Guild x 170 lovers out here ?

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
Hello,

Hereby I write my first post on this forum.
I -a humble bedroom player- already have a few korean made Guilds and they are really great. I am interested in owning an hollow body American made Guild one day . However these guitars are becoming more and more expensive. Recently I saw a beautiful near mint Guild x 170 from 1987 at a reasonable price. Would this be a good choice for playing blues and rock ? The guitar is now strung with flatwounds but I suppose fitting roundwounds will be not be a problem after swapping the bridge ( plaing ). And I suppose this is just a matter of dropping it into place ? Also would adding a bigsby be possible without problems ? Are the pickups on this guitar 4 wire pu ?

I Hope I do not annoy this community with my questions.

Greetings,

Denis from Belgium.
 

GGJaguar

Reverential Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
21,309
Reaction score
31,396
Location
Skylands
Guild Total
49
Welcome to LTG! Along with the Starfire series, the X-170 is my favorite archtop model. It is very versatile and can do anything from jazz to rock to blues. It would be an excellent choice. I use roundwounds on mine. You can add a Bigsby or you can look for an X-170T which came with a factory installed Bigsby. I'm sure others will weigh in, too. Be sure to check out GAD's X-170 reviews:



And my brief reviews:



Good luck with your search!!
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
580
Reaction score
94
I have a 91 X-170, along with several other archtop guitars and 5 other Guild guitars. The X-170 is a great all around guitar. I have toyed with selling it but all I have to do is play it for a little while and I come to my senses. I use round wound .011 strings on the orig. wood bridge and have no problems. I like the Ernie Ball nickel wound custom gauge .011 with a wound 3rd. string. You have to watch out with the X-170 as it may not have enough break angle to add a Bigsby so in that case your best bet is a X-170T. Either way I don't think you will be disappointed.
Thanks john
Oh ya Welcome and enjoy.
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
Thank you. Bigsby is not really a dealbreaker but is there a difference in neckangle between the x 170 and 170 t ?
 

shihan

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
1,540
Reaction score
796
Location
Ventura CA
Welcome! I had a late ‘80’s X-170 for a while; it was a fine guitar, I liked it a lot. Very versatile; easy playing and great sounding.
Good luck on your quest!
 

drlucky

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
109
Reaction score
65
Location
Fresno CA
Guild Total
3
Welcome to the forum! I have a '97 X-170. It's definitely my favorite hollowbody: not as thick or wide as my X-175, and the bridge block really helps with feedback. They are also a great value at the moment...you'd pay at least three times what a X-170 costs for a comparable Gibson.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,583
Reaction score
17,802
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I love X170s. The two that I reviewed (thanks @GGJaguar!) are still with me, and likely will be forever. There's just something about the size, and when coupled with HB1s they're just heavenly guitars in the tone department. When coupled with orange and a Guildsby, well let's just say that I ended up selling my expensive Gretsches.
 

Alan_M

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
778
Reaction score
15
Location
San Diego
I have one and it's a keeper. Has the factory Guildsby, to which I added a Vibramate, then felt under the floating bridge. Works great. It can rock, it can jazz, it can blues. Beautiful to look at as well. Overall a real value for what they go for.
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
Thanks for all your input so far. Especially also for the review from GAD on these guitars. The importance of the real Guild Humbuckers was made very clear by the sound examples. Certainly when comparing to the X170 with fender pu. The latter sounded " too Jazzy " to me ( a bit dull- sorry to al Jazz players out here) whereas the guild pu really had a snappy, chimey tone . This is the tone I like.
One question remains though : since I normally play with roundwounds and plain g strings ( bending) , I have to replace the wooden bridge(saddle). Will it be difficult to find a (gold color) tom bridge that fits the radius of the neck ? Is it possible to buy a bridge with a close match radius and then file the individual saddles down ( probably will contact a luthier in my local guitar shop to do this if it is a good idea) ?
 
Last edited:

GGJaguar

Reverential Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
21,309
Reaction score
31,396
Location
Skylands
Guild Total
49
The importance of the real Guild Humbuckers was made very clear by the sound examples. Certainly when comparing to the X170 with fender pu. The latter sounded " too Jazzy " to me ( a bit dull- sorry to al Jazz players out here) whereas the guild pu really had a snappy, chimy tone . This is the tone I like.

Don't discount the X-170s made from 1995-99 that were fitted Seymour Duncan SD-1 pickups. These come close to the original Guild HB-1 sound (snappy, chimey tone). I have them in some of my Starfires and they are a very good alternative.
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
Don't discount the X-170s made from 1995-99 that were fitted Seymour Duncan SD-1 pickups. These come close to the original Guild HB-1 sound (snappy, chimey tone). I have them in some of my Starfires and they are a very good alternative.
Yes I believe you ;-)) but the guitar I have my eye on has the guild pu. Only the bridge "issue" is bothering me for the moment. But thank you for your input !
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
580
Reaction score
94
I don't think you will have a problem with the bridge. I played regular round wound strings on X-170 both .012 and .011 with the stock wood bridge and never had a problem. It's even easier to bend with the strings I mentioned. Once your find your strings and if you have an intonation problem a good tech. can readjust/recarve your bridge to the strings you like.
thanks John.
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
Oh that is good to know : so you have no problems bending the g string (no breaking string problem ?
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
In a worst case scenario : if I don't like the wound g and I don't find a tom bridge that fits the guitar would it be possible to ask a luthier to make me a new wooden bridge(saddle) for a plain g ? (Sorry if this is a stupid question).

@GAD : in your excellent review about the x 170 from 1994 you said that you were using roundwound Ernie Ball slinky's . So I assume there was a plain g . Still there was a wooden bridge on the guitar. Did you have intonation problems ( if you can remember) ?

Denis from Belgium
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,583
Reaction score
17,802
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I tend to favor a slightly sharp G which may have been me figuring out a way to compensate for the bridge.

Also, I don’t know if it’s from listening to too many Van Halen albums or if it’s from playing in garage bands in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but intonation rarely bothers me.
 

hansmoust

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2005
Messages
9,201
Reaction score
3,505
Location
Netherlands
One question remains though : since I normally play with roundwounds and plain g strings ( bending) , I have to replace the wooden bridge(saddle). Will it be difficult to find a (gold color) tom bridge that fits the radius of the neck ? Is it possible to buy a bridge with a close match radius and then file the individual saddles down ( probably will contact a luthier in my local guitar shop to do this if it is a good idea) ?

Hello guitarlover,

There is one after-market tune-o-matic style bridge that will fit the wooden bridge base of the X-170 and that's the Muller 2400 bridge that was also used on the Nightbirds. If you have problems finding one, just get back with me through my website.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

guitarlover

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
414
Reaction score
214
@ Hans : I did my search on the internetband I think that the bridge you are suggesting is a roller bridge. However this bridge has a 12 " radius and the radius of the x 170 might be "flatter" (even up to 16, the seller did not know the exact radius. ) Unlike regular tom bridges you cannot adapt the radius by cutting the saddles so I think this is a problem. By the way does anybody know the exact radius of a 1987 X 170 ( if there is only one for that year of course) ?

Ps : I know you are a real expert in Guild and I thank you for your suggestion anyway. So please don't see this post as a sign of "disrespect" towards you.
 
Top