- Joined
- Apr 25, 2024
- Messages
- 48
- Reaction score
- 70
- Guild Total
- 2
The guitar arrived yesterday and is really a beauty. Lovely flame and that very sweet orange finish. It does have pitting on the gold hardware and some scratches here and there. But overall as the listing said, it's very clean. It even came with the owners booklet which has a copyright of 2002. So I'm going to say it's a 2002. Unless of course the owners booklet didn't actually come with the guitar originally? it plays very well, the Guildsby returns to tune and this is the first archtop I've had where the intonation is spot on across all the strings. So that was a very nice surprise. I was also prepared to not like the pups after reading about the Fender HB1's. And although I don't have Guild HB1's or SD's to compare these with. They actually sound very good through my PRRI w/ a Celestion Gold. All in all I have to say it's a winner
But, and it's a big but that I'll have to give consideration to. When I decided to get a Bigsby-equipped guitar my first thought went to another Gretsch. As I had a short-scale Tennessee Rose (ala George Harrison @ Shea) that was very nice. But then I thought let's go Guild this time and it was a toss-up between a Westerly-era Starfire III and the X-170T.
As I write this I should have gone with the Starfire III. And this is now the decision I have to make. I'm still recovering from quadruple bypass surgery and along with a recent diagnosis of advancing arthritis in my hands playing the X-170T is not very comfortable. I realize the lower bout on the Starfire is not much narrower but I think the thinner depth will help. I'm not giving up yet but at some point I'll probably need to look at trading the X-170T for a Starfire III. Hopefully it won't come to that as I really like this guitar. But if I can't play it then it won't be very useful sitting in its case.
I'll post some pics as soon as I can and thank you to all the folks here for making me feel very welcome
Jon aka louisjames
But, and it's a big but that I'll have to give consideration to. When I decided to get a Bigsby-equipped guitar my first thought went to another Gretsch. As I had a short-scale Tennessee Rose (ala George Harrison @ Shea) that was very nice. But then I thought let's go Guild this time and it was a toss-up between a Westerly-era Starfire III and the X-170T.
As I write this I should have gone with the Starfire III. And this is now the decision I have to make. I'm still recovering from quadruple bypass surgery and along with a recent diagnosis of advancing arthritis in my hands playing the X-170T is not very comfortable. I realize the lower bout on the Starfire is not much narrower but I think the thinner depth will help. I'm not giving up yet but at some point I'll probably need to look at trading the X-170T for a Starfire III. Hopefully it won't come to that as I really like this guitar. But if I can't play it then it won't be very useful sitting in its case.
I'll post some pics as soon as I can and thank you to all the folks here for making me feel very welcome
Jon aka louisjames
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