Guild A-350 Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1966)
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Guild A-350 Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1966), made in Hoboken, NJ, serial # 46622, sunburst lacquer finish, solid spruce top, maple back and sides, laminated mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This 1967 Guild is labeled as an acoustic A-350 but appears to be a custom-ordered guitar with a stock Artist Award DeArmond pickup fitted by the neck. The A-350 was a high/midline carved top acoustic guitar, something of an endangered species in the mid-60s when this one was built. Most players of the period added electrification to guitars of this type, which continued to be mostly used in serious jazz or recording studio applications.
This guitar also has an interesting anomaly we have occasionally seen on 1960s Guilds before. The neck was originally stamped with a serial number with the prefix for intended for an A-500, the next model up the line. This was sprayed over and the new number stamped under it in the older 5-digit generic series used for instruments produced in such small runs they did not have a dedicated number series. The A-350 was one of those, and this number confirms a 1967 assembly date.
This is a fairly deluxe guitar, although not an overly fancy one. The full-depth 17" body is made of curly maple with a carved spruce top, 5-ply bound on the top and back and finished in a fairly dark red/orange sunburst. The f-holes are bound as well. The 24 3/4" scale mahogany neck has a maple center lamination strip and a single bound ebony fretboard inlaid with pearl blocks. All hardware is gold-plated, including the Grover Rotomatic tuners and the engraved Guild harp tailpiece. The DeArmond Rhythm chief model 1000 is a special white-topped version made for the Artist Award model, with engraving to that effect on the plastic insert piece.
The controls and jack are mounted on the floating back-painted acrylic pickguard, leaving the guitar's acoustic character unimpeded. It is built with a fairly heavy top carved and likely served batter as an amplified instrument as was clearly intended from the beginning. That said it has a lovely electric sound and a decent output unplugged as well, less toppy than many later acoustic archtops. This is a cool and classy Guild rarity and an excellent gigging guitar where an acoustic/electric character is desired.
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear but nothing too serious. The all-original finish shows some dings, dents and a few pick scratches to the top but no really heavy wear. The area of the top just below the DeArmond control box has some impact scars around the lower F-hole. The finish shows minimal fade with a deep strong color to the sunburst.
The laminate seam on the back of the neck has been reglued in the area just below the nut; this is fairly common on Guilds from this period. There are no other cracks or notable repairs. Everything on the guitar appears original; the frets show some light recrowning and the instrument plays very nicely. This is a very nice carved top guitar, not as fancy as the Artist Award but sonically and functionally essentially the same instrument. It is a lovely instrument to play with a classic DeArmond-powered sound, complete in the original HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
This 1967 Guild is labeled as an acoustic A-350 but appears to be a custom-ordered guitar with a stock Artist Award DeArmond pickup fitted by the neck. The A-350 was a high/midline carved top acoustic guitar, something of an endangered species in the mid-60s when this one was built. Most players of the period added electrification to guitars of this type, which continued to be mostly used in serious jazz or recording studio applications.
This guitar also has an interesting anomaly we have occasionally seen on 1960s Guilds before. The neck was originally stamped with a serial number with the prefix for intended for an A-500, the next model up the line. This was sprayed over and the new number stamped under it in the older 5-digit generic series used for instruments produced in such small runs they did not have a dedicated number series. The A-350 was one of those, and this number confirms a 1967 assembly date.
This is a fairly deluxe guitar, although not an overly fancy one. The full-depth 17" body is made of curly maple with a carved spruce top, 5-ply bound on the top and back and finished in a fairly dark red/orange sunburst. The f-holes are bound as well. The 24 3/4" scale mahogany neck has a maple center lamination strip and a single bound ebony fretboard inlaid with pearl blocks. All hardware is gold-plated, including the Grover Rotomatic tuners and the engraved Guild harp tailpiece. The DeArmond Rhythm chief model 1000 is a special white-topped version made for the Artist Award model, with engraving to that effect on the plastic insert piece.
The controls and jack are mounted on the floating back-painted acrylic pickguard, leaving the guitar's acoustic character unimpeded. It is built with a fairly heavy top carved and likely served batter as an amplified instrument as was clearly intended from the beginning. That said it has a lovely electric sound and a decent output unplugged as well, less toppy than many later acoustic archtops. This is a cool and classy Guild rarity and an excellent gigging guitar where an acoustic/electric character is desired.
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear but nothing too serious. The all-original finish shows some dings, dents and a few pick scratches to the top but no really heavy wear. The area of the top just below the DeArmond control box has some impact scars around the lower F-hole. The finish shows minimal fade with a deep strong color to the sunburst.
The laminate seam on the back of the neck has been reglued in the area just below the nut; this is fairly common on Guilds from this period. There are no other cracks or notable repairs. Everything on the guitar appears original; the frets show some light recrowning and the instrument plays very nicely. This is a very nice carved top guitar, not as fancy as the Artist Award but sonically and functionally essentially the same instrument. It is a lovely instrument to play with a classic DeArmond-powered sound, complete in the original HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.