ARTIST AWARD - ANY ADVICE WELCOME !

[Xstian67]

Hi,

I would like to buy me an Artist Award...
Of course, I've read all the reviews on Harmony Central website, searched on the net all the information available, looked at the ones for sale on E-bay... And as I am a Guild enthusiast, I think I do know quite a few things about those big boxes... Anyway, I would like to know what do YOU think about those guitars, especially if you own one of them... I mean... What advice can you give me ?
- Westerly vs. Corona, pre-Fender era vs. Fender era...
- good years, bad years, good ones, bad ones... (if there are any "bad" ones...)
- De Armond or mini humbuckers... ?
- any evolution (shape of the neck, scale length, woods...) through the years ?
- X bracing or parallel bracing ?
- what did Bob Benedetto really add in "refining" the model ? Is it worth the cost ?
And if anyone can help me to find a good one... (I live in France)... you're welcome !

Thanks a lot !

Best regards,

Christian.

 

[krysh]

welcome christian,
sorry, no info about the artist award, but I would like to know this too.

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

I've got a '92 AA made in Westerly, RI. Had it most of four years and still love it. Here's a link to an older post where I tried to comment on comparisons between the AA and my L-5 Wes Montgomery model.

http://www.letstalkguild.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=101&p=10472#p10472

In summary, the AA has stunning good looks, with better fit and finish workmanship than the L-5 and a bit more of an acoustic and woody tone to it that makes it my favorite when playing chord-solo types of music.



Don't know how it's pickup compares to the earlier DeArmonds, but the mini humbucker is quite bright sounding and that has to be dealt with through string selection and amplifier tone settings as discussed in that link above. The AA sounds wonderful thru my Evans JE-200 and JazzKat amplifiers -- treble settings on "0" however. (BTW, I have been using 0.013-0.056 Martin Marquis phosphor bronze strings on the AA for the past several years and they seem to be exceptionally resonant while helping to tame the bright sound of the first and second strings.)

These guitars have everything I need. But having said that, if I was starting over, I'd definitely shop for a Benedetto version, having read his "Building an Archtop" book, and having seen a few comments about them by some top players. I really do think he took archtop carving and bracing to a new level, and the Benedetto pickup is most probably an important improvement. I'd also like to hear more from anyone with experience with both AA versions.

Interesting point: my '92 AA is parallel braced, but the braces are asymetrical. On the upper bout, the brace is about one inch inside the f-hole, but on the treble bout, it's much farther from the f-hole - probably near or under the bridge. This surprised me, and I'd be interested to learn about when this practice started and why it was done.

Despite all the hype about "Vintage" guitars, or perhaps because of it (???), I'm not one who thinks olde guitars mean better sound or playability. I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for vintage. Finally, with the value of the US $$$ continuing to plunge, I suspect European buyers are going to find some very good values in the American archtop market.

 

[john_kidder]

with the value of the US $$$ continuing to plunge, I suspect European buyers are going to find some very good values in the American archtop market.

Canadians as well - I'm more than a little chuffed that I did much of my trading when the Canadian$ was $0.63US - now it's around $1.00 even - price appreciation hasn't come close to making up a 37% loss on currency values.

 

[Xstian67]

Hi, GuildAAPlayer (your name is George, isn’t it ?)

First of all, thanks for the answer and the link to that older post...
Very interesting !

Some informations...

ABOUT YOUR PICKUP...
I still have an old Guild Guitars 1990 Catalog. Pages 18/19... A huge photo of an Artist Award, exactly the same as yours, same pickup. It says...
“A special unique D’Armond (sic) type floating single coil pickup is used to keep the integrity of the solid spruce top”. I think this could be the explanation about the sound of your pickup : it’s not a humbucker, but a single-coil !
But... Archtop.com sold some Artist Awards...
A 1994 one (Serial #: AA000037), a 1997 one (Serial #: AA000148), always the same pickup as yours... It was written : “floating gold humbucking pickup..."
Humbucking or single-coil, who made the mistake ?
On a 1998 model (Serial #: AA000200), you can see the 6 polepieces of the pickup, and the description said... “floating gold Johnny Smith style humbucking pickup”.

