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I turned 72 today. Bought myself a present. For years I've been looking for a Hoboken Guild AA but didn't find one in condition I was willing to settle for. But I found one last week, locally here in Los Angeles, from a retired guitar dealer. As I understand it, he got it some years ago from a contact in Chicago who had inherited some guitars from his Dad. The dealer likes Guilds (has a '57 JSA he won't sell anytime soon) and held onto this one but he's downsizing his collection after selling his share of a dealership here. So this '63 got listed and I made a deal after being able to see and play it locally.
It's easily the best condition I could ever hope to find for a 63 years old Guild AA. Apart from a (very) few light dings, and yellowing of the lacquer over the white binding, it's virtually immaculate and sounds amazing. Warm and articulate with lots of projection, and a little beefier neck than most AAs I've played.
It joins my '94 Westerly AA, '99 Corona G-B AA, and '06 Corona G-B JSA (signed).
Here are the other three.
Phil
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05-30-2026 11:33 PM
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Nice score!
May she inspire your playing for many years to come.
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A very happy birthday!
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Beautiful, congratulations! Play it for long and in the best of health!
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Is it 24 34" scale or 25 1/2"?
Looks beautiful.
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Hoboken no jokin’!
Congrats!
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Outstanding! Have fun playing all 3 of those glorious Hobokenites!
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Nice color and cool birdseye neck!
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Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your story. That's a nice collection of Guilds. My oldest brother owned a blond Guild archtop and guided me into Jazz. He wanted me to accompany him on his big Hammond B3, which I did. It was a big guitar with what I remember as heavy guage strings that hurt my fingers, but I played it anyway. Great guitar. We had a fun time. I'll never forget that Guild. It was my first of many archtop guitars. Lovely guitars. Enjoy it.
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As I measure it, it's 24-5/8" scale, but exactly where is the contact break point on the nut? It could be 24-3/4". Measuring from the fretboard-facing cliff of the nut to the middle of the crown on the 12th fret, it's 24-5/8".
Originally Posted by 58flame
It definitely has a different, if subtle, feel from the 25-1/2"+ scale lengths of my '94 AA, '99 G-B AA and '06 G-B JSA. A little more pliant feeling and more honed tone than the spikier, burstier transients of its longer-scaled and newer counterparts. But some of that could also be older, played-in wood of the '63.
-Phil
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I love Guild AA’s……a huge CONGRATS!
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Congratulations
A fine addition to a wonderful collection.
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The New Hartford AA's have the short scale as well. They are a different guitar than the Westerly AA's. Just sayin' Originally Posted by 213Cobra
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I don't doubt it, but NH AAs seem to be phantoms on the used market. I've never seen one. -Phil Originally Posted by Stringswinger
The New Hartford AA's have the short scale as well. They are a different guitar than the Westerly AA's. Just sayin'
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So nice. Happy Birthday!
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I have seen only one. I don't think very many were made. If I hear of one, I will let you know. Originally Posted by 213Cobra
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Ooo that neck!!!
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Very nice
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Oh boy, what a collection of natural Guilds!
I’ve only played one Guild and it was Patrick’s favorite guitar. I understood why immediately.
Those are beauties.
Enjoy and happy birthday sir!
Joe D
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Used to go to the clam house there 50 yrs ago (in CA now) miss those days, I think Guild was in RI by then
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