So i am visiting my grandparents in Westerly RI, which was home to the Guild Guitar factory until FMIC bought them out. I just swung by this morning to see
the state of things and it has now been renovated into some contractors offices, but does have a for sale sign in front of it. I should have some pics up
tomorrow, nothing really impressive, and you wouldn't know this building from any other unless i told you so. But it is sad to drive by the brick side of
the building, where "Clapton is God" used to be scrawled in chalk near one of the big freight doors. Now its all clean with new siding and just looks
blahhhhhhh. Secondly, i wish FMIC had continued to make the Guild solid bodies. pics tomm.
0 Kudo
The old Guild Factory- PICS
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 adam972 |
The old Guild Factory- PICS |
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Posts: 1102 (06/13/2009 4:19 PM) |
Last Edited By: adam972 06/17/2009 12:24 PM.
Edited 1 time.
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thestone08 |
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Posts: 57 (06/13/2009 8:56 PM) |
haha westerly eh? im from warwick..
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 Luca1079 |
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Posts: 1294 (06/13/2009 9:42 PM) Midnight...lock all the doors. |
I spent a good bit of time in westerly every summer and thanksgiving growing up... if I had only known what was right around the corner!
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thestone08 |
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Posts: 57 (06/14/2009 8:19 PM) |
haha ive lived in warwick my whole life and never thought bout going to the Guild factory... knew about it since i work at a guitar store just never thought to
go there
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thestone08 |
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Posts: 57 (06/14/2009 8:19 PM) |
Double post * sorry *
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/16/2009 10:21 AM) |
I went down there many years ago with my uncle to get a tour, but they wouldnt allow it, he did manage to snag a official job application, which i have lost
through the years. Funny how so many people come from such a small state. my whole familly is from here and im back in westerly ususally 4-5 times a year.
Still pretty cold out, the water was murder.
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/17/2009 12:26 PM) |
taking a while to upload, but you can see the factory from the front. It is now a thrift shop in the front....they didnt touch the floors, so you can see
where the old spray booths must have been. In the back of the shop there is a cabinet maker and a wood working shop, judging from the limited info i have,
that is where the rough sawing would have been, so im guessing these guys moved in and just bought the equipment with the space
More photos as soon as my internet picks up
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/17/2009 12:28 PM) |
This is the wall where "Clapton is God" was written in chalk for many years
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/17/2009 12:34 PM) |
Back of the shop. Looks like the restoration only went as far as the road side....i looked through the woods for discarded pallets of wood. I found one
group that looked suspect of neck blanks, but didnt want to nab something the wood working guys would have ran after me for.
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jmacomber16 |
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Posts: 1 (06/17/2009 10:43 PM) |
Lol, I just joined the forum, and I see this thread, how crazy. Ive lived in Westerly my entire life, great small town. It is nice to know that I can go to any
of the guitar shops in the area (including CT) and buy a Westerly made Guild. I'll take your word for it, but I was always under the impression that the
Clapton is God picture was took in England? No?
Here are some Guild related sites if anyone is interested http://westerlyguildguitars.com/index.htm http://goodeguitars.com/ |
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/18/2009 7:56 AM) |
i dunno if someone copied the claption slogan, but i did see it in person in the 90s. I just read that the Guild shop has moved some where in Conn.....but a
shame that $800 Guilds are being built in China.....seems not that long ago you could buy $800 guilds made from Westerly....and what happened to the crazy
unique electrics....of fmic...
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Luca1079 |
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Posts: 1294 (06/18/2009 3:31 PM) Midnight...lock all the doors. |
What was the address of the old westerly shop? I'm trying to figure out where it was in relation to where I stayed/visited.
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adam972 |
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Posts: 1102 (06/18/2009 3:56 PM) |
This is right down town on the other side of the train station. if you are heading into town down the hill ( riding towards Conn), when you peel right and
the Y and keep following that, veer to the left to stay on the downtown strip, on the right you will pass the train station, after you go under the tracks
there are two roads to the right that kinda meet together in an ackward acute triangle, the second one is industrial drive and the factory is about 50 yards
down that way. So you could say the factory is smack tab in the middle of downtown westerly, just right on the edge of the commercial-downtown-renovation
area, and the not so renovated housing area.
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