BRACING AND SCALE...
In another old Guild Guitars 1996 Catalog that I still have...
Still the same guitar, another photo, same pickup, not much technical information, but it says : “AA - Bracing : custom”. What “custom” means, isn’t said... Maybe it’s the asymetrical parralel bracing you are talking about !
About the scale...
The Guild Guitar Book, page 143 : “24 3/4 scale”(1956 JS model), and “ca. ‘69 : 25 1/2 scale”
But the two catalogs state : “25 5/8 scale” - a slight difference...
Elderly sold some monthes ago a 2002 Guild Benedetto Johnny Smith Award. The description stated :
“X-braced carved spruce top... ... 25-9/16" scale...”
It’s clear that there are differences between the G/B Nashville/Corona JSAs and the Westerly AAs, one of them is : there is no binding on the G/B between the two parts of the back of the body.

And about currencies, vintage guitar market, dollar vs. euro...
The average selling price on E-Bay US for a mint Guild Buesbird flametop is US$ 1400. That’s less than the net guaranteed minimum salary in France (1005 euros/1 month - 35 hours a week). Maybe this will be helpful to make comparisons...

Best regards !

Christian.

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

Hello Christian,

You're right about that 1990 Guild catalog -- I have a copy of the same one, but I'd never noticed that phrase about the "floating single coil pick-up." If the catalog is correct, I guess it's NOT a 'humbucker!'

The correct scale length is 25 5/8 inches.

Most pictures don't show it well because the lines are very fine, but the pre-Benedetto AA has 9-ply binding on the headstock and around the top plate and back; 5-ply binding on the pickguard, and 3-ply binding on the f-holes. The 1990 catalog description says "7-ply ivoroid binding around body and pickguard." Don't know how they come up with this number. (In your catalog's AA picture, what appears to be two black lines of top binding are actually four black fine lines with thin strips of white between each pair.)

I note that your signature line mentions a Benedetto X700. I would imagine that most of the construction, especially the neck, would be identical to the Benedetto AA. Don't know if they changed anything else to accomodate the routed-in pickups. How do you like it?

George

 

[Xstian67]

Hello George,

I found in an old “Fender Frontline 2002” catalog some interesting things...
Page 18, an interview with Bob Benedetto... “I can remember the early days of the Artist Award. I even recall restoring one when it was called the Johnny Smith Award. They looked and fell right. Yet over the years, I watched and felt they were not advancing in the marketplace. The reason was obvious. While an occasionnal change in design was common enough, the guitars did not seem to be evolving. Fortunately, the workmanship of Guild has always been first-rate. (...) Basically, both the Artist Award and Stuart now have the same body construction. That includes carved and hand-graduated tops and backs from the finest European cello wood. The body is now 3”, and the bracing is handfitted and tuned. The Stuart has parallel bracing while the Artist Award has an “X” pattern...”
This is an important structural change for the AA !

My X700 Stuart was recently bought brand new from a musicstore in Houston. This is a eye-catching sunburst one that gives anyone a shock when I open the case. The craftmanship is so flawless, beyond what anyone would expect, with high-end aesthetic appointments, and the woods are gorgeous. The C-shape of the 25 9/16” neck is quite an excellent compromise between old jazz necks and modern electric guitars neck -good feeling and real fast ! The sound of the two Benedetto S-6 is stunning, and the master volume pot is a clever idea to shut down the guitar without changing the balance and the tone. I’ve got no experience with Gibson big boxes, so I can’t say if it’s a better instrument or not, but the fact is : this is an amazing guitar, very comfortable, with a very large range of tones - you can almost play anything with it. No sports car, but a big classic limousine powered by an enormous V8 under the hood. I won’t trade it for anything else (just like my F-65 CE, which is also a one of a kind love-at-first-sight guitar).

But I find this X-700 Stuart is a rather heavy guitar, and all the hardware, pickups, wires... surely have something to do with it. I’m asking for advices about AAs because I’m searching for a much lighter big box guitar, more responsive, with a real acoustic tone, and quite simple electronics, no tone-sucking ones, quite direct from the PU to the output jack. In fact, I’m looking for an electro-acoustic jazz guitar tone. If a Guild AA doesn’t deliver that, I would have to go to a luthier... but it will cost at least twice as much... and this would be another story.

Best regards,

Christian.

 

[Horuss]

Here's a Bendetto for sale on Craig's List (Santa Cruz, CA).

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/msg/626032939.html

 

[Xstian67]

Hi Horuss,

Thanks for the news...
The guitar looks good, the price is rather high ( ? ), and there are some
statements in the seller's description that are obviously wrong...
Anyway, once again, thanks !

Best regards,

Christian.

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

There's a newly listed AA for sale on eBay -- item number 260235131913

Might be had 'cheap' -- auction started at $2,000. Would need more info/better photos to clarify, however. Seller discusses a "crack at the saddle of the neck" (wherever that is???) but says it has been factory repaired.

