NGD 1970 Artist Award Custom

[Rich Cohen]

I have traded my '63 A-500 for this beauty 1970 Artist Award Custom. She's 18" across the lower bout, and has some unusual appointments. The original DeArmond 1100 is spectacular. The lower half of the bridge is original, but the upper half is a replacement. According to Hans, the upper part of the bridge was white. He's not sure what sort of material it was, but looked like some sort of ivory. The pickguard is original. Carl Greco's hands must have been all over this one.

 

[GGJaguar]

Holy archtop, Batman! Very cool score, congrats!!! How does it sound acoustically compared to your A-500?

 

[rampside]

WOW!!!

 

[HeyMikey]

Wow Rich you never cease to amaze with your hunt for archtops. I love the look of the dark top and light back and sides.

 

[SFIV1967]

Brilliant! Look at that headstock, how they found such matching wood and that special TRC as well!

Ralf

 

[Neal]

Wow, Rich. Every time I start to think I'm cool, you show up with another show-stopper.

 

[Rich Cohen]

Holy archtop, Batman! Very cool score, congrats!!! How does it sound acoustically compared to your A-500?

GG,
At this time the strings are slightly different. I had Newtone double-wound steel round strings on the A-500 which created a good balance between the acoustic and amplified voices. I'm not sure what's on this AA. They are definitely either nickel or steel, and round wound. Acoustically, it's satisfying, and the amplified voice is amazing, and cool vintage type due to the DeArmond 1100. I would pick my '46 Epiphone Emperor to play acoustically, or the '37 Gibson L-5 over this AA. It's bewildering to face this group every day and try to decide what to play next.

 

[Rich Cohen]

Brilliant! Look at that headstock, how they found such matching wood and that special TRC as well!

Ralf

Ralf,
I'm not 100% sure that the TRC is original. I will defer to Hans.

 

[Rich Cohen]

Here's a sample of what the "ivory" bridge must have looked like, according to Hans.

 

[walrus]

Speechlees! As Ralf pointed out, that headstock is tremendous! Congratulations!

walrus

 

[Westerly Wood]

other than pete townshend's electric guild, this is the coolest guild i ever laid eyes on.

 

[Stuball48]

Rich;
You keep one-upping yourself. Sooo beautiful!

 

[cupric]

It's very nice seeing examples of these vintage entry level Guilds!
That is an epic guitar! Congratulations!

 

[Rich Cohen]

other than pete townshend's electric guild, this is the coolest guild i ever laid eyes on.

Woody,
Can I convert you to at least one archtop? They are multi-tasking you know. You name it, you can play different genres on it. In this day and age, we don't have the disadvantage of living in a particular style of guitar or genre of music, determined by the contemporary situation. Nowadays, I would say that one can adapt the archtop to playing different styles, beyond the "swing" or "jazz" styles. It's just a matter of string selection and playing style. Obviously, the archtop will have a more "snappy" resonance, but the snappiness can be modulated by your playing style.

 

[Rich Cohen]

Brilliant! Look at that headstock, how they found such matching wood and that special TRC as well!

Ralf

Neal,
I can't wait for The Local to open up.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Woody,
Can I convert you to at least one archtop? They are multi-tasking you know. You name it, you can play different genres on it.

what model should i seek to start?

 

[Rich Cohen]

It depends on your interest and goals. Depending on the archtop. You can’t go wrong with s Gibby or Epi pre 1950 to play both flat top style or archtop.

 

[Rich Cohen]

Then as always there’s the individual guitar’s voice and playability.

 

[Rich Cohen]

A Guild A 350 would be the ticket. Acorn has one.

 

[hansmoust]

I'm not 100% sure that the TRC is original. I will defer to Hans.

The truss rod cover is original!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl