1954 Guild X-355
This guitar has three pickups and a really cool switching system. The Guild craftsmen stole the idea from Epiphone, because most of them had worked there before they came to Guild. This is a very early Guild, check out the Guild inlay on the headstock, it is the oldest one out there. This Is a guitar I got in trade for four $100 guitars! The guy I traded with sold the guitars for a healthy profit, and I got this! WooHoo!
BTW: Those white soaps (pickups) on all my 50's Guilds sound awesome. They kind of get a bad rap but I know the secret: shhhh, don't tell anyone but Guild used to put capacitors right at the switches and sometimes in line, to enhance the jazz tone. Take out the caps and these thing have unreal bite, snarl, and some real Rockabilly Blues, and Retro Mojo. These guitars are versatile as well, I play Hendrix in the same set as the Fabulous T-Birds, and the Stray Cats, and it all sounds killer.
