Fort Worth Guitar Guild, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit arts organization devoted to the creation of musical instruments. The Guild provides a lifetime warranty for their products, provided that the original dealer can verify the purchase or a copy of the invoice can be obtained. If the origin of the guitar cannot be determined to meet the warranty requirements, alternative service options are available. The legacy of Guild began in 1953 with the production of electric bow-type guitars for the jazz market in New York City.
These guitars were made with arched backrests made of pressed laminated maple, an economical alternative to the hand-carved maple backrests usually used in jazz guitar construction. As the company expanded and started offering flat roof acoustic systems in 1954, early models such as the F-30, F-40, and F-50 shared this arch-shaped pressed laminate structure. This design eliminates the need to add support to the back straps, which reduces weight and increases projection and volume, contributing to the renowned Guild sound. In 2004, Fender acquired Tacoma Guitar Company's assets in Washington and moved all acoustic production from American Guild to Tacoma.
Two other reliable resources for dating Guild instruments are The Guitar Book and Gruhn's Guitar Guitars. These references are often useful for resolving questions related to the dating, specifications, and historical context of many Guild instruments. To enable Corona facilities (which until then only manufactured electric guitars) to manufacture acoustic and arch-type ceiling guitars, craftsmen and workers at Westerly factory prepared guitar “kits” that they sent to Corona.
