This is truly a rare bird … a lefthanded 1974 Guild Artist Award archtop. Guild made just a few of these beautiful 17-inch archtops per year using their best veteran builders. The guitar has a carved spruce top, solid flamed maple back and sides, 7-ply binding, maple neck and an ebony fretboard. the DeArmond floating pickup is attached to the neck and there is a single volume control mounted to the pickguard. The tone is rich and full, wonderful sounding guitar, both plugged in and unplugged. There is beautiful inlay work on the headstock and fretboard and the tailpiece is work of art unto itself. The guitar is in great condition for its age, with only a few lacquer chips, some minor cracking and re-gluing along the neck binding, a rough finish spot on the side of the neck near the neck joint and one very small spot of chipped lacquer on the back — perhaps an encounter with a buckle but in a very small area. I don’t know when another lefty might pop up, so grab this one while you can. With hardshell case; the case is sound but there is some rust on the latches, likely from being in extended storage.
Condition: Excellent, see above; Body: Maple; Color: Natural blonde; Pickup: DeArmond; Scale: 25 3/8; Nut: 1 11/16; Price: $4595