Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
Ralf, yes, two wooden saddles.
Got my NS X175!!
- Thread starter Walter Broes
- Start date
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Thanks! Maybe when you have some minutes later on you could post a picture showing the two saddles, really just curious how they look compared to each other.
Ralf
I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread...great information. I'm going to check out the X175 tomorrow, and I've been trying to do a little research in advance. Good to know about the gold-plated Guild/Bigsby. My local guitar shop (local in this case, meaning about 60 miles away) only has the sunburst in stock, and for whatever reason they don't seem to come with the Bigsby. This is my first foray into hollow-body archtop guitars, and I'd kind of narrowed my search down to the X175 or A150 Savoy. I guess they're really two different animals, but I was looking for something a little more mellow and finger-picking friendly than my Telecasters. My acoustic is a D-4 from the mid 90s, and I love it. It seemed like a no-brainer, looking to Guild for a nice archtop. Thanks for the info!
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Welcome to LTG! You should ask your shop if they can order a spare Guildsby from the X-175B model, I have a feeling in the US this might be easier than here in Europe.
Ralf
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Blackrider is a store in Tennessee, IIRC. They have good prices with their BINs.
himonwry ships to England.
himonwry ships to England.
matsickma
Senior Member
Couldn't help myself after Walters review! NS X175 scheduled for delivery tomorrow. (I hoped for Monday when the wife wasn't home! GAS 3x this month!) I am thinking I may want to soften the tone a bit when I install a Guildsby so I am thinking of modiying an old Guild bridge base to accomodate the spacing of one of the wide unwound g compensated bigsby bridges. Will decide after I mess with it a bit.
The NS Guilds are hard to resist.
I always wanted the rare and elusive SF5 with DeArmonds. I am now thinking that someday a used NS SF5 might be the guitar to be converted into one! Walters NS CE100D DeArmond idea also sounds like a must have model.
The NS Guilds are hard to resist.
I always wanted the rare and elusive SF5 with DeArmonds. I am now thinking that someday a used NS SF5 might be the guitar to be converted into one! Walters NS CE100D DeArmond idea also sounds like a must have model.
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jcwu
Senior Member
Boy oh boy, sounds like the NS guitars (minus the S100) are getting lots of love!
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The reissue Franz covers hide the mini-bucker mounting ring screws. Haven't checked the route size, but I suspect that an adapter of some sort will be needed. A couple of popsicle sticks would probably work.
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matsickma
Senior Member
Not sure why the NS S100's aren't getting good reviews. I really like mine! Love the bite of the mini HB pup on a solid body. I also have very good bridge pup performance which others have commented weren't to very strong.
M
M
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It isn't a HB-1, and that's what most people who play S-100s want. There is also the balance problem. I have the neck pickup way down and the bridge pickup almost touching the strings.
I don't think the Kim Thayil fans want that "bite". They want the "chomp" of a HB.
I don't think the Kim Thayil fans want that "bite". They want the "chomp" of a HB.
matsickma
Senior Member
I didn't think Soundgarden fans would bother with a NS S100. Plenty of vintage and reissue S100's out there. It is surprising Guild came out with a S100 with the mini HB's. That configuration was short lived in 1970 so was never a popular version of the S100 model. Sounds great through a Bogner Alchemist.
cc_mac
Member
It's only guesswork but Guild/Fender/Korean builder had the mini hum that was being used in a few NS guitars, the Franz used in several, and the DeArmond RC in 2. Recreating the HB-1 overseas for a single model might have seemed cost inefficient. Building the S100 and using pickups already available (or planned for production) most likely looked good from a production planning standpoint.
My S-100 experience/knowledge is limited but I don't recall seeing them with the pronounced Sapele striping that is used on the NS-100 and NS Starfire variants. Were the mini put in some of the early 1970 model year S-100s? I've never seen a pic of one but that means nothing.
It does appear the HB-1 has been recreated for some of the AP series coming out of NHC.
On a side note, not everyone worships at the alter of the HB-1.
Postscript - If the HB-1 is good enough for Jim Hall and Kim Thayall then well yeah - nuff said.
My S-100 experience/knowledge is limited but I don't recall seeing them with the pronounced Sapele striping that is used on the NS-100 and NS Starfire variants. Were the mini put in some of the early 1970 model year S-100s? I've never seen a pic of one but that means nothing.
