NS X175B First Impressions

[GAD]

I just bought a used (mint) NS X175B and I have to say that so far I'm quite impressed.

Why? Put it this way: I've owned a few nice Gretsches (Setzer SSLVO, for example), and have played many Gretsch Electromatics. I've also owned two Guild X170s, a pile of Starfires, and so-on. I generally prefer higher-end instruments and generally dislike the lower-priced counterparts such as Gretsch Electromatics and Epiphone copies of Gibson guitars. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford nice guitars, and though the Electromatics (for example) are fine instruments, they don't have the feel of a nice high-end Gretsch. I've always just accepted that this was the price of lower-cost guitars.

Not so with this X175B! While it doesn't have the attention to detail in places like the fretboard inlays, when it comes to playability, sound, and most importantly feel, this guitar blows away any similarly priced guitar that I've ever played. The X175B makes an Electromatic feel like a 2x4. If I had to compare it to any of the guitars I've owned, I'd have to say it most closely feels like my Gretsch SSLVO. I payed $2000 for that guitar new. This X175B cost me almost on FOURTH that much.

I may need to write a complete review of it, I'm so impressed!

Here's a pic, because PICS!

 

[kakerlak]

Does the bridge really intonate at that angle? ;-)

 

[GAD]

Does the bridge really intonate at that angle? ;-)

No - no it does not. :culpability:

This is one of the rare times I've taken pics without first restringing, oiling the fretboard, and adjusting to my preferences. I was just so blown away by the liveliness of the guitar that I started taking pics.

 

[Guildadelphia]

Congrats. Pretty amazing guitars...I love mine. Of all the brands that have attempted to do more budget friendly import versions of their vintage models, IMO Guild has done the best job with the Newark St line. Guild/FMIC and now Guild/Cordoba have been able to the best job balancing cost, quality, and vintage accuracy. Two of the big things that separate the Newark Street Guilds is the use of pretty faithful renditions of the original vintage Guild pu's (except for a balance issue w/ the mini-hums) instead of cosmetically altered versions of generic Asian pu's along with neck shapes that have been described by many who know as being "dead-on". Looking forward to reading your full review once you get her set-up to your liking. The only thing I had done to mine was I had my luthier lower the nut a smidge.

 

[kakerlak]

Are you going to move the bridge pickup, GAD?

 

[Quantum Strummer]

Very nice! I took a test drive on a 175B before getting my Aristocrat. It was a toss-up sound- & playability-wise between the two, but since I already had a few large hollowbodies I went for the smaller & more portable Aristo.

Play that thing!

-Dave-

 

[GAD]

Are you going to move the bridge pickup, GAD?

Nah. I'm not after historical accuracy, and the pickups work fine for me the way they are. I tend to favor the middle position on a guitar like this, and it sounds great IMO.

I haven't spent a whole lot of time with it yet since the S100 has distracted me.

 

[GAD]

Updated pics. Check out the much darker fretboard and -ahem- better position of the bridge. :applause:

 

[Guildadelphia]

Great pictures. Fretboard looks great. A little oil really wakes things up. The NS Series guitars seem to really be consistant; everyone I have played has had really clean fret work with nicely rounded and leveled crowns.

 

[NYWolf]

NS X-175B was my first Guild, I bought it in 2013, I think. It had the best neck of any guitars I ever had! I wonder if they changed the specs since then... Mine had the narrow nut width 1 5/8, 9.5 radius, and U profile. I hope not!

 

[Walter Broes]

Nah. I'm not after historical accuracy, and the pickups work fine for me the way they are. I tend to favor the middle position on a guitar like this, and it sounds great IMO.

I moved the lead pickup on mine to where it's supposed to sit, and the middle switch position has the twang and kerrang it's supposed to have now.

 

[GAD]

That's not what I wanted to hear. :culpability:

How did you move the pickup, and did it leave a mark?

 

[Walter Broes]

Nope, all traces of previous placement luckily still sit under the cover. Just enlarging the little hole in the top for the lead pickup's poles is enough. And drilling new pickup mounting holes, of course. But spend some time with your guitar before you contemplate the mod.

Only reason I decided to go ahead an do it was that I'm used to my old X175's and the middle switch position being the perfect medium between bright twang and warm grunt. On the new guitar, I kept getting frustrated with that middle position being too mellow, now it's where I need it to be.

This is my modded black one. Old pickups, lead pickup placement "corrected", and as the black one was only available sans Bigsby, I put the Bigsby on it (USA one), tune-a-matic bridge, original NS Guild base contoured to the top better and screwed down, Daka-Ware "stove top" knobs installed. And I darkened all the rosewood bits a little....well....because I could!
If you look at the pickguard in this pic, you can see the gap moving the pickup left. I've since made a new pickguard for it in multi-layered black/white/black/white/black plastic.

 

[GAD]

Good looking guitar!

I'm not sure I understand how the pickup was moved. Could you clarify, please?

 

[Walter Broes]

You'd get it if you removed the lead pickup from your guitar and saw what's underneath it. It's a top mount pickup really, except for a small "slit" in the top the polepieces go through. There's not the usual pickup cavity there is on a Gibson, or a humbucker guitar - the pickup's baseplate sits squarely on the top of the guitar, and the polepieces protruding through the baseplate go into the guitar.

Enlarging that slight hole in the top enough to move the pickup to the "vintage" location is not as dramatic as it sounds, and you still end up with (a lot) less wood removed from the guitar's top than almost any other twin pickup guitar.

 

[Walter Broes]

Oh - and another tiny tweak I had done on that guitar : the neck pickup does sit in a cavity in the top, and the baseplate screws directly to the guitar's parallel bracing, kinda like on a Filtertron Gretsch if that rings a bell. To get a little more adjustability and balance (both pickups measure out the same, not a compensated bridge/neck set) I had my tech shave a tiny amount off the bracing in the cavity, and I put some mousepad material under the neck pickup, so I can move it up and down a tiny little bit. Better balance between the pickups.

 

[Quantum Strummer]

Before making this change I'd suggest experimenting with the guitar's vol & tone knobs with the selector switch in the middle position. You may be able to get more snap/twang by backing off the neck pickup's vol a little. Though it won't be quite the same tone Walter's mod gives him.

Another mod would involve adding a mild high-pass cap along with (maybe) a tone pot bypass to the bridge pickup. You could wire it up to a push/pull pot and keep it cosmetically invisible.

-Dave-

 

[kakerlak]

The good thing about what Walter's done is (at least short-term), it can be moved back with zero evidence it was ever moved, so long as you don't slide it so far down that the original dog-ear screw holes are exposed. All the "extra" holes stay hidden under the pickup cover. I assume, eventually the finish will yellow and you'd probably have some visible footprint of one location vs. the other, but that's likely years down the road for now.

 

[GAD]

Great info - thanks.

What is "the vintage position", exactly?

 

[Walter Broes]

Nothing mysterious - where the pickup sits on a vintage X175. I had the luxury of having a vintage pickguard on hand to determine where it should go. (the neck pickup on the NS 175 is in the exact same spot it is on a vintage guitar : with the pickup poles under the "24th fret" harmonic)