|
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 1614
Location: Converse, Texas | I know I probably lost some of you with that other guitar name in the subject line. But I was in my favorite LOCALLY OWNED guitar store today, and they got in a new batch of Guild guitars -- made in China! Of course they are all wood -- and less expensive! My point is, Ovation needs to really market hard their line being USA-made -- and heavily market the LX models! OK... I've gone through this before!
Oh, I didn't get a chance to play any of them -- they were still on the truck. Also, the four LX's they had in March are sold. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 396
| Yes, it would appear that advertising the MADE IN USA factor would play in their favor, especially now. However, does there need to be small print that says......
Oh by the way, we also manufacture in South Korea.
Then, you get the tricky part where someone goes into a store to buy an American Ovation and there either isn't one, or there are 2 of them and 15 made in South Korea.
For me, buying an American made instrument is a consideration. The last 3 guitars I bought new were all made in America (1 Martin and 2 Ovations). For me the prices on these instruments were reasonable ( actually good values) for the quality of the instruments.
Is the marketing of the Made in America label hypocrisy if the company also manufactures cheaper products made in foreign countries and then ships to the US (like Ovation, Fender, Martin, etc...)? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I believe that Fender/Guild is following Ovation's lead in introducing a lower-priced line made in the Orient. This was mentioned in the new issue of Acoustic Guitar. They are not discontinuing the U.S.-made Guilds.
There are people who care about whether their guitar is U.S.-made, but more people just care about the price point they can afford, and they are who will buy these Guilds and Ovation Celebrities(and Applauses). No amount of marketing and advertising will attract them.
Roger |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Roger is correct, there is a certain consumer who buys purely on price where the country of manufacture and quality of product is not top of their list of priorities. Just about every manufacturer has a Chinese made line to appeal to this type of consumer and it is a means of survival in a very competitive market rather than an indication of a drop in standards for the domestic product. If Guild were still independant rather than just a notch on the belt of the big F or some other major company it would probably never have happened. Bet you'll never see a Chinese Collings or Korean Santa Cruz |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | To the young guitar buyer, these Asia made guitars have quite an appeal. By the way, the Korean made guitars, Epiphone line, they're pretty good. When you are in the local store and see Ovations, some made in Korea, for half the price, cosmetically, they're attractive. Ovation would have done better to market these under a different name on the headstock to set their USA product apart.
Tommy |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | What is interesting though is if you look at the quality of the instruments for the price. They are fantastic.
back in the day My parents bought me a POS and it is amazing the I still try to play guitar after all these years. Literally my fingers would bleed and I would get horrible cuts on my fingers. The sad part is that my parents paid around 50-75 of 1965 dollars to buy me that guitar. today for the same amount of money I would have had an instrument that I could have learned on with ease with little problems.
Learning the way I did was purely for love and wanting to learn how to play. If kids do not learn now with the quality of import instruments out there, it is because they are lazy or have no talent for guitar playing. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Al
Your right! My first guitar in the 60"s, bought out of the Speigal Catelog, was garbage. The strings were one inch away from the neck. It was a Kay. Maybe that's why I continue to buy perfect guitars now.
Tommy |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | The new Guild Guitars have fewer appointmnets, The one I saw Recentlly looked like a Satin type finish. It played pretty good and sounded good too!
I think pretty much what Paul Said tru.
There will always be a consumer who buys based on price. With these newer models the prices are Down allowng the Consumer to get a pretty good quality guitar for less money thanthe rest ofthe line. I noticed Breedlove is also doing this Now Too. very Interesting Kind of thing to see, especially since the aforementioned have mainly dealt in th epast with what would be considered middle of the line to top of the line price Instruments. You had to cough up at least 1200 to 1300 for a Guild and Higher if you wanted something really fancy. The Breddlove Price were higher tan that from the last price list i saw a couple of years ago.
The Lower Priced Instruments simply give the Price Conscience Consumer an alternative.
Don't know what the new Breedloves sound like,
but the guild i played sounded pretty good. and it had a Solid Top. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | As long as we're on Guilds, I've got a buddy who bought a Guild True American about 10 years ago. D size body, cutaway, Fishman electronics, satin finish. Right out of the box it made you appreciate how good it was and have you the feeling that it would just get better. And it did. I've always like Guilds. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | My first guitar to learn on was a Guild D50 with a very forgiving neck and fretboard. I'm hooked on dreadnaughts and deep sounding instruments now as well. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 196
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA | like moody said... since we're on guilds... i bought one last year... only non-O that i have... i love it. just something about that boomy Jumbo sound (JF-30)... for some songs, it is the only guitar that works.... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 2246
Location: Yucaipa, California | I briefly owned a Guild Dreadnaut, dark mahogany with a steam-pressed-slightly-rounded back. It had a big booming sound and was the first guitar to tip me toward the "true roundback"! :D
tim |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 266
Location: Tampa, Florida | It seems Ovation is beginning to focus on "made in the usa" to differentiate the O's from Celebritys. I see Ovation USA a lot now. I had a Celebrity around 1999 that had "Celebrity" on the headstock. It was old, had a brown bowl. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Interesting twist on an old topic. The initial intent of Ovation was to blur the line of where the guitar was made, with focus on making a quality instrument, as quality as possible, in as many price points as possible. They did, and I think this worked damned will through the late 80's and early 90's. As I recall, the attitute of the typical guitar player was I have $500 (example) to buy a guitar. If they went to Ovation, they could find one, and it didn't really matter where it was made, or if they did care about where it was made, it didn't matter because they only had $500.00.
Today it is a little different, and eBay has a lot to do with it. Now if someone budgets $500 for a guitar, they can get a new import just like before, or a used Made in USA. And the 3rd option of some made in USA models that are just a little bit more $'s but within range. With credit cards being given to anyone, eBay making available 1000's of instruments that we would normally have to scour pawnshops for years to find, price point is not the only factor to focus on anymore.
This "I'll buy made in the USA if it's an option that is also good quality" is a common theme in consumers today. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| I do not have the experience of selling and buying guitars for resale like many of you do. But I can tell you from my own buying experience Price was certainly a consideration! That is always a factor for anything. Being Made in America is certainly another factor, not just because of "American Pride" but also for the Quality and that all important "Resale Value". There is another factor I have not seen listed here? It is Options! Yep I have never seen another company like Ovation, here's the rub, Ovation has an overseas market that makes lower priced guitars that have more options for color's, or wood's, or body types, Etc. Etc. Here in the U.S. I see Guitar shops that have the Ovation contract but they do not have an American made Ovation in the place! There are lots of Celebrities and an Applause or two but that's it! Most kids and other buyers are not familiar with Ovation and if they want a guitar like the one they may have seen on TV or where ever? They go into a Shop and they buy a nice looking Clebrity! because it was what the shop had! They may have been happy to pay more for an Elite or an Adamas but we will never know! And if they had an Elite to compare the Celebrity with the odds are the Celebrity would have looked much nicer! The Elite would be painted a boring Blue, Black or White! and that's it no burst colors, no choice of a nicely stained quilted top, nothing! where the Celebrity " The sky's the limit". Now The Elite line is Expensive enough to handle a few wood choices? If they can do it for the Celebrity and keep the prices low. Then Why can't Ovation update the looks of their American products! How about starting with some more paint choices! How hard can that be? I'm tellin Ya! Our Great American Factory will go by by if they keep this up? Randy |
|
| |
New Guild Guitars