American Patriarch X-500

guildman63

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2010
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Location
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Sound: 5

Unplugged, it has moderate volume with good note separation. Plugged in it is snappy and very articulate, and with a nice acoustic quality to the tone. It is fantastic for jazz, blues, rock, and works very well for fingerpicking. It comes stock with round wound 11's on it, but my preference is flat 12's. I will make the switch shortly then update my review.

Look: 5

What can I say, it has that classic 50's X-500 look to it, which I love. I particularly like the tuner buttons as they are understated in size, and being a cream color they fit very well with the natural finish and the pickup covers.

Feel: 5

Very light, nice fretwork, well balanced, nice sized neck for me. I would try to describe the neck shape, but I would probably mess that up. If you want chunky this isn't it, but it isn't super thin either. It feels very similar to my '93 X-500 and to my GSR Starfire VI.

Fit an Finish: 5

Flawless all around, with one exception. The base for the bridge fits perfectly, but the rosewood bridge that sits on the pins had split, which must have happened in transit. I notified Kim Keller Monday afternoon, and despite being on vacation he had one shipped to me immediately. It shipped Tuesday via FedEx, and I had it less than 24 hours later! Awesome customer service from Kim and Guild!

Edit: After the very quick and easy remedy by Kim this has been updated to a 5 out of 5, which is where it should have been in the first place due to this issue likely having nothing to do with Guild anyway.

Reliability: ?

I will get back to you in 10 years.

Customer Service: 5

Fantastic! See above for the details.

Value: 5

To me, this is a no-brainier. Pay well over $8000 for a Gibson L5, or get this X-500 Stuart for $5000 +/-.

Overall: 5

I am not an accomplished guitarist by any means, but this guitar can do everything I can imagine, and better than any other guitar I have ever owned. I have had a few vintage X-175's, and many other very high quality guitars over the last 35 years, including a Gretsch G6120 Jr., an Epiphone Elitist Country Deluxe, a Starfire V and X-175 with mini buckers, a CE-100, Starfire 4, and two X-500's with Guild HB-1's, an X-175, M-65 and CE-100 with Franz pups, a GSR Starfire VI with Seth Lovers, a GSR T-500 with Duncan Franz Repro pups, an X-170T and an X-170 with Fender pups, and an Ibanez GB-12 (just a list of my semi- and hollow bodies). If you want a great jazz and/or blues guitar that can stand up to most others, and you are on a more modest budget, there are many great Guild options, as well as good lower priced options from other brands. If you have $4800 - $5000 to spend, and you want a guitar that will stand up to virtually any other guitar for a multitude of genres, regardless of price, the new AP X-500 is the one.
 
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shihan

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
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Wow! you are one lucky guy. I'm glad the guitar meets your high expectations. You took a leap of faith ordering sight unseen, and your trust in Guild was rewarded.
I would love to see a video demo of your guitar. Again, congratulations!
 
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