SFIV1967
Venerated Member
NAMM 2013: New Custom Shop American Patriarch™ Series
In celebration of Guild’s 60th Anniversary, the iconic American company has officially opened the GUILD® CUSTOM SHOP in New Hartford, Connecticut.
The GUILD® CUSTOM SHOP in New Hartford not only introduced a whole new series of acoustic guitars (ORPHEUM) but also introduced a Custom Shop "Build to Order" electric line, the American Patriarch™ Series.
Following 3 new electric archtop guitars were shown at NAMM 2013:
American Patriarch™ Artist Award™ (part no 382 9100 837) - EDIT 2022: Guild webpage link no longer working...Replaced with Reverb.
American Patriarch™ X-500 Stuart™ (part no 382 8100 801)
American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ (part no 382 7100 837)
"Handcrafted in the United States to exacting vintage detail by Guild's most skilled guitar makers, the new American Patriarch™ series pays homage not only to the Guild legacy, but also to the birth of the modern electric guitar and the timeless music that ensued.
Guild American Patriarch™ models are hand-built to order at the Guild Custom Shop in New Hartford, Conn. Premium features include select woods and inlay materials; precise late-1950s body shapes, arch radii and neck profiles; meticulous recreations of original pickups and parts; and more."
FMIC/Guild purchased original guitars on ebay or from other sources and the factory in New Hartford exactly reverse engineered them.
The task was to recreate the originals as good as possible.
However Mike said it is important to understand, that they are not re-issues of the old models, but the 2013 version of them. They are very close copies but not 100% "copy exactly" copies and some small adjustments were made to accompany modern players.
Here is one interesting example how far Guild went to find original parts:
As many already know, and as you can read in Hans' book, the original harp tailpieces in the 50ties were made for Guild by a company called "Johann Müller & Sohn" in Erlangen/Germany.
Now "Müller u. Sohn KG" still does exist today, but the guitar parts company is now called ABM-Müller and the factory is in Berlin/Germany.
Mike Lewis explained that Guild contacted ABM-Müller to ask if they still have the original templates of the Guild harp tailpieces! Obviously it was a challenge for ABM-Müller after so many years to restart production, especially the engraved gold plated tailpiece was a challenge, but they did it! And you see the result today on the American Patriarch™ Series!
The pictures below are my pictures from NAMM. First the Custom Shop American Patriarch™ Series wall:
This video shows Mike Lewis introducing the American Patriarch series at minute 5:38:
It's a good first overview.
Now lets have a look into the 3 new models:
1) Artist Award™ (EDIT: Guild webpage link dead, now replaced by a Reverb link)
Mike said they used a 1957 Johnny Smith Award model from 1957 as the baseline of the new 2013 version. Guild bought an original.
In 1957 the model would have used a DeArmond® Model 1000 Rythm Chief, but Guild decided to use the DeArmond® Model 1100 Super Chief (or Adjustable Rhythm Chief), which is a more elegant unit with six adjustable poles. They are made by a FMIC supplier in Korea (BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea).
Kim Keller said regarding the pickups: "FMIC owns the DeArmond designs, and they did a dead-nuts repro of the Rhythm Chief (used in the Newark St. series A-150 Savoy™) and Super Chief pickups. They sound just like the old DeArmonds, and that's a very good thing."
The American Patriarch™ Artist Award™ features:
- Carved Solid Spruce Top
- Carved Solid Flame Maple Back
- Laminated Figured Maple Sides
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Body Depth: 3-1/8" (80 mm)
- Body Length: 21" (53.34 cm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 17" (43.2 cm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Two-Tone Mother-Of-Pearl/Abalone Block
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Ebony
- Neck Material: 5-Piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Neck Pickup: DeArmond® 1100 "Rhythm Chief" Floating Archtop
- Control Knobs: Clear Amber Volume (Mounted to Pickguard)
- Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B (the prototype used 7-ply, not sure what the real spec will be)
- Bridge: Compensated Ebony with Ebony Base
- Strings: D'Addario® ECG25 Chromes Flat Wound, Light, 12-52
7-ply pickguard:
Details of the Headstock and the nice 5-ply Truss Rod Cover:
Grover® Imperial™ Tuning Machines:
2) American Patriarch X-500 Stuart™
The 2013 version is based on a 1956 guitar which Guild aquired.
Mike sent originals Franz pickups to a FMIC contracted company in Korea (BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea). They got the task to exactly re-create the original provided pickups. No change in material, magnets, wires, windings and so on was allowed. So the pickups should be an almost identical recreation of the original Franz pickups. Those pickups are the same as used in the Newark St. series X-175 model.
