Coughlin
Junior Member
1953 Guild X175 Makeover
Hello everyone. I'm a new member and have been scouring posts on here for a bit. I acquired a 1953 Guild X175 from eBay recently that I thought was a good deal and I was in need of understanding of the Guild world first hand. I'm a long time player and performer and have gone from Gretsch (younger days) to Gibson and stayed there for a long time. I always admired Guild and thought I'd like to have one someday. Well, I bough this pitiful guitar knowing that it needed a full going-through. Someone had not been kind. Knock-off P-90s, trashy tailpiece, black Gibson speed knobs, wrong switch, wrong bridge, no pickguard (we'll get to that later), and a general lack of upkeep. Nothing beyond my restorative skill having been groomed as a proficient restorer of older guitars. I never even played it when it arrived. I immediately took to striping it down and repairing some structural issues. That's all done now. I ordered the re-issue Guild Franz (not really at all) pickups from Cordoba Music Group. They came and I tested them. They are 7.14K Ohm and 7.17K Ohm. I reached out to several people for corrective measures. I'm sending them off to be rewound tomorrow to a comfortable low to mid 5K range. I'll fabricate my own baseplates. The tailpiece will be a middle 1950's Bigsby I've had lying around for a decade in search of the correct plywood guitar to put it on. That's not a dig, I just prefer carved or solid woods. I have the correct switch, pots, and knobs. Now, my questions to you fine Guild people are few, but important to me. First, where do I find someone who can make me a seven-ply pickguard? I've noticed that this is common for this era. Second, is there anyone who can tell me where to find the proper schematic/diagram for this guitar? It's got two pickups, but only two control knobs. How are these supposed to be wired? I'll keep my eyes peeled for the original style tailpiece, but I know chances are slim at finding that. I ordered a harp tailpiece from Cordoba, but it's just yucky to me and screams 'inappropriate'. I also ordered a modern X175 pickguard, but it is also not going to be going on this guitar after doing my research.
I would like to note that from what I've read here, I'm pleased at the professionalism and good conduct. I also want to add that Walter Broes was and still is my vintage guitar story. Walter, if you're reading, you may not remember this, but here it goes. In a distant past, he recommended to me that I'm probably chasing my tail with the modern reissues and clones and such. I was trying to square the circle within a budget and would never get to that happy place of the tone within my head if I didn't just bite the bullet and go old. I did just as he suggested and have been happy ever since. I bought a 1950 Gibson L-7CED, then an L-4CED, and then various other 1940's and 1950's Gretsches and Kays. He was dead on. My search of wholesome goodness was finally realized. There's something that the modern market can't even touch when it comes to tone when compared to the good ol' days. I have various older amplifiers from the 1950's and service them myself as a trained electronics restoration technician. I am now the owner of my first older (I will not say vintage because that term is silly without a qualifier) Guild. Structurally, I really like it. They did a great job back then. Now I'm faced with the task of getting it back to something close to the good times and good tones that I know it's capable of delivering. Thank you, Walter. You're my success story and I stand by that.
Thank you to everyone here. I'm not a big on-line person, but I'm pulling my hair out thinking of how I'm supposed to wire this thing. The pickguard thing isn't a top priority because I can have a five ply one made easily enough. I'll do that for the time being. I have scavenged photographs, enlarged, and made a tracing already to be sent off to WD Pickguards. They do a bang-up job.
Cheers, goodnight, until next time, and glad to be a member. I hope that it proves useful for all of us. Anyone with old electronics questions or luthier questions, feel free to hit me up. I've got more than a few years invested into the vacuum tube era. Over two decades in fact.
Hello everyone. I'm a new member and have been scouring posts on here for a bit. I acquired a 1953 Guild X175 from eBay recently that I thought was a good deal and I was in need of understanding of the Guild world first hand. I'm a long time player and performer and have gone from Gretsch (younger days) to Gibson and stayed there for a long time. I always admired Guild and thought I'd like to have one someday. Well, I bough this pitiful guitar knowing that it needed a full going-through. Someone had not been kind. Knock-off P-90s, trashy tailpiece, black Gibson speed knobs, wrong switch, wrong bridge, no pickguard (we'll get to that later), and a general lack of upkeep. Nothing beyond my restorative skill having been groomed as a proficient restorer of older guitars. I never even played it when it arrived. I immediately took to striping it down and repairing some structural issues. That's all done now. I ordered the re-issue Guild Franz (not really at all) pickups from Cordoba Music Group. They came and I tested them. They are 7.14K Ohm and 7.17K Ohm. I reached out to several people for corrective measures. I'm sending them off to be rewound tomorrow to a comfortable low to mid 5K range. I'll fabricate my own baseplates. The tailpiece will be a middle 1950's Bigsby I've had lying around for a decade in search of the correct plywood guitar to put it on. That's not a dig, I just prefer carved or solid woods. I have the correct switch, pots, and knobs. Now, my questions to you fine Guild people are few, but important to me. First, where do I find someone who can make me a seven-ply pickguard? I've noticed that this is common for this era. Second, is there anyone who can tell me where to find the proper schematic/diagram for this guitar? It's got two pickups, but only two control knobs. How are these supposed to be wired? I'll keep my eyes peeled for the original style tailpiece, but I know chances are slim at finding that. I ordered a harp tailpiece from Cordoba, but it's just yucky to me and screams 'inappropriate'. I also ordered a modern X175 pickguard, but it is also not going to be going on this guitar after doing my research.
I would like to note that from what I've read here, I'm pleased at the professionalism and good conduct. I also want to add that Walter Broes was and still is my vintage guitar story. Walter, if you're reading, you may not remember this, but here it goes. In a distant past, he recommended to me that I'm probably chasing my tail with the modern reissues and clones and such. I was trying to square the circle within a budget and would never get to that happy place of the tone within my head if I didn't just bite the bullet and go old. I did just as he suggested and have been happy ever since. I bought a 1950 Gibson L-7CED, then an L-4CED, and then various other 1940's and 1950's Gretsches and Kays. He was dead on. My search of wholesome goodness was finally realized. There's something that the modern market can't even touch when it comes to tone when compared to the good ol' days. I have various older amplifiers from the 1950's and service them myself as a trained electronics restoration technician. I am now the owner of my first older (I will not say vintage because that term is silly without a qualifier) Guild. Structurally, I really like it. They did a great job back then. Now I'm faced with the task of getting it back to something close to the good times and good tones that I know it's capable of delivering. Thank you, Walter. You're my success story and I stand by that.
Thank you to everyone here. I'm not a big on-line person, but I'm pulling my hair out thinking of how I'm supposed to wire this thing. The pickguard thing isn't a top priority because I can have a five ply one made easily enough. I'll do that for the time being. I have scavenged photographs, enlarged, and made a tracing already to be sent off to WD Pickguards. They do a bang-up job.
Cheers, goodnight, until next time, and glad to be a member. I hope that it proves useful for all of us. Anyone with old electronics questions or luthier questions, feel free to hit me up. I've got more than a few years invested into the vacuum tube era. Over two decades in fact.