1968 Guild X-50

The X-50 was Guild’s answer to the working musician’s jazz guitar—a lightweight, fully hollow archtop that sounds fantastic acoustically and excels for jazz, blues, swing, and roots music. This example has beautifully aged over the last 50+ years, developing the kind of character and resonance that only comes with time. It’s a nice all Maple guitar w/a pretty Sunburst finish w/a 1 piece Mahogany neck w/a Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and adjustable bridge. It’s got Nickel hardware, including 3 on-a-plate Kluson tuners, and Guild one-piece tailpiece. Its Single coil DeArmond pickup in neck position sounds great. Its stair-step original black plastic pickgard is in fine condition. All original lacquer in good shape. Original truss rod cover, knobs, end pin etc. Cream bindings around top and back edge of body and heel-cap. guitar has original nut and frets. The neck is in great playing shape having a nice straight profile. Acoustically, it has a warm, balanced voice with excellent projection and that unmistakable vintage archtop character. The neck is comfortable and easy to play, making it equally at home in a jazz combo, blues jam, or living room session. A wonderful piece of Guild history that’s becoming increasingly difficult to find, especially in such attractive condition. Whether you’re a player, collector, or vintage guitar enthusiast, this 1968 X-50 is a fantastic example of a classic American archtop. She’s excellent overall & comes in its original “beat up” soft-shell case. 

On Another Note:

Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers credits his vintage Guild X-50 as a pivotal contributor to the gritty sound on their latest album, III.⁠ In a recent guitar player interview, he discussed searching for a certain sound while recording the song, Gloria. ⁠“It sounded bad every time we would try to record it, until we tried the Guild X-50. We tried it super clean at first. Then we turned the amp off and just started miking the room and miking the guitar up close. The Guild had a kind of natural distortion when I really laid into it.”⁠⠀