The American Patriarch™ X-500 Stuart™ features:
- Arched Laminated Select Spruce Top
- Arched Laminated Figured Maple Back and Sides
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Body Depth: 3-1/8" (80 mm)
- Body Length: 21" (53.34 cm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 17" (43.2 cm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Two-Tone Mother-Of-Pearl/Abalone Block
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Neck Material: 5-Piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Bridge Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Neck Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Bridge: Compensated Rosewood with Rosewood Base
- Strings: D'Addario® EXL115 Nickel Wound, Medium/Blues-Jazz Rock, 11-49
Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B:
Nice 5-ply Truss Rod Cover and Deluxe Enclosed Gotoh SD510 tuning machines with Cream Buttons:
John Spicer playing the American Patriarch X-500 Stuart™ and Doyle Dykes playing the Newark Street X-175B Manhattan:
3) American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™
The 2013 version is based on a 1956 model, which Guild aquired.
I think I am a bit qualified to compare the 2013 model M-75 to my original 1956 Aristocrat. In terms of look, feel and weight I was almost fooled to hold my original in the hands! Sure also due to the used nitro lacquer. Amazing workmanship! Feels better in the hand than the Newark St. M-75 (which has a urethane finish), but the Newark St. M-75 is actually even lighter! That could be due to the density of the used wood. Mike said both use 5mm thick backs, but tapping the back wood the Custom Shop American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ was feeling more solid, exactly how my original 56 model is. I can't say anything about the sound of the pickups as I have not been able to plug her in at NAMM. The pickups are made by BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea.
The American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ features:
- Arched Laminated Selected Spruce Top (better top wood compared to the Newark St. M-75)
- Solid Mahogany Back
- Solid (?) bended Mahogany Sides according to Mike Lewis (either Mike was wrong with "solid bended sides" or the spec sheet has an error, which shows Laminated Mahogany Sides (which would be historically correct), that's something to clarify, not that it matters too much...)
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer (original '56 tobacco sunburst)
- Body Depth: 2" (50.8 mm)
- Body Length: 17.25" (438mm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 13.5" (343mm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Pearloid Blocks
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Neck Material: 3-Piece Mahogany/Maple/Mahogany
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Bridge Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Neck Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Bridge: Floating Compensated Rosewood
- Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B
- Strings: D'Addario® EXL115 Nickel Wound, Medium/Blues-Jazz Rock, 11-49
The older transparent knobs that are painted on the bottom in gold and the floating bridge:
The simple plain G inlayed, as used in 1956. Deluxe Enclosed Gotoh SD510 tuning machines with Cream Buttons:
Since it has no label (no f-holes), the headstock should show the serial number. The prototype had no S/N or prototype marking at all.
EDIT: One of the more known players of the American Patriarch M-75 Aristocrat:
Ralf
In celebration of Guild’s 60th Anniversary, the iconic American company has officially opened the GUILD® CUSTOM SHOP in New Hartford, Connecticut.
The GUILD® CUSTOM SHOP in New Hartford not only introduced a whole new series of acoustic guitars (ORPHEUM) but also introduced a Custom Shop "Build to Order" electric line, the American Patriarch™ Series.
Following 3 new electric archtop guitars were shown at NAMM 2013:
American Patriarch™ Artist Award™ (part no 382 9100 837) - EDIT 2022: Guild webpage link no longer working...Replaced with Reverb.
American Patriarch™ X-500 Stuart™ (part no 382 8100 801)
American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ (part no 382 7100 837)
"Handcrafted in the United States to exacting vintage detail by Guild's most skilled guitar makers, the new American Patriarch™ series pays homage not only to the Guild legacy, but also to the birth of the modern electric guitar and the timeless music that ensued.
Guild American Patriarch™ models are hand-built to order at the Guild Custom Shop in New Hartford, Conn. Premium features include select woods and inlay materials; precise late-1950s body shapes, arch radii and neck profiles; meticulous recreations of original pickups and parts; and more."
FMIC/Guild purchased original guitars on ebay or from other sources and the factory in New Hartford exactly reverse engineered them.
The task was to recreate the originals as good as possible.
However Mike said it is important to understand, that they are not re-issues of the old models, but the 2013 version of them. They are very close copies but not 100% "copy exactly" copies and some small adjustments were made to accompany modern players.
Here is one interesting example how far Guild went to find original parts:
As many already know, and as you can read in Hans' book, the original harp tailpieces in the 50ties were made for Guild by a company called "Johann Müller & Sohn" in Erlangen/Germany.
Now "Müller u. Sohn KG" still does exist today, but the guitar parts company is now called ABM-Müller and the factory is in Berlin/Germany.
Mike Lewis explained that Guild contacted ABM-Müller to ask if they still have the original templates of the Guild harp tailpieces! Obviously it was a challenge for ABM-Müller after so many years to restart production, especially the engraved gold plated tailpiece was a challenge, but they did it! And you see the result today on the American Patriarch™ Series!
The pictures below are my pictures from NAMM. First the Custom Shop American Patriarch™ Series wall:
This video shows Mike Lewis introducing the American Patriarch series at minute 5:38:
It's a good first overview.
Now lets have a look into the 3 new models:
1) Artist Award™ (EDIT: Guild webpage link dead, now replaced by a Reverb link)
Mike said they used a 1957 Johnny Smith Award model from 1957 as the baseline of the new 2013 version. Guild bought an original.
