Benedetto-redesigned Artist Award

A Guild archtop, introduced 1999^[1]. Built on the Guild USA line.

How it changed

No changes to this model’s spec are on record yet. If you know one and have a source, send it with Suggest an edit at the top right.

Who owned it and where it was built

The eras of the Guild USA line in the years this model was made. No end year is on record, so the last row runs as far as the line does. The model rides on its line: when the owner or the plant changed, it changed for this model too.

Years	Owner	Parent	Plant
1999–2001^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1]}	Fender Musical Instruments Corporation	—	Guild Westerly
2001–2004^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1]}	Fender Musical Instruments Corporation	—	Fender Corona
2004–2008^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1]}	Fender Musical Instruments Corporation	—	Guild Tacoma
2008–2009^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]}	Fender Musical Instruments Corporation	—	No plant
2009–2014^{[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1]}	Fender Musical Instruments Corporation	—	New Hartford CT (Kaman/Ovation plant)
2014–2015^{[10, 4, 11]}	Cordoba Music Group, LLC	—	No plant
2015–2023^{[10, 4, 11, 12, 13, 1]}	Cordoba Music Group, LLC	—	Guild Oxnard
2023–now^{[10, 4, 11, 14, 15, 16, 12, 13, 1]}	Cordoba Music Group, LLC	Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc.	Guild Oxnard

Sources

Every numbered marker on this page points here: the document, its grade and the passages relied on. An era is computed, so it cites the facts it was derived from. A fact marked “no source” has no claim attached yet.

1
Wikipedia: wiki/Guild Guitar Companygraded community
- In late 2001, Fender decided to shut down the Westerly factoryEra: Guild USA, 1999–2001
- moved all Guild production to its factory in Corona, CaliforniaEra: Guild USA, 2001–2004
- Fender acquired the assets of Washington-based Tacoma Guitar Company in 2004, and moved all American Guild acoustic guitar production to Tacoma, WashingtonEra: Guild USA, 2004–2008
- "began production in early 2009, starting with the top-end D-55 and F-50"Era: Guild USA, 2009–2014
- In the late spring/early summer of 2014, Fender's New Hartford Guild facility closed its doorsEra: Guild USA, 2009–2014
- Córdoba started production in late 2015, releasing its first models (M-20 and D-20) in early 2016.Era: Guild USA, 2015–2023
2
blogspot: 2025/11/the convoluted history of guild guitars.htmlgraded community
- "FMIC bought Guild from U.S. Music Corporation in November 1995"Era: Guild USA, 1999–2001
3
fender: newsroom/news/408graded primary
- "(May 6, 2014)… letter of intent to sell the Guild guitar brand"Era: Guild USA, 1999–2001
4
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation announces intent to sell Guild brand to Cordoba Music Group