New member & question about first Guild - X-175B/SP-II

Hi folks! I'm Stefan from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and I have just registered here as a new member (although I've been reading quite a few threads on this forum for a couple of years now, as the wealth of shared knowledge here concerning all things Guild is fantastic, in my opinion!).

I have owned many (bass) guitars in the past 35 or so years, but I have - for some reason - never owned a Guild guitar so far (despite the fact that I think that quite a few Guild guitars are some of THE coolest-looking and great sounding guitars ever since the 1950s...), but earlier this week I decided to finally change this & I bought a second-hand blonde X-175B/SP-II from a guy in Belgium last Monday, and I am now awaiting its arrival.

I have the following questions concerning this model and this specific guitar for the resident Guild experts here:
1. How long was the blonde X-175B/SP-II made, and was this particular model produced in relatively large numbers?
2. The guitar I just bought has the transparent Guild tone and volume knobs, whereas the few other blonde X-175B/SP-II models I've seen online all seem to have black knobs - do you think that these transparent knobs on the guitar were likely installed on it by the factory, or could they have been replaced by the previous owner?

Many thanks in advance for your input, guys!

Welcome to LTG! What a beautiful guitar, thanks for sharing the photos! I have the same model and it is one of my favorite guitars. The control knobs on mine are black, as you noted. I don't know if yours came from the factory with the amber knobs or if a former owner changed them, but Guild sells the black knobs so you can switch them if you like. The blonde (natural) finish was only available in 2020 so not many of them were made. Overall, the X-175 Special seems to be popular, especially since Guild offers it in three new colors beginning in 2022.

Thanks a lot for welcoming me here, and also thanks for your reply concerning my questions!

I have also noticed that the current (and also very beautiful, in my opinion) Guild 'X-175 Manhattan Special' models with the Malibu Blue, Gold Coast, Canyon Dusk, Fjord Green and Faded White finishes seem to be rather popular, but since I personally love the look of archtop guitars with a natural/blonde finish & with flamed backs and sides even more, I decided to see if I could find one of these blonde and 'flamey' X-175B Special guitars with DeArmond pickups somewhere, as this model looks a lot like the rare & early blonde 'Duane Eddy 400' model (and I happen to love the looks of these), and as there was one for sale online in Belgium, I decided to pull the trigger, so I'm now very much looking forward to receive the guitar soon!

​

Please let us know how you like the guitar after you receive it! Here is mine...

That's a real beauty as well, so thanks for sharing these photos!

Welcome, and that's a beautiful guitar on it's way to you. Congrats!

Thanks a lot for having me here, Jeff!

Welcome! We all look forward to pictures and a report on your new Guild.

Very nice!

That’s quite the watermark.

GGJaguar said:

I don't know if yours came from the factory with the amber knobs or if a former owner changed them, but Guild sells the black knobs so you can switch them if you like.

Click to expand...

@Stefan H. welcome to LTG!
If the one you bought was original purchased from The Guitar Bar in Antwerp, it obviously came with those amber knobs as you saw in the pictures there. Maybe the European rep specified them that way for Guitar Bar.
But others purchased in Germany had black knobs. See:

Ralf

Welcome! Great guitar!

walrus

Beautiful X-175! I love the look of dark fretboards against a bright maple tops--so cool. I bet it sounds great too.

Welcome to the forum!

jp said:

I love the look of dark fretboards against a bright maple tops

Click to expand...

Actually it has a laminated spruce top!

Thanks for having me here, guys, I really apprecitate your friendliness!

The Guild was delivered at my apartment today, and so far I am really happy with it - it looks not only really fabulous in person, but it also looks almost to be in brand new condition as well (it's VERY shiny, and I can only find some slight scratch marks on its pickguard), and the flamed back and sides (which is one of the reasons why I wanted to have this particular model) look gorgeous and very spectacular too...
The guitar by the way came in its original Guild case (plus all original accessories), and I am also very impressed with the quality and the sturdiness of this Guild case!

