Guild Guitars is one of the great historic names in American guitar making. The company was founded in New York in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and instrument dealer, and George Mann, a former Epiphone executive. After its early years in Manhattan and Hoboken (New Jersey), production moved in 1966 to Westerly (Rhode Island), where the instruments that built its legend were made.
Guild earned its reputation with solid-top acoustics: the D-series dreadnoughts, the F-series jumbos and, above all, its 12-strings, regarded by many as among the finest ever built. Richie Havens opened Woodstock in 1969 with a Guild, and artists such as Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy took its archtops and semi-hollows across the blues stages of the world. On the electric side, models like the Starfire, the X-175 Manhattan and the S-100 Polara remain true classics.
Since 2014 Guild has been part of Córdoba Music Group, itself part of Yamaha Guitar Group since 2023. Today's catalogue combines the Newark St. Collection (reissues of its classic electrics and semi-hollows), the modern Surfliner and a wide acoustic and electro-acoustic range true to the company motto: "Made to be Played".
