Neal
Senior Member
And now the collection of single-pickup NYC Guild archtops stands at three.
X-50, among the first made, early 1954. Serial # is 1526. It came to me by way of another LTG member, and needed nothing other than a glue and clamp job on the F-holes, where the wood was starting to de-laminate.
Here it is next to its siblings, a ~'54 X-200S on the left and a ~'53 unlabeled cutaway (X-150?) on the right. The X-200 and "X-150" are both 17" and have a laminated spruce top, with laminated maple back and sides, while the X-50 is 16.25" and all maple.
Notice the different finishing treatment each one got.
The "X-150" was just treated to a full refret, while the X-200S still had enough meat left on the frets for a level and dress job. The X-50 does not appear to have been played very much.
They all have distinct personalities, which I will accentuate through the use of roundwounds, flatwounds and semi-flats.
X-50, among the first made, early 1954. Serial # is 1526. It came to me by way of another LTG member, and needed nothing other than a glue and clamp job on the F-holes, where the wood was starting to de-laminate.
Here it is next to its siblings, a ~'54 X-200S on the left and a ~'53 unlabeled cutaway (X-150?) on the right. The X-200 and "X-150" are both 17" and have a laminated spruce top, with laminated maple back and sides, while the X-50 is 16.25" and all maple.
Notice the different finishing treatment each one got.
The "X-150" was just treated to a full refret, while the X-200S still had enough meat left on the frets for a level and dress job. The X-50 does not appear to have been played very much.
They all have distinct personalities, which I will accentuate through the use of roundwounds, flatwounds and semi-flats.