1963 knobs

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

I have a mid-1963 X-175 with the rounded pukeguard used from 1958-1963, but with the black control knobs used from 1964-1972. Which is most likely: The blackies are original, or the blackies replaced the yellowish transparent ones used 1959-1963? (See page 35 of the old testic..., er, uh, testament.)

 

[krysh]

but why do you need 1963 knobs, wouldn't 4 be enough?

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

ACES! Let's see Coastie try to top that one!

 

[capnjuan]

Touche Michael :lol: nicely done!! J

 

[hansmoust]

I have a mid-1963 X-175 with the rounded pukeguard used from 1958-1963, but with the black control knobs used from 1964-1972. Which is most likely: The blackies are original, or the blackies replaced the yellowish transparent ones used 1959-1963? (See page 35 of the old testic..., er, uh, testament.)

Hello Darryl,

There was a thread some time ago that was about a certain type of truss rod cover.
The answer that I posted applies to your knob question as well, so here it is again:

Guild guitars were made in batches of 6, 12 or 24 etc. From a manufacturing standpoint it was easier to make them in batches because of the change of tooling necessary to produce the different models. When the superstructures were completed they were serial numbered, which took place in the 'finishing' dept. After that the finish was applied and the guitars were hung to dry. After sufficient drying they would be buffed and placed in racks, where they would stay till an order came in. Obviously, if they started production they already had orders, but not always for the complete batch. Only the guitars they had orders for (plus the guitars that could be put in inventory because they were ordered on a regular basis) would be taken to 'final assembly', where the superstructure would get all the necessary parts to become a musical instrument and where it would be set up. Now the order in which they were taken from the racks was random, so it was possible for a higher serial number to come through 'final assembly' before a lower number. A lower serial number could stay on the racks for a very long time while a later serial number would already be hanging on a dealer's wall. I have several instruments in my collection that have serial numbers of which I know they were applied in a specific year; I also know that some of the hardware on these instruments was introduced years later, which shows that these instruments stayed on the racks for a very long time before they came through 'final assembly'. This usually happened with instruments that were not very popular during a specific period or with instruments that were already discontinued.

So the serial number on a guitar doesn't automatically tell you when a guitar was completed and in some cases this explains some of the quirky stuff you might come across.

So, if your X-175 was serial numbered in 1963 it may have been completed at a later date.
I do not remember looking up a serial number of an X-175 for you, but if you give it to me I will see if I can find it back in my database. That might give us the definitive answer.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Hans,

It's interesting to know about Guild building guitars in batches according to the model because of the need to change tooling. Did they keep doing that at Westerly? I'm guessing that as they got bigger, they added more machines and therefore didn't have to change tooling as often.

It's very valuable to know that so much time could pass in the completion of a guitar. I had mo idea that more than a year could pass before a guitar might go out. So a 1963 (my serial # is 25256) might not have come out until 1965.

Thanks for this history. Guild's many variations and exceptions are part of the reason why this company is so interesting.