It does appear the HB-1 has been recreated for some of the AP series coming out of NHC.
On a side note, not everyone worships at the alter of the HB-1.
Postscript - If the HB-1 is good enough for Jim Hall and Kim Thayall then well yeah - nuff said.
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SFIV1967
Venerated Member
I have not seen an American Patriarch with the new HB-1 but two limited GSR models so far (GSR X-150D Savoy and GSR X-500D Stuart). So I could imagine maybe Guild will change the S-100 to the HB-1 now. But that's obviously up to the FMIC marketing department.
I also have not seen pictures of a real guitar with them but Hans had confirmed they do exist. Also the catalog showed it as you can see here: http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...ctric-models&p=1572649&viewfull=1#post1572649
Ralf
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matsickma
Senior Member
When Guild released the 2nd generation S-100 Polar it came with the mini HB's and Hagstrum bridge / tremer or the integrated bridge/stop "ashtray" like assembly of old Polaras or Jetstars. Only a few were made of this type before the HB-1 were released and Guild moved to the Mueller bridge assembly. I know many rock players were not crazy about the HB-1's. For one thing they would tend to squeal at high volume as I don't believe they were wax potted. Also this was a time when super distortion type humbuckers were beginning to get popular so the "clean" HB-1 didn't fit the sound. Interestingly...the Fender HB-1's are potted pickups. Also none of them came with striped mahogany. The NS S-100 is close in shape but not identical to a vintage S-100. The vintage model has additional chamfered or flaired edges along the upper body bass bout. Not easy to tell unless you stand them next to each other.
It would be interesting to know if Hans has statistics on the number of early pre HB-1 S-100's in his data base.
M
It would be interesting to know if Hans has statistics on the number of early pre HB-1 S-100's in his data base.
M
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cc_mac
Member
Ralph, you are right that it is GSR and not AP for the HB-1 pickups. Really should have more coffee before I post.
Matt, you mentioned the mini hum squeal. My 69 Starfire had the microphonic squeal.I cannot say if the pickups were originally wax potted but after about a decade of owning the guitar I had the pups potted. That was in 1994 and I was younger and louder and it served me to do so then. I wonder how much wax potting changed the sound of the pickups for cleaner quieter playing.
I recently pulled the pickups from the late 60s Guyatone shown below so they can be wax potted. They sound amazing but are quite microphonic. The fellow that owns the guitar plays with a lot of volume and gain so it's a problem for him. I suspect the wax potting will change the low volume clean sound quite a bit. Not sure how noticeable it will be cranked and gainy. When they are done then I'll know for sure.
I'd be interested to see a pic of the early S-100 with Mini Hums and Hagstrom vibrato unit.
Matt, you mentioned the mini hum squeal. My 69 Starfire had the microphonic squeal.I cannot say if the pickups were originally wax potted but after about a decade of owning the guitar I had the pups potted. That was in 1994 and I was younger and louder and it served me to do so then. I wonder how much wax potting changed the sound of the pickups for cleaner quieter playing.
I recently pulled the pickups from the late 60s Guyatone shown below so they can be wax potted. They sound amazing but are quite microphonic. The fellow that owns the guitar plays with a lot of volume and gain so it's a problem for him. I suspect the wax potting will change the low volume clean sound quite a bit. Not sure how noticeable it will be cranked and gainy. When they are done then I'll know for sure.
I'd be interested to see a pic of the early S-100 with Mini Hums and Hagstrom vibrato unit.
matsickma
Senior Member
I wouldn't think wax potting would change the tone of the pickups. For one thing the amount of wax that is absorbed within the windings is small. I would think the wax is no where near as dominant as the other tone modifying components like magnet type and winding amount and wire type.
I have assumed that some day I would wax pot HB-1's but never got around to it.
M
I have assumed that some day I would wax pot HB-1's but never got around to it.
M
matsickma
Senior Member
A sunburst NS X175 arrived today and it sounds fantastic! I hate to say it but it blows away the NS M75 in pure tone delight! Feedback was well controlled at high volume also.
Highly recommended.
M
Highly recommended.
M
keith7940236
Member
I'm really impressed with these new guitars, Congratulations!
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
That's all I have as catalog picture (I had posted the link in my above post already):
Ralf
Zelja
Senior Member
Would you like to make a more detailed comparison between the NS X175 & M75? (I sure would like you to do that. :excitement: )
What about resistance to feedback between the two?