Hi Hans,
Thanks for the your expert view of this...
....and yes as you pointed out, this X-50 is a perfect blend of '54 and '55.....with a later '55 serial number and New York 7 label.
Here are more photos.
Closer views of the top...
The pickguard is quite a thick chunk of bakelite.....remnants of band saw marks around the edges!
Here's a good look at the older original type bridge....
The narrower Epiphone style heel......attached to a wonderful softly V shaped neck.
The 1 3/4" nut and 25 1/2"" scale makes this guitar just about perfect for me.
I play the later Guilds with 24 3/4" scales and 1 5/8" nuts out of love for the great guitars they're attached to.
Fortunately I'm adaptable, but if I could choose, they'd all have this neck.
The old style headstock inlay.....not typical for a '55 Guild, but as Hans pointed out, this '54 superstructure was
likely assembled in '55. I love stuff like that!
I thought it unusual that this X-50 has individual Waverly tuners rather than the strip version that I see on most of the later X-50's....but maybe I've not yet seen enough.
This guitar came from a New Jersey estate sale.....in the case were strings, Mel Bay method books with teachers pencil notations dated from '56, and a pitch pipe. It seems likely that someone purchased this in '55 or '56, took lessons and gave it up soon after. I see no sign that It was ever played again until 2 days ago.
Funny how well the original set up still worked when I strung it up....a little truss rod tweak (probably its first), and just a few loose frets to attend to.
There is some loose and shrunken binding to be taken care of, but not too bad.....however it will be a challenge to do as this finish is so pristine.
The pickup is sensational, combine that with the perfect neck and comfy 16" body, and this one's going to get played a lot!
End of story.....
Oh geeze, I almost forgot.....Happy holidays for those who are celebrating!
z