X-350B and Binding (UK)

[Dave Meadowcroft]

Hi all,

My father was a professional guitarist for many years and has recently passed away. He was the proud owner of this wonderful 1960 X-350B (serial 12315) which my sister and I have now inherited. He acquired it sometime in the late 60s I think, and as you can see it's been well gigged though, unfortunately, he rarely played for the last 30 years or so. It last had some proper TLC around 1985 when he was playing a lot and I know he had it refretted then.

As I am also a professional musician (mainly bass and piano, though I'm reasonably competent on guitar). I want to get this back to a fully playable condition so I can gig it and share it's beautiful sound.
You can see the primary concern is the binding (on the right of the image), though there's some odd stuff going on with the pickup selector switches too - they are upside down as well as being in a non-standard order.

I live near Nottingham in the UK and was wondering if anyone could recommend any luthiers in the UK for any repair work that may be needed?

Also, as I will need to 'buy out' my sister's share of this, any idea on approximate value. I know it's difficult to say without seeing it, but any educated guesses would be welcome.

This instrument has been around my whole life and will not be for sale! It's very dear to me, and I can't wait to get her up and running again and pay tribute to my father by playing her for others to enjoy.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

 

[BradHK]

Welcome and that is a beautiful Guild! I love how it shows the years of use. Sorry, I can’t help with a local luthier to fix the binding. I will also leave it up to others to provide their kniwledge on the price for your guitar in the UK as price is dependent on location and currency.

One thought I would share is that it looks like your selector switch is 180 degrees turned around. I would also have the luthier pull the switch, clean and see if the solder joints are original and what caps and resistors are in the circuit. These Guilds from the factory had a ton of caps and resistors in the switching to “shape” the tone. Some people remove these and that may also be why the switching is different than the factory if they changed up things while removing the caps.

Good luck and we would love to see more photos!

 

[Doreen Meadowcroft]

Hi Dave, it's lovely to see that you are so keen to get this beauty back into the performance arena. Dad treated that guitar better than the women in his life! He would be soooo happy that you are going to play her. X

 

[Dave Meadowcroft]

Some people remove these and that may also be why the switching is different than the factory if they changed up things while removing the caps

I spent most of yesterday reading through posts here and came across several capacitor clipping and bridging ones. It's likely that was done by my Dad as he was proficient with a soldering iron. I'll definitely check it out. Is there a schematic anywhere of the original wiring with resistor and capacitor values? I'm not concerned about putting it back to stock wiring, so long as it sounds good and is usable, but it would be good to have the option if there is a problem.

 

[Neal]

The binding shrinking and pulling away is a pretty common issue among early Guilds. My 1953 X-150 is pulling away in exactly the same places. Interestingly, many modern Martins are experiencing the same kind of shrinkage!

Usually the binding itself is in fine shape, unlike the rot observed among Gretsch guitars of the same era. I figure you have three choices:

1. Leave it alone and play on.

2. Carefully remove the existing binding until you are past the last area of concern (usually the treble-side waist where the pickguard bracket is attached). Then reglue the binding all the way back to the neck heel. You will come up short. A patch can be made to make up the difference.

3. Do a full rebind, which will not be cheap, given how fancy it is.

As for value, I have seen these go for over $3000 in the US. Add at least $1000 for overseas.

 

[Rich Cohen]

The binding shrinking and pulling away is a pretty common issue among early Guilds. My 1953 X-150 is pulling away in exactly the same places. Interestingly, many modern Martins are experiencing the same kind of shrinkage!

Usually the binding itself is in fine shape, unlike the rot observed among Gretsch guitars of the same era. I figure you have three choices:

1. Leave it alone and play on.

2. Carefully remove the existing binding until you are past the last area of concern (usually the treble-side waist where the pickguard bracket is attached). Then reglue the binding all the way back to the neck heel. You will come up short. A patch can be made to make up the difference.

3. Do a full rebind, which will not be cheap, given how fancy it is.

As for value, I have seen these go for over $3000 in the US. Add at least $1000 for overseas.

I agree with Neal.

 

[DjangoLang19]

Hey @Dave Meadowcroft very nice guitar. That's an awesome backstory, love that your gonna keep it playing. What kind of music did you father play?

 

[Dave Meadowcroft]

Hey @Dave Meadowcroft very nice guitar. That's an awesome backstory, love that your gonna keep it playing. What kind of music did you father play?

I'd love to fill in the gap in its history. We're fairly sure my father bought it in 1965 in or near Southport (UK). So it had 5 years prior to that and somehow made it over the Atlantic from the USA in that time. Did Guild export directly to the UK or would it have been brought over privately?