 

[Xstian67]

Hi,

Thank you very much for those informations...

In the meantime, I found in the US a brand-new Guild-Benedetto Johnny Smith Award for sale... and bought it !
She's on her way to Europe... It's a sunburst one...
It seems that only 18 Johnny Smith Award were made... They just look like G-B Artist Award,
but the inlay in the head says "Johnny Smith Award"... I read on an internet website that they were
signed by JS in the back of the head... I'll see... As the dealer didn't want to sell it overseas, an american friend of mine made the deal for me... It's really hard to find some accurate informations about those guitars... Anyway, this beauty looks like a dream came true...
Now my GAS is over... Quality vs. quantity... No more E-Bay watch every morning... No more auction stress... I'm selling guitars now... Doesn't bother about the prices, they have to go... But I'll keep
my Guilds forever... There's not a single one among them that you can trade for anything else...
Once again, thanks for everyone who read this post...

Best regards !

Christian.

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

Sounds like 'guitar heaven' to me. Congratulations.

George

 

[california]

Sweet!

 

[california]

There's a newly listed AA for sale on eBay -- item number 260235131913

Might be had 'cheap' -- auction started at $2,000. Would need more info/better photos to clarify, however. Seller discusses a "crack at the saddle of the neck" (wherever that is???) but says it has been factory repaired.

I asked the seller about the crack; he said it is very small and hard to photograph. Before he bought the guitar it was serviced at the Guild factory in Westerly, where he met the techs who did the repair. Sounds extrememly legitimate.

 

[nopedals]

> Don't know how it's pickup compares to the earlier DeArmonds, but the mini humbucker is quite bright sounding and that has to be dealt with through string selection and amplifier tone settings as discussed in that link above. The AA sounds wonderful thru my Evans JE-200 and JazzKat amplifiers -- treble settings on "0" however. (BTW, I have been using 0.013-0.056 Martin Marquis phosphor bronze strings on the AA for the past several years and they seem to be exceptionally resonant while helping to tame the bright sound of the first and second strings.)

Phosphor bronze strings would not be my first choice on a guitar with a pickup. Do you use them on your Wes, too? The wound and unwound strings would have singnificantly different output levels when played electrically ... Some folks work through this with exagerated pole piece settings.

The AA is a true acoustic guitar, while the Wes is not (routed pickup, thick carve). Not a problem for me, because I am happy with the acoustic sound of TI swing flats, which are electric strings, so I use them on my acoustic and electric guitars.

 

[hideglue]

... was serviced at the Guild factory in Westerly, where he met the techs who did the repair.....

Poor guy

"....Factory repaired and guaranteed never to separate"

Huh?
What sort of repairman makes a guarantee like that?

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

>Phosphor bronze strings would not be my first choice on a guitar with a pickup. Do you use them on your Wes, too? The wound and unwound strings would have singnificantly different output levels when played electrically ... Some folks work through this with exagerated pole piece settings.

The AA is a true acoustic guitar, while the Wes is not (routed pickup, thick carve). Not a problem for me, because I am happy with the acoustic sound of TI swing flats, which are electric strings, so I use them on my acoustic and electric guitars.

Yep, using the Martin Marquis Phosphor Bronze strings on both guitars and they sound great on both. The first two unwound strings sound nicely balanced with the rest, acoustically and amplified. Only thing lost is a little bit of pickup output level due to the phosphor-bronze; no problem, just turn the amp up a little for the Guild. The L-5 has a higher level pickup output.

The reason I tried them was because a retailler told me that a lot of guys with "overly bright" sounding acoustic guitars like them. I've also tried Martin's new "FX Flexible Core strings in the same size, but they don't sound nearly as lush to me -- lower output and loss of some mid range overtones, I think.

 

[MacAoidh]

Here's another Bendetto for sale (May 31, 2010)

http://www.gbase.com/gear/guild-johnny- ... o-sunburst

 

[Steve Hoffman]

I was told they want way too much, like 13k or something. Most stores have no idea how to price these unsold BB/Guilds. :roll:

If you want a nice one, California Vintage Geetar has a beauty, plays great and you can talk 'em down in price!

http://www.californiavintageguitarandam ... 190905.htm

 

[yettoblaster]

Here's another Bendetto for sale (May 31, 2010)

http://www.gbase.com/gear/guild-johnny- ... o-sunburst

Jeez that's a beautiful guitar!

Not sure I could do it justice with my six jazz licks but I could set it on a stand and gaze lovingly at it for hours...