VERY STRANGE GUILD ARCHTOP on ebay
 

There is this very strange guitar on ebay, supposed to a 56 CE-100 Guild guitar, that looks to be some kind of a fake to me, but others saying they know of these guitars would't agree. What do you think in here ?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-GUILD-C....c100011.m1850

It appears to be a modified, refinished guitar with changed pickups. The seller says that it’s modified in the ad. It needs to be rebound, which is not an uncommon Guild issue. Prototypes by nature are often in rougher shape as they weren’t intended for sale. I don’t seem to see anything on the instrument that says it’s a prototype; did I miss that?

I haven't seen anything saying it is a prototype either : the neck looks very strange to me altogether...I always see Guild guitars with a wide and thin neck's heel, never with this sharp angle, even on acoustics with no cut-aways...And what a headstock : never seen that shape either ! A prototype ? Maybe a good idea : did you see what the sticker says ?

Many thanks for your answer.
Bernie

Doesn't match any pictures on google, neck pickup is in the wrong position (and would have been a single coil), bridge pickup would have been added, pick guard resembles a much later Guild shape, bridge would have been floating, not a fixed TOM, F-holes would not have been bound, headstock would have a different shape. I don't think there is any question it's been really modified, it might have started out as some sort of Guild maybe from the 1970's.

This is where I always ask myself, why would anyone take the time to fake this mess?

Wow, what a turd!

I honestly don't think it's a "fake", because a CE-100 isn't ever going to be a valuable guitar, I think it's an old guitar that wasn't worth much that someone had some fun with and sold it on, and now it's in the hands of someone whose knowledge of vintage guitars ends with reading the label and google. It's almost certainly a Guild of some sort, I just couldn't figure out which one. The headstock shape is really familiar, but I couldn't find one like it.

One good man among those that don't see this guitar as a genuine Guild thinks it may come from an old Harmony/Kay guitar because it is the closest to what he could find. Does it help awakening your memories of it ?
Agree with the remarks you made on pickups, pick-guard and so on...

I liked everything else I read too. Then thank you all. ;)
When it comes to why do all this Jean, well money could be enough of a reason : take a wife to a trip to Las Vegas for instance or whatever...$8150 is good money...It won't necessarily work though...Guitars that get very expensive when old like Gibsons, Martins and so on, are usually made with solid woods. The CE-100 is a rather cheap guitar, and even the top is laminate : I don't think these woods better in similar proportions as solid woods as they get older. So people should be wise enough not to get fooled : it may be right that the seller is not really aware of what's going on (?!)

Looks like a guitar way over-priced with the seller looking to cash in big time if an unexpecting person comes along. For that money you can get a real old Gibson archtop with better sound and quality woods.

I went to The Source, and sent an email to my friend Hans Moust.

His reply:
Hello Howard,

Thanks for your email. Yes, I'm doing well and I hope the same for you.

Re. I saw this eBay listing and I just can’t believe what I’m seeing……especially the headstock shape which appears to have never been rebound!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-GUILD-C....c100011.m1850

The link doesn't work for me, but I assume that you're referring to the refinished CE-100 that I've had a couple of questions about.
If it's the same one, I can tell you that it's an older body with a non-original neck and fingerboard and a bunch of non-original parts.

I assume the seller simply has no clue!

Anyway thanks for the heads up!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Regards,
Howard Emerson

Here is how a 1956 CE-100 would look like...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGDIaPl3IU
A pickup has been added, the original neck pickup was changed (the opening trough the top has been enlarged very likely) : a mic selector was added, an other control knob too (probably a general volume knob)...The pick-guard either is not original, nor is the bridge...(not to mention this very weird neck of course, as pointed out by Hans Moust.)

It's nice to have a Hans Moust's comment.
The link on Reverb seems more stable (guitar's on sale there too) https://www.reverb.com/item/12310139

As interest for this guitar and for this thread seems to have now vanished, it's better I think to leave things with Hans Moust's word as a conclusion...He is a Guild Guitars expert, and has written a very well-considered book about their history too, among other things...
Thanks Howard for having it made available to us all.

Buy it today on Reverb.com for only $6,500!!
;)

https://reverb.com/item/12310139-mod...e-100-1956-red

I came, I saw, I made a sarcastic comment....

As I mentioned earlier, Hans Moust had this to say about that guitar:

"I assume that you're referring to the refinished CE-100 that I've had a couple of questions about.
If it's the same one, I can tell you that it's an older body with a non-original neck and fingerboard and a bunch of non-original parts.

I assume the seller simply has no clue!

Anyway thanks for the heads up!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust

Don't use Ambien while listing items on Ebay; I've heard bad things.