NGD: X100 Bladerunner #2

GAD

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Guild-X100-Bladerunner-2.jpg


It's a very cool guitar. Looks like the one in the catalog:

Guild-1985-Catalog-X100-Bladerunner_1600.jpg


Unfortunately, I'm not sure the wiring or pickup is original. Waiting on an email from Hans. The Kahler is also a bit of a mess. You can see the worn fine tuners, but what was not obvious is that most of the brass rollers are seized. That's a common issue, but it's clearly been like that for years and ignored. They pretty much all need to be replaced. If I keep it I may just swap out the Kahler but I like to keep rare guitars as original as possible. Might be tough on this one, though.
 

GAD

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Also, the color in my pic is a bit off. The pink on these Bladerunners is super difficult to match. Canon cameras love to abuse the color red, so even the slightest correction blows the whole thing out of the water. One of the reasons I still haven't finished my writeup on the first X100 I have is because I've never been happy with the pics.
 

walrus

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Congratulations! I'll state the obvious - those are extremely cool guitars!

walrus
 

GAD

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As suspected, the pickup and all the electronics are non-original. The guitar is structurally OK though the Kahler needs some help as already stated. The electronics work, but the "fat" control that's part of the X100's personality is gone. I'd bet that it's impossible to replace with a period-correct part. The "fat" switch has been replaced and is now wired as a kill switch. The pots and the pickup (an EMG 58) are period-correct, but not guitar-correct. The Pickup was installed by someone who didn't care if the guitar could be returned to original because there's one extra hole and one of the screws doesn't bite the wood at all.

The guitar is perfectly playable, but for such a collectable guitar (with a collectable price), these changes are kind of a big deal.
 

txbumper57

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Congrats Man! Glad you found another Bladerunner GAD but I am sorry to hear of the non original pickup/tampered with electronics and the Kahler issues. I know you can fix most of it and that is part of the allure. That seller did seem a little bit fishy though with him either knowing about the issues and not disclosing them or not being smart enough to notice them. Still it is a good looking guitar and at the least you now have a test bed Bladerunner for pickup and electronic options.:encouragement:

TX
 

Bonneville88

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Congrats on another rocker GAD! It's such a cool looking piece, but I hear your disappointment.
I returned two guitars to two different sellers in the past two weeks for Non-disclosed issues.
What a PITA... the most un-fun part of being a guitar fanatic. But both were poorly packed,
so I was able to channel some anger and frustration to... creative documentation, shall we say :devilish:
 

GAD

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Seller has offered a full refund saying that this is how he bought it 20 years ago back before there was any Internet resource to research them.

I'll probably keep it because I really like the look compared to my plain one (which is almost mint). And yeah, this is one I won't be afraid to mod.

I also find it fascinating that with only around 100 or so made, this is the fourth different case design I've encountered. The case is enormous (even bigger than the other one I have!) and it weighs 27 pounds with the guitar in it.
 
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