Jazz was his passion and what he mostly played and he was an exceptional talent, but as a professional he would play pretty much anything if he was getting paid of course!

 

[Dave Meadowcroft]

There's a small anomaly we may have come across. I'll be able to tell better when I have the instrument in front of me, but it seems the serial on the label inside may be different to the one on the headstock.

Is this common?

From the photo I have it may be a 1961 body with a 1960 neck, but the label is very hard to read so hard to be sure at the moment.

 

[hansmoust]

There's a small anomaly we may have come across. I'll be able to tell better when I have the instrument in front of me, but it seems the serial on the label inside may be different to the one on the headstock.

Hello Dave,

Welcome! Actually, I wanted to ask you a question about the guitar, since the 'laminated' spruce top was 'kind of late' for a guitar with that serial number. Can you post a photo of both the label and the back of the headstock showing the serial number?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Dave Meadowcroft]

Actually, I wanted to ask you a question about the guitar, since the 'laminated' spruce top was 'kind of late' for a guitar with that serial number. Can you post a photo of both the label and the back of the headstock showing the serial number?

Hi Hans,
Sure. Here is all I have for now, and thanks for your interest!

 

[wombat]

Hi Dave, I used to live not too far away from where you are. I can heartily recommend Bob Barry in Birmingham. He dorted the binding and inlays on my 1960 Gibson semi hollow and I wouldn't hesitate to trust him with any if my vintage guitars.

A valuation is difficult due to its rarity and somewhat niche appeal, at least in my experience ub he UK. I used to have an x350B too, in excellent shape with harp tailpiece that I sold around 10 years ago for about £800. I'd guess it's worth between 1100 and 1500, possibky more

 

[DjangoLang19]

I'd love to fill in the gap in its history. We're fairly sure my father bought it in 1965 in or near Southport (UK). So it had 5 years prior to that and somehow made it over the Atlantic from the USA in that time. Did Guild export directly to the UK or would it have been brought over privately?

Jazz was his passion and what he mostly played and he was an exceptional talent, but as a professional he would play pretty much anything if he was getting paid of course!

Oh very cool, that's my passion as well. So cool to hear he was playing jazz on that beautiful Guild.

 

[chazmo]

@Dave Meadowcroft and @Doreen Meadowcroft ,

Welcome to our wonderful web site, and sorry for the loss of your father. That certainly is a spectacular Guild archtop that he left to you.

Thanks for providing Hans with some of the details, as he is THE Guild expert and can provide you with many more worthy details than you already know.

I think @Neal is quite right in his post above assessing (roughly) your axe. 3 grand (US) might be a little on the high side in the US, but that's a pretty special guitar. I have no doubt on it being at least a grand higher in your neck of the woods.

Having said that, I hope that you choose to keep it, Dave. An heirloom like that is one that (I think) you and Doreen would regret selling in the long run.

Good luck getting it back into shape! And, welcome to LTG. Don't be strangers!

 

[Neal]

@Dave Meadowcroft and @Doreen Meadowcroft ,

Welcome to our wonderful web site, and sorry for the loss of your father. That certainly is a spectacular Guild archtop that he left to you.

Thanks for providing Hans with some of the details, as he is THE Guild expert and can provide you with many more worthy details than you already know.

I think @Neal is quite right in his post above assessing (roughly) your axe. 3 grand (US) might be a little on the high side in the US, but that's a pretty special guitar. I have no doubt on it being at least a grand higher in your neck of the woods.

Having said that, I hope that you choose to keep it, Dave. An heirloom like that is one that (I think) you and Doreen would regret selling in the long run.

Good luck getting it back into shape! And, welcome to LTG. Don't be strangers!

Agreed. $3,000 US is probably too optimistic, in its current condition.

It would take a full rebinding to get it close to that value. But that would be an expensive repair.

 

[Archie]

I think it's probably worth £1,500 - £1,700.

 

[F30]

Really love seeing early survivors.
That guitar is cool as is especially if you tend to the playability issues and would certainly be cool restored too.
Thanks for sharing. Fantastic

 

[Dave Meadowcroft]

Thanks everyone for your responses and help!
My sister and I have sorted a value between us that we're both comfortable with so all sorted there.
Thanks for the luthier recommendation too - as soon as I get a little time between gigs I'll collect her and make contact with them. I've spoken to a couple locally already. Obviously they need to see the instrument before they can make recommendations on the best approach and quote.
I love the marks from years of gig use so won't be going with a full restoration - just binding repair, or full rebind if needed, and anything that's needed.

I'll post more when I have her in my hands!!

 

[F30]

That would be great to see.
I think your approach is the right path.