Product Description
Guild Artist Award Model Arch-Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar
serial #000158 made in 1969, natural blonde lacquer finish, highly flamed maple back and sides, spruce top; laminated maple neck with ebony fingerboard, black hard shell case. The nut measure 1.72″ and the width of the fretboard at the 12th fret is 2.09″
Weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz.
Very comfortable, medium C-shaped neck profile.
This guitar is in relatively excellent condition for it’s age.
There are a small number of superficial scratches on the body & headstock.
There is a small finish discoloration in the middle of the back.
Pickguard is slightly warped, but not to the degree that it impedes play at all.
The Guild Artist Award model was the top of the company’s line in the 1960s and for founder Al Dronge represented the pinnacle of his firm’s achievement. It is a carved cutaway acoustic arch-top guitar with a floating DeArmond pickup and very fancy trim, intended to compete directly with Gibson and even John D’Angelico’s best offerings.
The 17″ body is made of curly maple with a carved spruce top, 5-ply bound on the top and back and 3-ply bound on the sides. The f-holes are bound as well. The neck shows its Epiphone ancestry with a 5-piece lamination down the back and bound ebony fretboard inlaid with “Emperor-style” split pearl and abalone blocks. The large elaborate center-peak headstock is multi-bound on the face with an inlaid abalone-bordered pearl centerpiece showing the engraved logo “Artist Award Model’ and an etched trophy cup. All hardware except the pickup ring is gold-plated, including the Grover imperial tuners and the engraved Guild harp tailpiece.
Comes w/ original Guild-branded hardshell case, warranty card, & polish cloth.
