1956 X-175... or 1955, or 1954, or all of the above

[nmiller]

I like guitars with stories, and I've deduced a pretty interesting story from this one:

A guitar with identical features was posted on the forum a long time ago and soon after purchased by Valcotone:

Alas, that's the only pic of it that's still accessible. After hemming and hawing a lot (and bobbing and weaving a little), I've concluded that they're not the same guitar. Despite many identical features - 1956 serial and headstock veneer, unbound board, riveted tailpiece, long scale, shrunken pickup cover and poorly-cut pickguard - the pickup selector isn't quite in the same spot and the spruce grain doesn't match. But it sure looks like these were assembled by the same Manhattan factory employee after the same liquid lunch. That said, I'm just waiting for Hans to say nope, same serial.

My theory is that these were surplus bodies and necks finished (perhaps in haste) in order to avoid schlepping them from Manhattan to Hoboken. Any reason why that's not plausible?

Unfortunately, my guitar arrived with a non-functioning neck pickup. Fortunately, the fact that I can't get any sound out of the middle position says there's a 99.999% chance it's just something wrong with the switch. I can't pull the switch out of the hole far enough to really check it out, so I'll let my tech have fun taking it out through the pickup route.

 

[twocorgis]

All I know is that guitar(s?) is absolutely gorgeous. It's in beautiful condition for its age.

 

[walrus]

Where and when is that photo of all the vintage Guilds form? Wow!

walrus

 

[nmiller]

Yeah, it's in really good shape. There's a little binding shrinkage and pullaway, but we've all seen worse. Someone did some minor touchups to the darker areas of the finish, but it's very hard to see without a blacklight. I suspect it's been refretted, but it was done well enough that I have to say "I suspect". But all of these are nitpicks considering the age of the guitar.

According to that thread, that pic is from the 2008 Philadelphia guitar show.

 

[BradHK]

Beautiful guitar!

The “poorly-cut” pickup cutouts in the pickguard could have been modified by a previous owner and not come that way from the factory. Those 50’s pickguards can shrink and warp significantly over time and the cutouts for the pickups get too small to go around the pickup cover and the distance between the cutouts also gets smaller. The screw holes in the pickguard can also not line up with the holes in the top of the guitar due to this shrinkage. My 1954 Aristocrat pickguard has these issues.

 

[nmiller]

Ah - thanks for reminding me! I've noticed that there's a second pickguard screw hole in the top, about 1/4" north of the current one, with a bit of black finish covering it up. I think this is the original guard, but it has shrunk so much that the screw had to be moved and the pickup cutouts enlarged just as you say.

 

[Ixtlan]

Is that a solid top? Looks great

 

[nmiller]

It's 3-ply. I think the overall thickness is a little thinner than the Westerly archtops I've owned, though, and the whole guitar is certainly the lightest Guild electric I've ever picked up.

 

[Ixtlan]

I like it when they look "aged" - adds to the sound I think!

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Beautiful guitar, congrats!

 

[zizala]

It's a great looking and very interesting guitar!
I also can see the mix of earlier features with those of circa '56.....
.......I love these odd intergrade instruments and the questions raised and stories imagined or told.

'50's Guilds are always fun to look at and track for all the variations.
An early 50's small shop startup, then two moves in about a 5 year span.....all while deciding what to build in a guitar market trying to keep up with a rapidly changing music scene.

 

[twocorgis]

Yeah, it's in really good shape. There's a little binding shrinkage and pullaway, but we've all seen worse.

We sure have, like mine!

 

[Ixtlan]

Interesting how the necks go parallel with the body and are not angled up.

 

[nmiller]

A quick update: yeah, it was the switch and the neck pickup works fine. However, it has the "mud" cap like some other early Guilds which renders the neck pickup almost useless. I went in and snipped one end; it's still there, hanging in the breeze, and the guitar sounds 500% better now.

The pickups appear to be RWRP, as the hum disappears in the middle position. I recall reversing the orientation of the magnets in one pickup on an old Aristocrat to achieve this, but either someone did that already on this guitar or it just got lucky from the factory.