I'm going to do a proper "test drive" with it tomorrow through my Fender 'Champion 40' amp, but my initial impression of the Guild as far as
playability and its acoustic tone is concerned is very positive, although I probably have to get used a bit to the guitar's neck and fingerboard width, as it feels relatively small to/in my left hand (and I don't have really big hands) in comparison to other guitars I've played throughout the years.

SFIV1967 said:

@Stefan H. welcome to LTG!
If the one you bought was original purchased from The Guitar Bar in Antwerp, it obviously came with those amber knobs as you saw in the pictures there. Maybe the European rep specified them that way for Guitar Bar.
But others purchased in Germany had black knobs. See:

NS X-175 Manhattan Special Blonde

I thought you might like to see a few photos and hear a few thoughts about the blonde/natural version of the NS Manhattan Special that was mentioned in GAD's thread. Thanks to SFIV1967 mentioning (and showing) it, I was able to pick up one of the few of these that made it to Europe. I'm really...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

Click to expand...

I had a look at the transparent knobs that are on the guitar, and the first thing I noticed is that there are three knobs labelled 'tone' on the guitar, which leads me to strongly believe that a previous owner has swapped the original black knobs for these, and he/she obviously didn't have a second knob with 'volume' on it available, so that's why I now have three 'tone' knobs on the guitar... ;-)

GGJaguar said:

Actually it has a laminated spruce top!

Click to expand...

Ah. I didn't realize. Wow, even better with spruce! Thanks for setting me straight.

It's easy to order knobs at Guild's website. You may even be able to get them from a Guild dealer on your side of the pond.

jp said:

It's easy to order knobs at Guild's website. You may even be able to get them from a Guild dealer on your side of the pond.

Click to expand...

Check the shaft sizes.

My memory is that Guild's US website will not allow sales or shipment to non-USA customers so you may have to find a local Guild dealer to do that for you. My memory is also that new knobs are sized for a metric shaft whereas the vintage shafts are imperial.

fronobulax said:

My memory is also that new knobs are sized for a metric shaft whereas the vintage shafts are imperial.

Click to expand...

Yes, and that is a new guitar, not vintage. Means metric. Vintage knobs won't fit. Usually some can be found on ebay in Europe but most probably any Guild dealer in Europe can order them, it might just take a while until they arrive.
Ralf

Stefan H. said:

I had a look at the transparent knobs that are on the guitar, and the first thing I noticed is that there are three knobs labelled 'tone' on the guitar, which leads me to strongly believe that a previous owner has swapped the original black knobs for these, and he/she obviously didn't have a second knob with 'volume' on it available, so that's why I now have three 'tone' knobs on the guitar... ;-)

Click to expand...

So Guitar Bar in Antwerp sold her as "used" already? I had thought they sold her to the previous owner as new. If she was sold used by Guitar Bar that would make sense that a previous owner changed the knobs.
@Walter Broes might know how to get a clear volume knob for the Newark St. guitars.

Ralf

Ralf, we didn't sell this guitar to Stefan - it sold long before this and wasn't at the store all that long. Google can be confusing, it'll bring up website links from Google's cache that have long expired from websites.

Walter Broes said:

Ralf, we didn't sell this guitar to Stefan - it sold long before this and wasn't at the store all that long. Google can be confusing, it'll bring up website links from Google's cache that have long expired from websites.

Click to expand...

Ah o.k., I was just wondering since those May 2021 Guitar Bar branded pictures he used in post 1 already showed the amber knobs!
I was under the impression that Guitar Bar had the guitar straight from the Guild factory like this with amber knobs. (the one sold in Germany at Musicstore in Köln had black knobs).
So the 3 "Tone" knobs might be because the previous owner lost one Volume knob and replaced it with a Tone knob maybe? Just guessing here.

The original Guitar Bar picture from May 2021 had a "Volume" knob at that position:



Ralf