Fender Purchases Guild Guitar Division

January 18, 1996 -- Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has purchased substantially all of the assets of U.S. Music Corporation's Guild guitar division. Located in Westerly, R.I., Guild is a premium manufacturer of fine acoustic, jazz, and electric guitars and basses and is considered one of the top three acoustic guitar manufacturers in the U.S.

The Westerly facility currently employs close to 100 people, and all will be retained along with Guild's plant manager, Willie Fritscher, in order to ensure uninterrupted production of quality instruments from that location. All of Guild's sales, marketing, advertising and support functions will be centralized at Fender's Scottsdale, Az., corporate headquarters.

In conjunction with the purchase, Bill Acton, formerly eastern regional sales manager for U.S. Music Corporation, has been hired as marketing manager for Guild products and will be relocating from Wisconsin to Fender's Scottsdale headquarters in the very near future.

"Fender will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 1996, and has a legacy of providing fine electric guitars, amplifiers, acoustic guitars, pro sound equipment and accessories to musicians of all types," said Bill Mendello, Fender president. "It is our belief that the addition of Guild, a company with a rich history and recognized legacy of producing high quality, American-made acoustic, electric/acoustic and jazz guitars, will strengthen our efforts to provide consumers with the greatest selection of quality stringed instruments possible."

For more information, visit their web site at www.fender.com.