Guild M-75 Aristocrat, Sunburst (1960)

Guild's answer to the Les Paul, the M-75 Aristocrat combines the slender profile of the iconic Kalamazoo solidbody with archtop-esque construction that made it one of the more unique electric guitar offerings of the mid 20th Century.

This 1960 M-75 Aristocrat came to us as part of a collection of instruments from the estate of a local musician, and was one of the more interesting instruments of the bunch that we acquired. While the bones have remained intact, the guitar lived through lots of parts and electronics modifications. Surprisingly, though, it's come out the other end of those various changes a supremely toneful and inspiring guitar.

Nearly all of the parts on this guitar with the exception of the knobs and pickguard have been replaced. It's loaded with a set of Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Franz pickups along with a modern wiring harness, as well as a new Bigsby B6 tailpiece and floating bridge, new Kluson tuners, and a refret with larger medium jumbo wire. The original reddish Sunburst finish has faded out a bit and become more muted in appearance, albeit with nice lacquer checking throughout. With the exception of a minor stress fracture at the toggle switch, the top, back, and sides remain intact and solid. There was once a different style Bigsby tailpiece installed (likely a B7), and the old mounting holes had been filled prior to our acquiring the guitar. Despite the low break angle with the B6, the setup is quite stable and the Bigsby responds very well.

The neck profile is akin to many of the Gibsons produced in the prior year, featuring a very nice medium C/V profile with moderate taper and slightly wider nut width that sits in between 1 11/16" and 1 3/4". If you're into 50s neck profiles, this is the neck for you! It's very nicely worn in as well, and combined with the refret makes for one great player.

Super lightweight in its construction, the guitar is highly resonant and very expressive both acoustically and plugged in. The pickups are frankly some of the best of this style we've ever encountered, with a beefier output that still has a more distinctive single coil tone that Franz pickups are known for. This guitar does early country, rockabilly, and folk rock incredibly well.

This Aristocrat has quickly risen the ranks as one of the best player-grade vintage electrics we've got in the shop.

Priced with original Geib hardshell case.