slow server

 

[Ray Stankewitz]

What I see is a cheapening of the Cordoba line by Yamaha bean counters. The line of Cordoba guitars is quite diverse and I'm sure Cordoba was selling enough of each model to justify that diversity. Yamaha bean counters, be what they are, will in all likelihood whittle that diverse line down, to the detriment of the name. At the moment, even the C1 and C3 models have great tone, projection and clarity. That may not be so in the future. I'll have to source a C5-CE-SP before that expected downturn happens.

 

[DougMen]

What I see is a cheapening of the Cordoba line by Yamaha bean counters. The line of Cordoba guitars is quite diverse and I'm sure Cordoba was selling enough of each model to justify that diversity. Yamaha bean counters, be what they are, will in all likelihood whittle that diverse line down, to the detriment of the name. At the moment, even the C1 and C3 models have great tone, projection and clarity. That may not be so in the future. I'll have to source a C5-CE-SP before that expected downturn happens.

Only time will tell if your predictions of doom and gloom play out or not. I'm less pessimistic and more optimistic. From what I've seen since they bought Line 6, they seemed to let them continue as they wanted to, without interference.

 

[DougMen]

I saw this news over at the acoustic guitar guitar forum ... Yamaha has bought Córdoba which includes Guild guitars.

Yamaha Guitar Group acquires Córdoba and Guild Guitars

The move brings Córdoba's portfolio, which includes Guild, DeArmond Pickups and HumiCase, into the Yamaha fold

www.guitarworld.com

Córdoba products include Guild guitars, DeArmond pickups, Córdoba nylon-stringed guitars, HumiCase cases and Aquila and Savarez guitar strings.

I just a few days ago acquired a used Guild DS-240 Memoir acoustic dreadnought (solid spruce top, laminated mahogany back and sides) and years ago I owned USA-built D-25 and D-55 dreadnoughts, all with solid woods. I also own a DeArmond Guild M-75, sort of a heavy (as in weight, not chugability) Les Paul type.

Guild I think has had several ownerships. According to Guildguitars.com, the company was started in 1952 in Manhattan. It was sold in 1966 to the Avnet Corp. In 1966 it was sold to the Fender group. And in 2014 it was bought by the Córdoba group.

According to WikiPedia, btw, the Avnet Corp. is today a distributor of electronic components. In the mid-1960s Avnet also bought some record labels including Blue Note and Liberty.

As for DeArmond Guild, it's my understanding that the Fender group purchased the DeArmond name and then commissioned Guild (which it owned) to start selling the DeArmond Guild guitars. But there were also DeArmond guitars sold without the Guild name such as the M-65. And then some of the bodies were used by various Squier models such as the X-155. My M-75 was built in Korean but the later guitars were made in Indonesia I think.

I also used to own a DeArmond Jet Star Spel, the "Green Gumby" model.

As for my thoughts on the purchase, I see it going both ways:

Guild's future will be back to becoming a major player with the help of the worldwide Yamaha juggernaut. ...

or ....

Guild's future may be cloudy as their products will be competing with Yamaha's. However I do think the products are different enough to warrant their continuation. A Guild acoustic sounds a good bit different than a Yamaha acoustic I think. I think Guild electric guitars are also good items but I'm not that knowledgeable about them.

Fender bought Guild in 1995, not 1966