Overview
Brand name:
Product:
- acoustic guitars
Dates of manufacture:
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 colors | blonde finish |
Finish effects | sunburst finish |
Made in | USA |
Number of strings | 6 strings |
Scale length | 25.5 inches scale-length |
Electronics
Pickups brand and model | Guild pickup(s) |
Pickups configuration | 1 single coil pickup |
Body
Body back material | figured maple body back |
Body shape features | carved top, single cutaway |
Body sides material | maple body sides |
Body top material | spruce body top |
Hollow body | hollow body |
Pickguard material | tortoiseshell pickguard |
Soundhole | 2 f-holes |
Hardware
Bridge | adjustable ebony bridge |
Hardware color | gold hardware |
Tailpiece | harp tailpiece |
Tuners | Grover Imperial tuners |
Fretboard
Fingerboard material | ebony fingerboard |
Neck
Neck material | maple neck |
Neck width | 1.625 inches wide at nut |
Number of frets | 20 fret |
Peghead (headstock) | bound headstock |
Tuner layout | three-each-side |
Prices (3)
Date | Price | Condition | Name | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | $5000 | good | ||
1986 | $1600 | new | ||
2014 | $5.000 | excellent | Cesarione | 1997 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... |