1958 Guild X-500 Special

This very lovely full-body Guild was the company’s top of the line electric from the 1950’s, surpassed only by the carved acoustic/electric Johnny Smith Artist Award. The X-500 is a very fancy high end model, roughly equivalent to Gibson’s L-5CES although built with laminated woods instead of the Gibson’s fully carved top. The X-500 was intended to compete directly with Gibson and Gretsch’s best offerings, with enough distinctive Guild touches to set it apart. By the time this one was made in 1958, the relatively young Hoboken based company was firmly established as one of America’s top guitar builders, and this was one of their showpieces. This X-500 has the typical hallmarks of a high-end archtop electric, as top pro players would have expected in this period. Its beautiful Ice Tea Sunburst finish is to die for. There is multiple binding on the body, neck and headstock, 5-ply bound on the top and back and 3-ply bound on the sides. The f-holes are triple-bound as well. The single-bound ebony fingerboard has the elaborate split block Epiphone style inlay with multiple inset lines just inside the outer edge.

The 17″ body is made of laminated curly maple with a spruce top, while the neck shows its Epiphone ancestry with a 5-piece lamination down the back. The headstock is multi-bound on the face with an inlaid pearl Guild logo and G-shield centerpiece. All hardware is gold plated including the Kolb tuners with pearloid buttons. Its 4 digit serial # is stamped into the back of its headstock. Its factory square label is perfectly intact & states it’s a “Special” made guitar from new. All part details and the beautifully engraved deluxe Guild harp tailpiece are gold plated. The fittings are typical for Guild in 1958, with its twin D’Armond single coil pickups under white beveled covers with gold plated surrounds & accents. The knobs are the final type of clear transparent barrel style, while the older black switch ring is still in use. The black laminated pickgard is original including a few initial stickers from a past owner. Its heel cap & a small area of back binding is replaced. The X-500 represents Guild’s finest fully electric arch top electric guitar and ranks with the best acoustic/electric guitars ever made. The sound is a bit brighter and less “electric” than some similar Gibson instruments from the same period, due mostly to the comparatively under wound D’Armond pickups. The guitar plays and handles extremely well, and aside from the fully carved Artist Award it remained Guild’s most prestigious electric offering into the 1970s and beyond. It’s fabulous in all respects & a very rare guitar today. It’s exceptionally clean & comes in its original Brown Tolex/Maroon Lined hard case.