In 1957 the model would have used a DeArmond® Model 1000 Rythm Chief, but Guild decided to use the DeArmond® Model 1100 Super Chief (or Adjustable Rhythm Chief), which is a more elegant unit with six adjustable poles. They are made by a FMIC supplier in Korea (BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea).
Kim Keller said regarding the pickups: "FMIC owns the DeArmond designs, and they did a dead-nuts repro of the Rhythm Chief (used in the Newark St. series A-150 Savoy™) and Super Chief pickups. They sound just like the old DeArmonds, and that's a very good thing."
The American Patriarch™ Artist Award™ features:
- Carved Solid Spruce Top
- Carved Solid Flame Maple Back
- Laminated Figured Maple Sides
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Body Depth: 3-1/8" (80 mm)
- Body Length: 21" (53.34 cm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 17" (43.2 cm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Two-Tone Mother-Of-Pearl/Abalone Block
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Ebony
- Neck Material: 5-Piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Neck Pickup: DeArmond® 1100 "Rhythm Chief" Floating Archtop
- Control Knobs: Clear Amber Volume (Mounted to Pickguard)
- Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B (the prototype used 7-ply, not sure what the real spec will be)
- Bridge: Compensated Ebony with Ebony Base
- Strings: D'Addario® ECG25 Chromes Flat Wound, Light, 12-52
7-ply pickguard:
Details of the Headstock and the nice 5-ply Truss Rod Cover:
Grover® Imperial™ Tuning Machines:
2) American Patriarch X-500 Stuart™
The 2013 version is based on a 1956 guitar which Guild aquired.
Mike sent originals Franz pickups to a FMIC contracted company in Korea (BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea). They got the task to exactly re-create the original provided pickups. No change in material, magnets, wires, windings and so on was allowed. So the pickups should be an almost identical recreation of the original Franz pickups. Those pickups are the same as used in the Newark St. series X-175 model.
The American Patriarch™ X-500 Stuart™ features:
- Arched Laminated Select Spruce Top
- Arched Laminated Figured Maple Back and Sides
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Body Depth: 3-1/8" (80 mm)
- Body Length: 21" (53.34 cm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 17" (43.2 cm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Two-Tone Mother-Of-Pearl/Abalone Block
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Neck Material: 5-Piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Bridge Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Neck Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Bridge: Compensated Rosewood with Rosewood Base
- Strings: D'Addario® EXL115 Nickel Wound, Medium/Blues-Jazz Rock, 11-49
Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B:
Nice 5-ply Truss Rod Cover and Deluxe Enclosed Gotoh SD510 tuning machines with Cream Buttons:
John Spicer playing the American Patriarch X-500 Stuart™ and Doyle Dykes playing the Newark Street X-175B Manhattan:
3) American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™
The 2013 version is based on a 1956 model, which Guild aquired.
I think I am a bit qualified to compare the 2013 model M-75 to my original 1956 Aristocrat. In terms of look, feel and weight I was almost fooled to hold my original in the hands! Sure also due to the used nitro lacquer. Amazing workmanship! Feels better in the hand than the Newark St. M-75 (which has a urethane finish), but the Newark St. M-75 is actually even lighter! That could be due to the density of the used wood. Mike said both use 5mm thick backs, but tapping the back wood the Custom Shop American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ was feeling more solid, exactly how my original 56 model is. I can't say anything about the sound of the pickups as I have not been able to plug her in at NAMM. The pickups are made by BHK=Booheung Precision Machinery Co Ltd, Korea.
The American Patriarch™ M-75 Aristocrat™ features:
- Arched Laminated Selected Spruce Top (better top wood compared to the Newark St. M-75)
- Solid Mahogany Back
- Solid (?) bended Mahogany Sides according to Mike Lewis (either Mike was wrong with "solid bended sides" or the spec sheet has an error, which shows Laminated Mahogany Sides (which would be historically correct), that's something to clarify, not that it matters too much...)
- Nitrocellulose Lacquer (original '56 tobacco sunburst)
- Body Depth: 2" (50.8 mm)
- Body Length: 17.25" (438mm)
- Body Width Lower Bout: 13.5" (343mm)
- Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
- Fret Size: Vintage-Style
- Position Inlays: Vintage Pearloid Blocks
- Fingerboard Radius: 10" (254 mm)
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Neck Material: 3-Piece Mahogany/Maple/Mahogany
- Nut Width: 1.627" (41.32 mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
- Bridge Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Neck Pickup: Guild® "Frequency Tested" Single-Coil
- Bridge: Floating Compensated Rosewood
- Pickguard: 5-Ply B/W/B/W/B
- Strings: D'Addario® EXL115 Nickel Wound, Medium/Blues-Jazz Rock, 11-49
The older transparent knobs that are painted on the bottom in gold and the floating bridge:
The simple plain G inlayed, as used in 1956. Deluxe Enclosed Gotoh SD510 tuning machines with Cream Buttons:
Since it has no label (no f-holes), the headstock should show the serial number. The prototype had no S/N or prototype marking at all.
EDIT: One of the more known players of the American Patriarch M-75 Aristocrat:
Ralf
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