Early Guild S-50 with DeArmond

[matsickma]

I had always assumed that the early Guild solid body guitars that were first illustrated in the literature showing DeArmond pickups were illustrations only. It looks like one of the early S-50 model that just showed up on the Guitar Center Vintage page has a DeArmond. It also has replaced tuners. Is the DeArmond pup stock?

M

http://www.vintageguitars.net/products/dispProd.cfm?id=198040

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Is the DeArmond pup stock?

Well you know Guild...

 

[kakerlak]

Also appears to have a thick, multi-lam tortoise pickguard, which I'm pretty sure is material Guild did not have in their inventory...

OTOH, the most common shade tree mechanic mod for a single pickup guitar is to add pickups...

 

[hansmoust]

Also appears to have a thick, multi-lam tortoise pickguard, which I'm pretty sure is material Guild did not have in their inventory...

Hello kakerlak,

The pickguard is absolutely correct. They used that material for a short while at the end of the '50s, right before they went from the multi-ply black pickguards to the 'painted' plexiglass ones.
I've seen several early S-50s with that type of pickguard.

I have my doubts about the DeArmond pickup, but ......... we're talking Guild here, so nothing is impossible!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[kakerlak]

Also appears to have a thick, multi-lam tortoise pickguard, which I'm pretty sure is material Guild did not have in their inventory...

Hello kakerlak,

The pickguard is absolutely correct. They used that material for a short while at the end of the '50s, right before they went from the multi-ply black pickguards to the 'painted' plexiglass ones.
I've seen several early S-50s with that type of pickguard.

I have my doubts about the DeArmond pickup, but ......... we're talking Guild here, so nothing is impossible!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Very interesting. I remember a DeArmond-equipped X-500 that was on eBay and discussed here a while back. My memory says it was a refin and perhaps even had a claimed replacement neck(?). It had similar tortoise TRC and pickguard, which were the appropriate shape, but I think we were all assuming they were replacements b/c of the material. Seems like I remember the auction having murky pictures. Anyway, maybe they were OEM parts after all. I thought somebody here ended up buying that one...

 

[matsickma]

I just realized that guitar is at the Plymouth Meeting store, a suburb of Philly. I am less than an hour from that store so if it is still available on Sunday I'll take a drive down to give it a first hand look. If it had a Hagstrum vibrato on it I would be interested it it for nostalic reasons.

M

 

[hansmoust]

I just realized that guitar is at the Plymouth Meeting store, a suburb of Philly. I am less than an hour from that store so if it is still available on Sunday I'll take a drive down to give it a first hand look.

Hello Mike,

It is an S-50 from very early 1963 but I would think it won't be easy to establish it's originality without taking the screwdriver down to it and checking the wiring on the inside!

Good luck!

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl