1959 GUILD STRATFORD X-375/X-350B  Rare deluxe Model with rare 4 Control, Blonde, 3 pickups, Gold hardware, hard case, code VA103 

Guild Stratford X-375/X-350B Rare deluxe Model, Blonde finish, with gorgeous flamed maple top, back & sides. Original Parts, No Cracks. All circuit and pickups working well. Three superb sounding Franz pickups (Franz (or Fransch) made pickups for Guild and Premier and other East coast companies in the 1950s), Gold hardware, Rare Kolb engraved tuners, Push button controls, Gorgeous Flamed Maple back & sides, Lovely dark fingerboard with pearl block inlays, Guild harp tailpiece, Stunning guitar with period correct hard case.

Original introduced as the X-375 in 1953, the model would go on be know as the X-350B Stratford in the late '50s, with this 1960 model featuring a highly flamed Maple top and Maple back and sides. The body is fitted with a set of 3 Franz over wound single coil pickups which posses a unique sound, with arguably more clarity than a Gibson P90, and plenty of warmth and character that make them ideal for jazz playing styles. The electronics feature the same push button pickup selectors as the Epiphone Emperor Regent, a direct result of the workforce migration from Epiphone to Guild' Manhattan factory in the early '50s. The neck features a comfortable 'C' style profile and sports pearl block inlays and a bound fingerboard. As a top of the range model at the time, this 1959 X-375B features gold plated hardware including the 'G' logo tailpiece, pearloid Guild headstock inlay and gold tuners.

Body size at lower bout: 17″ Scale length: 24 3/4″ Nut width: 1 11/16″ Arched Spruce top, tiger flame maple body; solid flame maple neck; Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with block inlays; pearl peghead and fingerboard inlays; bound fingerboard and f-holes, bone nut.

The best archtop guitars were made in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Guild X 350/375 archtops were among the finest and had that great vintage tone that you just can’t find in new guitars today.

The 1950's saw a boom in electric guitar playing, with Fender & Gibson dominating the new solid body market and Gibson, Epiphone and a host of other brands looking to develop electric arch top guitars for the jazz players of the day. When Epiphone moved from New York to Philadelphia in 1953, many of the companies workers opted to stay behind in Manhattan and join the newly formed Guild guitar company, taking with them the knowledge and experience that would go on to inform some of the best arch top models of Guilds '50s & early '60s period. This 1959 Guild Stratford is a wonderful example of exactly this - a deluxe arch top model that takes influence from its contemporaries while displaying all the craftsmanship and tonal qualities unique to vintage Guild guitars.