1960 guild x350

[guitarman]

I just got my x350 back from the shop after a refrett and some electronics work and all I can say is wow. I purchased this guitar last year and had have been waiting to use it on gigs - but with the small frets and unpotted pickups I could not use it live and really had no idea how good the guitar would sound. The guitar is very beautiful ( for pics see sheltonsguitars.com under the sold other guitars gallery) and I will post some shots in the next few days. There were four capacitors lurking in the guitars electronics which really coloured the tone of the franz pickups- once they were found and clipped the guitar has turned into a tone machine. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I also had one of the magnets flipped so that I have hum cancellation in two of the six pickup configurations, which I find to be very useful in a number of applications. All that I can say is that I love this guitar. Hurray for Guild.

 

[jp]

I took a look at the pics, and I'm absolutely stunned. :shock: What an amazing piece of work! Kudos to you for not being afraid to mod it to playability and really enjoying it. Nice features all around and just the right upgrades to make a great vintage player. Would love to know how that crazy button control system works some day.

Interesting truss rod cover speculation.

"Check out the cool engraved truss rod cover! I've seen this engraving style before and suspect that it may have been a custom Guild factory item."

Any thoughts Hans?

On previous '59 T-100D, I also had it refretted for better playability--hated those low 50s frets. There has been discussion of "clipping caps" on the Franz-equipped models here. Search "Franz capacitors".

A quick link so others can gawk!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[john_kidder]

That is an entirely beautiful guitar.

I have a '53 in the shop now - it will never be as pretty as yours, but I expect it to be a heck of a player. I briefly pulled the switch mechanism from the guitar - it's almost pre-industrial in its klunkiness, and full of 56 years of crap and spider webs and whatnot.

Did you keep a record of the configuration of the caps as you found them, and what you did to rectify the situation? Matsickma has had experience with these machines - I recall him also saying that the capacitors reduced the tone possibilities.

What do you suggest that I advise my luthier?

 

[Brown-Recluse]

I took a look at the pics, and I'm absolutely stunned. :shock: What an amazing piece of work! Kudos to you for not being afraid to mod it to playability and really enjoying it. Nice features all around and just the right upgrades to make a great vintage player. Would love to know how that crazy button control system works some day.

Interesting truss rod cover speculation.

"Check out the cool engraved truss rod cover! I've seen this engraving style before and suspect that it may have been a custom Guild factory item."

Any thoughts Hans?

On previous '59 T-100D, I also had it refretted for better playability--hated those low 50s frets. There has been discussion of "clipping caps" on the Franz-equipped models here. Search "Franz capacitors".

A quick link so others can gawk!

Thanks for sharing!

I don't know if the truss rod covers were available from Guild or not. I believe that they were probably purchased from a 3rd party as I have one on a Gibson 330 and have seen them on other Gibsons too. They typically had the owner's name engraved on them along with other musical motif designs.

 

[db62]

Your 350 is fantastic - when was the Bigsby added or was it original?

 

[guitarman]

To answer a few questions:
The guildsby was added many years ago. I retained the caps, but not their placement as I do not plan on returning them because they really limit the tonal options. If I need the treble rolled off (which is the sound they produce) I can use my tone controll. Clipping the caps is the way to go. The switching system provides seven sounds; bridge, middle, neck, on their own, all on at once, bridge and neck, middle and neck, middle and bridge. The bridge and middle, middle and neck produce some "strat on steroids" type sounds, which work nicely. This guitar is now a gig worthy tone machine. Thank you for all the comments.

 

[Graham]

What a stunning looking guitar.

 

[billydlight]

Yep I've had one of these for a decade or so. Clipped the caps out and potted the pickups and reverse the magnets on it the day I got it home. It Kills

 

[valcotone]

Same experience here with my '54 X-175... clipping out the capacitor connected to the 3-way toggle switch revealed a wonderful neck pickup tone... previously it was dark and murky... not in a good way!

Beautiful guitar you have there... just wonderful!

 

[valcotone]

Forgot to mention... I also had my '175 refretted and potted the pickups myself.
Both highly recommended... (if needed)

 

[kitniyatran]

21+ years ago I had a similar blonde for a year or two. I've remembered it as a X375, but could be dim in the recall department. Had a Bigsby; don't know if it was original, & had the pushbutton selectors, which I haven't found anywhere since. One heavy full bodied archtop.
Also had rhinestones all over the headstock; the luthier I traded it to removed them & it looked great in his shop for a while.