Dave Gonzalez X-550 Paladin

[Guildfan59]

These are great news, the Paladins are back together. Dave is one of my favorite guitar players.
That X550, build by Chris Fleming is one of my dream guitars. I played one a few years back and it was one of the best archtops I ever played. But I think C. Fleming only made 4 or 5 of these.

The Paladins in 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hEeLLy1 ... re=related

 

[Walter Broes]

This is almost exactly a year ago

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Walter - I really like that picture!

I was fortunate enough to find an X550P for last year and I didn't let this one get away:

I would love to see the Paladins play shows here in the States - hopefully the East Coast. And maybe some new recordings, too.

 

[rwmol]

Hey Jeff. Thanks for the photo. I'm a little curious about that Tune-A-Matic. If it's original, why didn't they use rollers? Also, is it a Gibson bridge with Gibson pin spacing or Guild bridge with Guild pin spacing? Are there any out there to be found? Perhaps Hans can chime in.

Randy

 

[Walter Broes]

Randy, that's a plain old Gibson ABR-1 (copy) and it's probably on the X550 because that's what Dave's always had on his Guild(s).

Roller bridges don't "roll" on a guitar with this kind of Bigsby : if you get the double roller type Bigsby like you would put on a Les Paul or a 335, you get enough string pressure on the bridge saddles to make a roller saddle bridge work, but with a B6 type Bigsby it's just a rattle-ey, thin sounding nuisance.

 

[rwmol]

Randy, that's a plain old Gibson ABR-1 (copy) and it's probably on the X550 because that's what Dave's always had on his Guild(s).

Thanks Walt. I thought of that as one of the possibilities. I contacted ABR about two years ago with the idea I might be able to get one from them for my X-175. They make that bridge with the Guild pin spacing. They gave me the part number and told me I would have to get it from a guitar manufacturer that uses their bridges or a special order from AP. Ended up being such a hassle, I gave up. They also make a bridge with an adjustable slot to accommodate any pin spacing. No-one carries it.

Randy

 

[chazmo]

beautiful axe.

I get really confused when I see Dave's name and Guild.... The marketing product manager at Fender in Scottsdale who is the "face" of Guild these days at trade shows is a man of the same name (and spelling). Not the same dude, though!

 

[Walter Broes]

Randy, you probably mean "ABM", the german hardware folks. I see your frustration - much easier to just replace the base with a generic Gibson-spaced one, and no harm done to the guitar.

Chazmo, that's made me laugh before, how big are the odds huh?

 

[twocorgis]

We're just back from the guitar show in Philly. There was a beautiful late Westerly Tennessee orange Paladin that I would have liked to try, but the guy trying it out wasn't giving it up! I didn't see the price, but it was sweet. 8)

 

[rwmol]

Randy, you probably mean "ABM", the german hardware folks. I see your frustration - much easier to just replace the base with a generic Gibson-spaced one, and no harm done to the guitar.

Oops, you're right. That's exactly what I did. Had my luthier face it to the arch. Worked out great.

 

[Jeff Haddad]

The bridge on mine is original AFAIK and has metal saddles for the lower 3 strings and nylon saddles for the top three. I'm pretty sure this was original spec on this model.

 

[Guildfan59]

The bridge on mine is original AFAIK and has metal saddles for the lower 3 strings and nylon saddles for the top three. I'm pretty sure this was original spec on this model.

Yes, that was the original spec. That's how Dave wanted it.
Jeff, beautiful guitar I am jealous. Fleming did on outstanding job on these X-550s, I would love to own one of these. I played several of the production Guild Paladin guitars, they have nothing to do with the ones build by Fleming. But again, he only made 4 or 5 of these