1957 Guild M75 Aristocrat

[mbrindell]

Hello and Guild fans,
First off let me wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season. I have been collecting and playing Guilds for a very long time. I have had many Guild archtops and solidbody electric guitars. I have always wanted to own an original Aristocrat and have never even seen one in person. Well, I will get to play one in the very near future. I did indeed buy a 1957 Guild Aristocrat. It was listed on the "bay". It is in all original condition and shows some wear as you would think for a 55 year old guitar. Same age as me. The guitar is in very good condition and for once, one came up and the timing was right to buy it. I would say from the photos the guitar looks like a strong 8 of 10 condition. It also comes with it's original case. I am very excited about this purchase and I wanted to share. We all probably know the specs of this special guitar so I will not get into that here. About a week or so ago I opened a new facebook page devoted to my Guild guitars and music in general. I want it to be a fun page. There is no advertising just info on Guild guitars, photos and my music that was created with those guitars. The link is http://www.facebook.com/MyGuildGuitars. I hope you will stop by and if you like the page please hit the like button. I will be updating the page everyday with my Guild guitar of the day series, photos, music and anything else that I think would be fun. I welcome your comments and uploads as well. But I am not trying to take over what this wonderful site does. I have had over 70 Guild guitars and those guitars will be featured. Please stop by as I am open to some good feedback. But back to the Aristocrat. What made me buy this particular guitar was the rare script logo on the peghead and it was made during my birth year. Not to mention I thought the price was reasonable enough. Here is a photo. I will be uploading all the photos to my personal guild facebook page. Thank you all and happy holidays. MB

 

[drc]

You are a man amongst boys!! Your Guild Collection both past and present is unbelievable :!:

 

[walrus]

That M75 is a beauty! And I just spent some time looking at your Facebook page as well - well done! Very informative and basically just fun!

Your collection (past and present) is very impressive - you are my idol!!

walrus

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Congrats! I saw that one listed, and although I've never been wild about that model that is a beautiful one!

 

[twocorgis]

Love the burst, and the dog too Mike!

 

[FrankGrace]

Glad to see this one went to an LTG member. Congrats! This was one of the nicest I've seen in a while and I too was drawn like a magnet to the logo/headstock. Didn't break out the Guild book yet but I remember Hans saying there weren't many guitars made with that combination on headstock. This was also priced reasonably as far as the M's go good luck with her and looking forward to hearing/seeing more of her.
Best,
Frank

 

[jimmyl51]

Mike,

I owned that same guitar! Amazing in our travels how those of us in the know run across people with the same interests and objects. Well I'm up at 3:00 a.m. catching a flight to Boston, on to Quincy Market with my wife and then on to Maine for the holidays. Merry Christmas everybody! jim at Tinker AFB Oklahoma City, Oklahoma p.s. Got the ES-350T that I had made for me with a single alnico in the neck position in a special faded cherry finish back from Saul Frank!

 

[jmix]

Greetings Mike, one more time... and not for the last time, I guess! :wink:

 

[Zelja]

She looks a beauty Mike - hope she lives up to all expectations. Nice facebook page too - lots of great eye candy there.

 

[mbrindell]

Thank you all for the wonderful comments about the M75 and the facebook page. I greatly appreciate it. I am trying to post Guild Guitar of the day # 16, a 1962 CE100, but for some reason fb will not allow me to post photos in an album format. I will see if I can get that going here shortly. Thanks to all and happy holidays. MB

 

[dbirchett]

Love the shot with the Lab sleeping by the fire. We are getting a new Lab right after Christmas.

Beautiful guitar, congratulatons.

 

[mbrindell]

Hi folks, just to clear it up since it has been mentioned a few times. The photos are the original pix from the Ebay listing. I have not received the guitar yet. The Lab in the photo belongs to the fellow I purchased the guitar from. I used to have a yellow lab, but now I have a beautiful Australian Sheppard named Rupert. I do like the lab as well. Thanks. MB

 

[Thunderface]

Well done, Mike, well done. You have an amazing collection of vintage Guild Goodness there.

 

[SFIV1967]

Mike,
congratulations on that wonderful guitar! You wrote on your FB page. "It is the only Guild electric guitar in the last 60 years to have a solid carved Spruce top."
But is this really the case? My 56 Aristocrat seems to have a laminated top, at least what I can see so far after taking off the white pickup covers. Where did you get the info from about the solid carved top? Did Hans confirm this? I am wondering the same about my guitar. So I am really curious about this.

Also you say: "The back and sides are solid Honduran mahogany." I doubt this as well. I thougt the bottom is laminated, I don't know about the sides.

Ralf

 

[mbrindell]

Hi Ralf,
I did some research on this model before I purchased it. I was on a site, don't remember which, from a google search which gave me this info. I have always read and heard that the top on the original M75s from the 50s are solid carved spruce. Maybe the info I read was incorrect about the back and sides. I got an email from Hans, unsolicited, about the batch # this guitar came from. I imagine he read the entire post. He did not say anything about the way it was made so I took that to mean the info I found was correct. I will email him and ask him for these details. When he returns with the info I will post his reply here, unless he sees this and does it first. If I am mistaken in my research then I apologize. Thanks and either I or Hans will get back about this info. Merry Christmas to all. MB

 

[z-clay]

Great find! Looks like an incredible guitar oozing with 1957 nostalgia. That pic looks like a Rockwell painting.... very cool indeed.


*Nice collection on facebook. Thanks

 

[hansmoust]

Hi Ralf,
I did some research on this model before I purchased it. I was on a site, don't remember which, from a google search which gave me this info. I have always read and heard that the top on the original M75s from the 50s are solid carved spruce. Maybe the info I read was incorrect about the back and sides. I got an email from Hans, unsolicited, about the batch # this guitar came from. I imagine he read the entire post. He did not say anything about the way it was made so I took that to mean the info I found was correct. I will email him and ask him for these details. When he returns with the info I will post his reply here, unless he sees this and does it first.

Hello folks,

The info about the top material on Guild's electric archtops is on page 50 of my book.
As far as the other materials used on the Aristocrats is concerned the '50s ones had a solid mahogany back and laminated mahogany sides. This was later changed to laminated back & sides. You can actually see it when you look closely at the back of an Aristocrat that has no binding.

Happy Holidays!

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[mbrindell]

Thank you Hans, I stand corrected, although partially correct. I have always heard and even read people claim the aristocrat has a solid Spruce top. As I stated I have never even seen one in person before. Does not take away anything from the highly regarded guitar which I am anxiously awaiting at this time. In a week or so I can get back and give my account of how this little guitar actually plays and sounds. Which is really the most important thing. Thank you Hans and Merry Christmas.

 

[skinny]

That's an impressive find !!
I'm excited for you.
I've been toying with the idea of thinning my herd to get the funds to finally acquire a Aristocrat... weeeee'll see haha!!

Happy Holidays,
skinny

 

[mbrindell]

Hi Skinny, If you should decide to sell the X400 I may be interested. Thanks