I am one of the beneficiaries of GAD's recent fire sale. I'm the latest LTG member to own this fabulous 1984 X-500. GAD reviewed this guitar very eloquently here: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2016/11/26/1980s-guild-x-500/
I drove myself crazy for a couple of days thinking about this guitar before I told my wife I have to get it. I'm glad I did.
I never really entertained buying a x-500 before; my hope was to eventually find a player grade 175 or a NS 175B; but the opportunity to buy this guitar changed all that. I feel like I hit the lottery!
I was hesitant to buy it because, like a lot of you, I prefer a wider neck than this has; but it plays so easily and sounds so good I really don't care about the width. It came with flat wound strings, something I have had no use for in the past, but I really like on this guitar. Instant Kenny Burrell tone, that deep rich fat sound I love on all those Jimmy Smith recordings. Of course, it's primarily a jazz guitar, but it is capable of a wide range of tones. I used it in a Chicago Blues quartet format and it sounded great, really suited to cutting a deep groove for a harp player. Solos with the heavy flat wounds was a challenge, but sounded really good, very funky.
I have never had a guitar with a master volume before, but I find it a very useful device, especially for controlling feedback at gig volume.
In short, I LOVE this guitar. Wanted to play it for a while before I posted about it so I could get past my first impressions.
There are a bunch of Pics if this guitar around the forum, but here's a couple more:
I drove myself crazy for a couple of days thinking about this guitar before I told my wife I have to get it. I'm glad I did.
I never really entertained buying a x-500 before; my hope was to eventually find a player grade 175 or a NS 175B; but the opportunity to buy this guitar changed all that. I feel like I hit the lottery!
I was hesitant to buy it because, like a lot of you, I prefer a wider neck than this has; but it plays so easily and sounds so good I really don't care about the width. It came with flat wound strings, something I have had no use for in the past, but I really like on this guitar. Instant Kenny Burrell tone, that deep rich fat sound I love on all those Jimmy Smith recordings. Of course, it's primarily a jazz guitar, but it is capable of a wide range of tones. I used it in a Chicago Blues quartet format and it sounded great, really suited to cutting a deep groove for a harp player. Solos with the heavy flat wounds was a challenge, but sounded really good, very funky.
I have never had a guitar with a master volume before, but I find it a very useful device, especially for controlling feedback at gig volume.
In short, I LOVE this guitar. Wanted to play it for a while before I posted about it so I could get past my first impressions.
There are a bunch of Pics if this guitar around the forum, but here's a couple more: