GUILD ARTIST AWARD

Model: 

350-8300
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  • Guild Artist Award archtop electric guitar
    Guild Artist Award
  • Guild American Patriarch Artist Award archtop electric guitar
    Guild American Patriarch Artist Award (2013)

Overview

Brand name: 

Product: 

  • acoustic guitars

Dates of manufacture: 

1954

When Alfred Dronge, a former professional guitarist, founded the Guild Company in 1952 to produce fine jazz instruments he employed several luthiers from Epiphone. After two years of testing prototypes it is not surprising that the earliest Guild instruments released for sale in 1954 bare similarities to Epiphones of the period with their large single cutaway bodies. The top of the Guild range was the Artist Award model (the equivalent of the Epiphone Emperor) and it has remained Guild's flagship model.

The Artist Award had a 17 inch wide body with a solid spruce archtop and flamed solid maple back and sides. The fingerboard was ebony with pearl block and abalone triangle inlays (like the Epiphone Emperor). The D'Angelico style headstock of the Artist Award also had a fancy pearl and abalone inlaid "Artist Award" motif and the body any f-holes had multi-ply binding. All hardware was gold plated including the engraved harp tail-piece. The Artist Award has a single floating pickup - the actual pickup has varied over the years - some may have a humbucker. Guild's first artist endorsement deal resulted in the Johnny Smith Award model, which was made from 1956-1960.

In 2013 the Guild Custom Shop issued the American Patriarch Artist Award model to commemorate Guild's 60th Anniversary

Source: The History and Development of the American Guitar. Ken Achard. The Bold Strummer Ltd. 1996.

Specifications (25)

General

Dimensions
1130 × 432 × 86 mm
Finish colorsblonde finish
Finish effectssunburst finish
Made inUSA
Number of strings6 strings
Scale length25.5 inches scale-length

Electronics

Pickups brand and modelGuild pickup(s)
Pickups configuration1 single coil pickup

Body

Body back materialfigured maple body back
Body shape featurescarved top, single cutaway
Body sides materialmaple body sides
Body top materialspruce body top
Hollow bodyhollow body
Pickguard materialtortoiseshell pickguard
Soundhole2 f-holes

Hardware

Bridgeadjustable ebony bridge
Hardware colorgold hardware
Tailpieceharp tailpiece
TunersGrover Imperial tuners

Fretboard

Fingerboard materialebony fingerboard

Neck

Neck materialmaple neck
Neck width1.625 inches wide at nut
Number of frets20 fret
Peghead (headstock)bound headstock
Tuner layoutthree-each-side

Prices (3)

DatePriceConditionNameComments
2014$5000good
1986$1600new
2014$5.000excellentCesarione1997 built. Some neck binding cracks, poor fret job, not perfect setting at all. Purchased from Joe Vinikow's Archtop.com site.I'll never raccomand Joe to you...

Reviews (1)

GUILD ARTIST AWARD reviewed by Anonymous

5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
Five stars for original lutherie; only two stars for the soap gold pick up. Bad setting job from Joe Vinikow. I don't reccommend buying from the Joe Vinikow's Archtop.com site!

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