Photos of New York era Guilds 1953-56

zizala

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Hello all,

I've been hanging around awhile.....not posting so much, but certainly appreciating all the contributions and information that can be found here.

I'm a player/collector of old archtops and lately have been fixated on Guilds.....mostly pre-1962 so far.....but the ones that really interest me are the very oldest from the New York era. I especially enjoy seeing the variations that took place in the formative early years.

I'd love to see photos of instruments from the 1953-56 era for starters....so if any of you own and would like to post photos or links to some nice examples, please do.

I'll start off with a couple of my current favorites, a '54 X-150 and a '56 CE-100.
IMG_0183.jpg


Both are probably among the earliest examples of each model......the X-150 seems almost primitive compared to the Guilds that were made just a few years later.
Love the headstocks with the older logos and inlays......

Great players.....the old Franz pickups sound wonderful to my ears....
Will be glad to talk about the details if anyone's interested.....

Meanwhile, please show and tell about your NY Guilds!

Thanks,

z
 

AlohaJoe

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Beautiful! The color on the X150 is really nice! It also looks familiar... is it a recent aquisition from Archtop.com? Did you do any restoration work on them or were that in that condition when you bought them? I'd be thrilled to have either one! Nice!
 

zizala

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Thanks all, glad you like.....

Alohajoe....

Yes, the X-150 did come from archtop.com.
I had my eye on it for a long time, as it was listed for awhile. Was checking on it, obsessing of course, and finally decided to take it.
Am so glad I did. I figured there might not be too many opportunities to find one like this, and its a great sounding old guitar.
Love the neck size and profile and especially enjoy the long scale.

Both of these are original and unaltered.....save for a strap button on the X-150.

The CE-100 is one of those time capsule guitars....stored away but never played. Just some finish checking keeps one from believing they're looking at a new guitar. The pickup placement seems unique for one of these.....its set a little further back away from the fingerboard extension than any other single pickup CE-100 I've seen so far. More Gibsonesque......like an ES-175.

z
 

AlohaJoe

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I think you were very fortunate to find both of those. I eyeballed that X150 for a while myself, but the timing wasn't good for me money-wise. I know Joe V so I've been able to check out instruments in the past, but I knew that if I played that one and liked the neck I'd have to have it... so I stayed home! I'm glad it found a good home with you, it's a classic beauty and I know you'll enjoy it!

How would you compare the necks on those two?
 

zizala

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Walter....

Would love to see those X-175's....

AlohaJoe...

This X-150 has a long scale neck (25 1/2") and an 1 3/4" nut width.
Its a comfortable C shape but has a hint of a graduated V.....very subtle.
Kind of reminds me of some post-war Epiphones....probably with good reason!

The '56 CE-100 has the 24 3/4" shorter scale and an 1 5/8" nut width.
Its a deep C shape and it feels a bit fuller on the sides and flatter on the back compared to the X-150's neck. Its a bigger neck in profile than any other CE-100 I've played. (I also have a '57 and a '60)
Funny how much better a 1 5/8" nut width feels to play on a full profiled neck...I was surprised when I measured it.

z
 

jte

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I've wanted a '54 A-50 for silly reasons. a '54 just because I was born in 1954. An A-50 just to go along with my flat-top A-50 SB from 1995... Sad thing is I see 'em once in a while on Guild Guy's site, and can't justify dropping the cash when he's got one.

John
 
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That's the first time that I ever saw the older headstock logo that's on the X-150. What a treat! Thanks for posting.
 

zizala

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Now that's a gorgeous guitar, Jeff......

Bet it sounds as great as it looks.
Love the "backdrop" too......

I'll just have to dream one like that might fall my way sometime.

Thanks for the view!

z
 
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zizala said:
Thanks all, glad you like.....

Alohajoe....

Yes, the X-150 did come from archtop.com.
I had my eye on it for a long time, as it was listed for awhile. Was checking on it, obsessing of course, and finally decided to take it.
Am so glad I did. I figured there might not be too many opportunities to find one like this, and its a great sounding old guitar.
Love the neck size and profile and especially enjoy the long scale.

Both of these are original and unaltered.....save for a strap button on the X-150.

The CE-100 is one of those time capsule guitars....stored away but never played. Just some finish checking keeps one from believing they're looking at a new guitar. The pickup placement seems unique for one of these.....its set a little further back away from the fingerboard extension than any other single pickup CE-100 I've seen so far. More Gibsonesque......like an ES-175.


Z.
I just joined and have a x150 that I bought in 1964 but haven't looked at in 20 years. I just took it out of its original case and am eager to talk with anyone who has one also. I don't know what year it was made but the serial number is still inside. It is 1583. Any idea when it was made. I also need to repair the finish a little and the banding is coming off. Do you know anyone that does this work. I am in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Navajoarch
z
 

john_kidder

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Here are my '50s archtops. Apologies for cellphone photos, lousy compositions, lousy light. Good guitars though.
atrioof53s.jpg


The first '50s Guild I bought had a makeover sometime in its life. Hans thinks it might be one of the ones mentioned in his book (p. 22) built in '57 or '58, but with the long scale neck left over from earlier years. It was an X-400, but now it has humbuckers, an extra set of (badly placed) vol/tone controls, a newer "G-shield", and replaced tuners. Plays like a dream, tone forever, favourite among my guitars for good players who don't care a whole lot about original equipment:
IMG00146-20101210-1534.jpg


Next is this (S/N 1391, Dan Cipriano says it's a '53) X50. I sold a near-perfect '56 X50 to get this one, first of the first-year Guilds for me:
53X50.jpg


Then an X350, S/N 1483. This one I had planned to give away to LTG to rebuild, but I got good advice from friends on the board not to do that, sanity prevailed and Joe Vinikow cleaned her up for me:
53X350.jpg


And then a '54 X150 from fleabay earlier this year (the older sister of the one Joe had):
53X150.jpg


Love 'em all. I'll try to get better pictures of the headstocks later.

Anybody know why the images stay sideways although I've rotated them 90 degress from original on Photobucket?
 

zizala

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John,

Thanks for posting those photos.....a very nice group!

Your '54 X-150 looks like a near twin to mine (the one that came from Joe V)......including the simple black pickguard,
Mine has no label or serial number, and is clean enough inside that I see not the slightest trace of there ever having been one.
Assuming yours has one, can you let me know the SN?

That early X-50 is fascinating....I stupidly passed on a chance for a '55 that had a nice chunky long scale neck and have been searching for another old one ever since.

Navajojoe......

Sounds like you've got one of the good old X-150's too.
Try to post some photos here or email them to me and I'll do it for you.
My email is: calosoma@hotmail.com

I'm sure we'd all love to see it.....

Binding repair and replacement needs an expert and artful restoration person thats willing and patent enough to do the kind of fussing this work requires. Its not easy to find one of those guys.....but patient searching and asking around in your area might turn someone up.

Thanks all for your contributions here.....keep them coming!

ziz
 
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