Switching to a Guild Archtop

[Brad]

Hello to All,
Great forum and topics for discussion. I have never joined a community like this before but this seems like a good fit for me so here goes.
I have been impressed by the comments and opinions stated here about Guild guitars, especially the x-500 and x-700. I am a jazz player who has been playing for many years and is about to turn 50 (ouch!). I struggle with tendentious in my left hand and the begging’s of arthritis in my index finger knuckle.
I have been a Gibson player ever since I can remember, 1945 L7 with a Dearmond pickup and a 1951 ES350. The problem is the long Gibson scale length and my 50 year old hands.
I have played a few jazz guitars with a 24.5" scale and they felt great. I don't like the es175's maple top and want a carved spruce top. Thought maybe the x-700 would be a good fit for me but can't find can't find one to take around the block. I am after a sound more like my L7 but with a little more sustain.
I have always been a big George Barnes fan and love the sound of his Guild. Would an x-700 work for me?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[twocorgis]

Hello to All,
Great forum and topics for discussion. I have never joined a community like this before but this seems like a good fit for me so here goes.
I have been impressed by the comments and opinions stated here about Guild guitars, especially the x-500 and x-700. I am a jazz player who has been playing for many years and is about to turn 50 (ouch!). I struggle with tendentious in my left hand and the begging’s of arthritis in my index finger knuckle.
I have been a Gibson player ever since I can remember, 1945 L7 with a Dearmond pickup and a 1951 ES350. The problem is the long Gibson scale length and my 50 year old hands.
I have played a few jazz guitars with a 24.5" scale and they felt great. I don't like the es175's maple top and want a carved spruce top. Thought maybe the x-700 would be a good fit for me but can't find can't find one to take around the block. I am after a sound more like my L7 but with a little more sustain.
I have always been a big George Barnes fan and love the sound of his Guild. Would an x-700 work for me?

Thanks,
Brad

Brad,

First of all welcome to this great place.

An X500 or X700 would be an outstanding choice, as possibly would an old Hoboken X175 like mine. I'm always on the lookout for nice ones, and have been outrun a couple of times on ones that were offered at really good prices. Most of the time they bring a pretty penny; $2K+ easily. When you see them for much less than that, they're never there for long...

Of course you're used to Gibsons, so those prices shouldn't seem too bad. :wink:

 

[204084]

Welcome Brad. I Don't own an electric so I can't help you on that.

 

[rwmol]

Check email.

 

[sfIII]

Hello to All,
Great forum and topics for discussion. I have never joined a community like this before but this seems like a good fit for me so here goes.
I have been impressed by the comments and opinions stated here about Guild guitars, especially the x-500 and x-700. I am a jazz player who has been playing for many years and is about to turn 50 (ouch!). I struggle with tendentious in my left hand and the begging’s of arthritis in my index finger knuckle.
I have been a Gibson player ever since I can remember, 1945 L7 with a Dearmond pickup and a 1951 ES350. The problem is the long Gibson scale length and my 50 year old hands.
I have played a few jazz guitars with a 24.5" scale and they felt great. I don't like the es175's maple top and want a carved spruce top. Thought maybe the x-700 would be a good fit for me but can't find can't find one to take around the block. I am after a sound more like my L7 but with a little more sustain.
I have always been a big George Barnes fan and love the sound of his Guild. Would an x-700 work for me?

Thanks,
Brad

I'd recommend the Artist Awards... The newer Benedetto designed AA's from the Nashville Custom Shop were very fine guitars. And there was a Gibson connection - Tim Shaw ex-Gibson designer ran the Guild Custom Shop.

 

[Brad]

Thanks guys, I sure appreciate all the responses.
I have seen a few Artist Award models for sale but don’t they have the longer 25.5” scale length? I’m still trying to learn about Guild archtops so correct me if I’m wrong.
Sandy, Your x175 is a beauty, does that have a maple or spruce top?

 

[rwmol]

Brad.

My 1980 X175 Manhattan is 24.5 so I would think Sandy's is also.

BTW. Look just below the headstock in the logo above. It should say "1 new Message". Click on it. Thanks.

Randy

 

[krysh]

welcome to LTG, Brad.

 

[kakerlak]

Thanks guys, I sure appreciate all the responses.
I have seen a few Artist Award models for sale but don’t they have the longer 25.5” scale length? I’m still trying to learn about Guild archtops so correct me if I’m wrong.
Sandy, Your x175 is a beauty, does that have a maple or spruce top?

I believe that's correct; the Artist Awards have the longer "Fender" scale. I'm not 100% sure about the X-700s. I have a '94 X-700, which is the first year of the model and it's the "Gibson" 24.75" scale.

Guild underwent a number of changes shortly thereafter, though:

Fender bought Guild somewhere around '97-98 or so.
At some point, the pickup manufacture came under Fender's control and these are supposedly different sounding than the older Guild-made pickups. I think the general consensus is that the newer ones are worse in some way.
The Westerly, RI plant closed and production moved a couple times sometime in the last decade or so.
At some point, maybe around '99-ish, the X-700 was redesigned as the "Benedetto X-700." I think there were some changes in bracing and I'm not sure what else, but scale could well be different. These can be spotted by a pearl "Benedetto" inlay on the fretboard.

