As a company that never shied
away from the cutting edge
customer demand, Guild Guitars
released many new models in the
1960s designed with the changing
popular music scene in mind. The
folk music craze in the early ’60s
spurred Guild to create some very
memorable flattop acoustic models,
such as the D40 and F212. As
folk gradually morphed into and
shaped other forms of pop and rock
in the mid to late ’60s, Guild met
the demand for high-quality semi-hollow
guitars with the Starfire line
and created bold solid bodies like
the Polara. But even in the wake of
their success in the flattop and semihollow
market, Guild continued to
expand and refine the models that
made them famous in the ’50s—archtop jazz guitars.
The 1964 Guild Capri CE-100D
featured here is a great example
of one of Guild’s earliest archtop
incarnations, and the first to feature
a Florentine-style cutaway. With a
16" wide, 2 7/8" deep arched maple
body, the 24 3/4" scale length Capri
was produced to directly compete
with the Gibson ES-175. In 1964,
Guild made numerous design changes.
And while this Capri features
the newly introduced humbuckers
and the now instantly recognizable
protruding dome-shaped headstock,
it sports what is possibly one of the
last round-shaped pickguards Guild
used before the switch to the “stairstep”
shape. This guitar has been well
loved, and shows signs of moderate
wear for its age, including a neck
sanded down to ease playability.
Thanks to Rick Tedesco at
Guitar Hangar for listing this guitar
on Gear Search. Whether you’re
looking for a vintage piece or the
latest guitar on the market, there’s
a great chance you’ll find it at Gear
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