FS/FT: Guild X-50 Cordoba Archtop, 1966 (Made in Hoboken NY, USA), £1,300

CFH

Regrettably selling my beautiful vintage Guild X-50. I bought this as an “in” to archtops and sadly do not gel with the larger body shapes coming from Fender types! This will have been one of the final runs made in the Hoboken factory. 

This is a truly gorgeous instrument though. I would happily stack this up against equivalent vintage Gibsons; the fit and finish is incredible and the tone is lovely. Very bold and punchy acoustic and the single coil pickup sounds to my ears to be a cross between a P90 and a DeArmond single coil. It’s really a fantastic sounding instrument both unplugged and run through an amp. 

The neck is not hugely chunky and plays well up and down the neck. Very little fret wear and the tuners function really well and smoothly. 

The body size is 16 3/8” wide, 20 1/4” long and 2 7/8” deep; its Guilds answer to a Gibson ES-125. 

Comes with a period correct case and it even has the original 1960s Guild sticker. 

Few points to note:

- There are some dings commensurate with age. The nitro finish also appears to have reacted to something (maybe a strap) on the bass-side of the guitar (pictured but it is not hugely noticeable). I’ve tried to show these but in my view they do not detract from what is a  good looking guitar for its age. The burst colour and figuring on the top in particular are gorgeous. 

- Low action with plenty of room to lower the bridge further if desired.

- The headstock veneer is beginning to lift in the top corners. Very common for Guilds of this era. Bit of superglue should sort that, however it has been stable for years now.

- You get the occasional crackle when turning the volume/tone pot. Bit of contact cleaner might resolve this.

Basically a vintage guitar with plenty of character and ready to be played and enjoyed. 

The only other I can see online is being sold by a Parisian guitar shop for £3,200 but I got this for a good price myself and so I’d like £1,300. 

I’d rather not post this one but happy to meet up or for it to be collected from me in Leeds. 

Andy_Strings

Wow!  Love that one Casper.
Very me.

CFH

Andy_Strings said:

Wow!  Love that one Casper.
Very me.

Thanks Andy! Hope all is well :-)