I'll admit that I'm wholly ignorant of these newer Guilds; my '94 is the newest Guild I've ever actually played. There are others here w/ a wealth of knowledge about the newer Guilds, though. Honestly, I'm not sure how long the X-700 model ran. I do know there's a good handful of X-700 owners here, so hopefully some should chime in soon.

As far as mine goes, I can tell you that fit and finish is outstanding. It is the slickest guitar I own, period. Acoustic tone is pretty good; it's fairly loud unplugged and very responsive. The two Guild humbuckers give a very good range of good-sounding tones and the guitar is pretty versatile plugged in. With the deep body and carved top, it's somewhat prone to feedback, but if you're playing jazz, that may not be a huge concern depending on your typical stage volume/set up.

I don't think Guild made a ton of these guitars, but you do see them pop up for sale from time to time. They're rare enough that, at any given point, you may come up empty handed if you search eBay/Gbase/CL, but common enough that, if you keep searching regularly, one should pop up in a few months. They're new enough and expensive enough guitars that most of the examples that come up are pretty clean.

This community is also great at keeping watch for models one of its members is seeking and tends to be pretty enabling/encouraging in that department, lol!

 

[Brad Little]

Thanks guys, I sure appreciate all the responses.
I have seen a few Artist Award models for sale but don’t they have the longer 25.5” scale length?

Depends on the year. They were 24.75 from first year until 1969 when they went to the longer scale.
Brad

 

[adorshki]

I believe that's correct; the Artist Awards have the longer "Fender" scale. I'm not 100% sure about the X-700s. I have a '94 X-700, which is the first year of the model and it's the "Gibson" 24.75" scale.
Guild underwent a number of changes shortly thereafter, though:
Fender bought Guild somewhere around '97-98 or so.

Actually it was '95. For reference, in case you're seeing stuff listed with only the model year, Westerly shipped its last guitars in Dec. '01, then production was done in Fender's Corona CA facility. Archtop/electric production ceased after Corona ('04).
Lots of good Corona quality reviews here. FWIW, the X-170 Manhattan was listed as 24.75 scale in the '96 Guild catalog, and I think the X150 Savoy (single p/u, wood bridge) MIGHT share that spec. Our member Yettoblaster has a Corona Savoy, and I think Aloha Joe does too. You might want to PM them for feedback if they don't chime in here.
From a completely different direction, you might also want to look at Starfires from the late '60's at least, and maybe into the '70's, not sure when they went to the 25-5/8 scale, but they're pretty darn versatile.

 

[Brad Little]

the X-170 Manhattan was listed as 24.75 scale in the '96 Guild catalog

Yes, mine's 24.75 from '86.
Brad

 

[twocorgis]

Thanks guys, I sure appreciate all the responses.
Sandy, Your x175 is a beauty, does that have a maple or spruce top?

Brad, mine I believe is a laminated Spruce top. If you do get an X175, the consensus around here is the New York and Hoboken models with the Franz pups seem to be the most coveted. Our own Walter Broes won't play anything else. 8)

 

[rwmol]

My 61 Stuart A550 with carved spruce top is 24.75.

 

[Walter Broes]

Brad, mine I believe is a laminated Spruce top. If you do get an X175, the consensus around here is the New York and Hoboken models with the Franz pups seem to be the most coveted. Our own Walter Broes won't play anything else. 8)

True that, but I'm not entirely sure whether I'd recommend a Franz-equipped one for Jazz - unless you like a little bit of hair around a note. Franz pickups might be a little gnarly for a Jazz player who's into squeaky clean tones.
If you're into Hammond-trio style Jazz and Blues, I'd say yes, Franz pickups!

 

[mad dog]

The X-175 Guild I can't forget was a '74, with the Guild humbuckers. Played by a guy with jazz chops, it was just about perfect. Doesn't have to go jazz, but it definitely works for that. Another guitar I regret not grabbing.

MD

 

[guildman63]

Brad,

Welcome to LTG!

I play an X-170 that has a maple top rather than spruce, but if you ever have the chance to try one you should. This is probably the most versatile guitar I have ever played, and can do jazz very well by rolling off the tone knob a bit. Larry Bayone, chair of the guitar department at Berklee College of music, can be seen using one in his guitar instructional videos. There are also a few youtube videos that give a good example of how this guitar sounds for jazz. Following is just one. Welcome, and best of luck in your search!

Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgIQ_0Mz36k

 

[Brad]

Great info from everyone, sure appreciate all the help. At this point I am going to sell my ES350 and start looking for a x-700, a blonde one of course!

Brad

 

[Walter Broes]

Brad, is that an early 50's ES350? :shock:

 

[AlohaJoe]

Brad... lots of good info here:
http://www.archtop.com/ac_96x700.html

You really can't go far wrong with these... let us know what you find (with pictures of course). Keep in ming that the X700 is a carved top so it is lighter weight than the lam-top X500, but more susceptible to feedback. If you're gigging a lot that difference can turn into a big deal depending on the size of the venues you play in. I have a vintage carved top with an old DeArmond that's perfect for smaller-sized venues where I want an acoustic sound reinforced by a pickup. In a larger setting, my laminated top Guild (X150 single-pup) works better, providing an electric sound with acoustic overtones and less fear of feedback.

Seattle Jazz Guitarist Rik Wright has the best summation I've seen of carved vs laminate on his website under "Choosing an archtop guitar".
http://www.rikwright.com/Content/Content.aspx?page=custom&pgid=622#x2