Spruce 180?

X-170AB

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I'm following an offer on eBay.de right now for a GSR X-180 in natural blonde. Having heard these are great guitars I've wanted one for awhile, and this one seems to be in good shape. However, there is one unusual feature on this guitar - the top is clearly spruce, not maple. So in the very limited number of GSR X-180s, has there ever been one with a spruce top? Or could this be something else (BTW the offer has a partial shot of the label, which seems to clearly say "GSR X-180")?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Guild-Usa-X...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

And by the way, I saw it first! :>)
 

hansmoust

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I'm following an offer on eBay.de right now for a GSR X-180 in natural blonde. Having heard these are great guitars I've wanted one for awhile, and this one seems to be in good shape. However, there is one unusual feature on this guitar - the top is clearly spruce, not maple. So in the very limited number of GSR X-180s, has there ever been one with a spruce top? Or could this be something else (BTW the offer has a partial shot of the label, which seems to clearly say "GSR X-180")?

Hello X-170AB,

You might be mixing up the GSR X-180 and the Corona made X-180, which had a maple top!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

X-170AB

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Thanks for the reply, Hans! Does that mean that the GSR X-180s normally have a spruce top? Info on these models isn't easy to find, and I haven't seen anything confirming that.
 

SFIV1967

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That is a New Hartford made GSR X-180 from year 2012.
There were 20 made without bigsby (marked x of 20) and 5 with bigsby (marked x of 5).
One was made with a sunburst finish as opposed to the others in the limited run, which were all blonde. If that one was part of the 25 is unknown to me, maybe it was # 26.

Full specs:

Guild's special limited edition X-180 is a beautifully crafted hollow body guitar built
with fine Guild tone and tradition. All hardware is gold plated. Its elegant and warm-sounding semi-hollow
figured maple body features a single cutaway and a resonant spruce top. It also
boasts a distinctive 24 ¾" scale length, rock-solid three-piece
mahogany/maple/mahogany neck, and a very comfortable 19-fret ebony fingerboard with
a 12" radius and mother-of-pearl/abalone block inlays.

Other premium features include gold Seymour Duncan® '59 humbucking neck and bridge pickups
with three-position toggle switching, dual volume and dual tone controls,
Graph-Tech ResoMax bridge, Gotoh® gold tuners, gold hardware, and gloss Natural
nitrocellulose lacquer neck and body finish. Includes hard-shell case.

Body Shape: Electric
Body Back: Select Arched Laminated Figured Maple
Body Sides: Laminated Figured Maple
Body Top: Arched Laminated Spruce
Body Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer

F Holes Sound
Holes: "F" Holes
Body Binding: 4-Ply
Neck
Number of Frets: 20
Position Inlays: Mother-Of-Pearl Block
Fingerboard Radius: 12" (305 mm)
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: 3-Piece Mahogany/Maple/Mahogany
Neck Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Nut Width: 1.6875" (43 mm)
Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: H/H
Bridge Pickup: Seymour Duncan® '59 Humbucking Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup: Seymour Duncan® '59 Humbucking Neck Pickup
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2.
Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
Controls: Volume 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Volume 2. (Bridge
Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup)
Hardware
Hardware Finish: Gold-Plated
Bridge: Graph-Tech ResoMax bridge
Tuning Machines: Gotoh® Die-Cast
String Nut: Bone
Switch Tips: Black Switch Tip
Pickguard: Black with Screened Outline, Chevron and Guild Logo
Miscellaneous
Strings: D'Addario® XL110 Regular Light, NPS (.010-.046 Gauges)
Unique Features: Black Headstock Overlay with Mother-of-Pearl Guild
Chesterfield Logo, Black Truss Rod Cover, Black Pickup Bezels, Gold-Toped
Skirted Black "G-Shield" Control Knobs
Accessories
Case: Deluxe Hardshell Case
Control Knobs: Gold-Topped, Skirted, Black "G-Shield




Ralf
 

X-170AB

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Thanks again Hans, and thanks for the extensive info Ralf!

The spruce top is if anything a plus for me, and would compliment the flamed maple of my (namesake) X-170.
 

bobouz

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That's a spruce beauty!

Also really like the fact that the neck joins the body at the 14th fret.
 

X-170AB

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So, did you buy the guitar?

With holidays and general relaxed working conditions around Christmas and New Years, the guitar only arrived yesterday. Its pretty much all I had hoped for: the neck is quite comfortable, the body lightweight (6-1/2 lbs) and as resonant as you'd want a laminate guitar to be.

I understand there is some controversy/uncertainty as to where the bodies of these GSRs are actually made. What I can say is that the woods appear of very good quality, and the construction also seems very well done. The Gotoh tuners seem less substantial than the Grovers on my X-170, but the mechanism seems fine and they keep tune. The pickup switch also seems slightly less substantial, but again seems to work fine.

The one thing I'm not sure about are the pickups. They are Duncan 59's, as advertised, and have the clarity of 'vintage PAF'-type humbuckers, so they're in the ball park. I may eventually want to try out some other pickups, and am kind of fantasizing about how modern DeArmond replacements (from Duncan or TV Jones) would sound in this guitar. But that would be down the road, and I could certainly play jazz or jump blues with the '59s.

Thanks again to Hans and SFIV1967 for the information that helped me decide on this guitar!
 
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JohnW63

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So, did you get it for about 1000 EU ? I think that's about $1200 US. That looks to be a good deal to me.
 
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