I'm all in --- 1958 X-550 (lots of pics)

[Thunderface]

Keith, welcome aboard. Talk about announcing your presence with authority. That is one beautiful birth year guitar.

 

[john_kidder]

Welcome. Such a pretty guitar. Love those 50s archtops.

 

[skinny]

Welcome aboard Keith,
You have certainly procured one gorgeous blond!!

skinny

 

[hansmoust]

The only thing that seems to be not original is the binding around the headstock:

It looks like the original multiple binding has been removed and replaced by some black material with a thin layer of white on the outside edge.

What is it in the image and your vast knowledge of what Guild did, and when, that makes you think this is repaired binding and not the dreaded headstock overlay shrinkage?

Hello Frono,

The shrinking of headstock overlays is not a problem on bound headstocks, since these overlays were usually made of wood. The 'plastic' overlays from the second half of the '60s were the worst, which is the reason why Guild switched to a different material around 1970.

Even though the binding around the headstock protects the edges of the headstock against impact, it's merely there for cosmetic reasons and usually, the more expensive the guitar is, the more layers of binding you will see. This is called 'multiple' binding and the idea is that the separate layers of (usually) black & white accentuate the shape of the headstock and make it somewhat more gracious looking. Since the headstock overlay on these more expensive guitars is usually black, the first layer should be white and then a black one and after that again a white.

When we look at the guitar in question, the first layer is black:

Not only is the layer black but it's also unusually thick and on the outside edge you'll see a simple thin layer of white. Now, if this is what they originally had planned, they simply could have routed the headstock for a thin layer of white, instead of making a large groove for a strip of binding that has the same color as the headstock overlay.

Now the serial number of the X-550 pictured above is #6544 and I happen to be the owner of a similar guitar with serial # 6543. Here are some photos that show what the binding around the headstock of the guitar in question should have looked like:

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[fronobulax]

Thank you Hans!

The comparison between your guitar and the subject guitar makes things very clear.