I need a new 35mm lens for my camera so pictures of this beauty will be posted soon. I'm certainly not taking any photos with my cell phone, I want to show it to everyone in all its glory! To me its absolutely stunning (and I've owned an Artist Award 8) ). It arrived today UPS, finally. After agreeing on a price I hadn't realized that my paypal account was good only to $500 so it was an excrutiatingly long wait for that echeck to clear. I paid $1499.99 total and its worth every penny. I was kinda concerned when the UPS man carried out the box and in a haphazard fashion, laid it on its end. Dude, it says "FRAGILE! :shock: " Since it wasn't marked which was top and which was bottom I quickly picked it up. Upon opening it my first reaction on seeing the case was "uh oh, this case is a little rough, maybe its an indication of whats the guitar going to be like". Then I opened it. I was blown away! Though I'm no expert appraiser I think it could have been advertised as Near Mint. For a '96 its beautifully glossy with just a few light fingernail scratches. The gold is near 100%. The only real flaw in the finish is under the bridge where the string pressure on it has slightly indented the surface but of course its hidden. This guitar hasn't been played much, if it had been they were very careful. No buckle rash. The frets have very little wear. No dings on the headstock. It was strung with .10's but after polishing her up she now sports a set of D'Addario XL Flatwound Chromes. And after a coat of Armour All the case looks moocho better. Even after the string change the action is nice and low, I'm not sure how perfectly intonated it is but sounds fine to me, I might deal with that later. I've read that the X170 is kinda light but to me its heavier than I was expecting. Which I'm glad of, I like a beefy feeling guitar. My amps are in an unheated building and since I'm lazy and don't feel like hauling 'em in, its staying inside with me, so I've yet to plug her in, but acousticaly its louder than I expected too. Even if the electronics have issues I'll consider thats a price I might be willing to pay for such a beautiful Guild, I'll plug'er in tomorrow. Time for me to relearn some Kenny Burrell. YeeHaw!