2xNGD: X500T & X170

GAD

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According to Hans the X500 is from 2001. Does anyone else have a 200x X500? If so, does yours have a 1 5/8" neck?
 

hansmoust

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Check out this bit of weirdness on the X500T. Look at those routes. If I didn't know better I'd say that this guitar was built with humbucker routes and someone expanded them to fit the P90s.

2002-Guild-X500T-PickupRoutes.jpg

Gary,

No, if the guitar was routed for humbuckers first, then the cut-outs would be at least 1-9/16" wide, which it doesn't look they are!

It's just how they did it and it doesn't look pretty!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

GAD

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Gary,

No, if the guitar was routed for humbuckers first, then the cut-outs would be at least 1-9/16" wide, which it doesn't look they are!

It's just how they did it and it doesn't look pretty!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl


Ahh, the old "It's just how they did it" answer. My dad loved that one! :tears_of_joy:

It's kind of sad to see on a guitar like this. Of course, it doesn't affect the tone or playability or anything else for that matter. It's just lame.
 

AcornHouse

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Ahh, the old "It's just how they did it" answer. My dad loved that one! :tears_of_joy:

It's kind of sad to see on a guitar like this. Of course, it doesn't affect the tone or playability or anything else for that matter. It's just lame.
That's what you get for peeking! :wink-new:
 

GAD

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hansmoust

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I do find it odd that my 2002 is so perfectly routed.

Well ......... different factory location, different tools and different supervisor!

Maybe the person who did this one got fired.

I can assure you that more than 95% of the workers at the Westerly plant lost their jobs soon after your X-500T was completed!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore
 
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GAD

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Well ......... different factory location, different tools and different supervisor!



I can assure you that more than 95% of the workers at the Westerly plant lost their jobs soon after your X-500T was completed!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore


Gah - I'm an idiot. I've been traveling a lot and I'm so tired that I don't even know what time zone I'm in and totally didn't click on the "last of the Westerly/first of the Corona" thing.

So the 2001 X500T is the ultimate Friday Afternoon guitar as in "hurry up and finish it so we can let you go and give your job to someone in California." while the 2002 is the "Thank God for my new job I'm going to make the best guitars EVER!" guitar.
 
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That's what you get for peeking! :wink-new:

LOL...so true! In the past I had a number of American-made Gretsch guitars...1960's made Tennesseeans, Nashvilles and Country Gents...and they looked great until you "popped the hood"...take out a pickup and get a splinter from the rough cut-out. But you never saw any of that with it all buttoned up!
 

hansmoust

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So the 2001 X500T is the ultimate Friday Afternoon guitar as in "hurry up and finish it so we can let you go and give your job to someone in California." while the 2002 is the "Thank God for my new job I'm going to make the best guitars EVER!" guitar.

That would make for a great movie, but in reality the following would be closer to the truth:

At Guild they used a jig to rout out the tops of the hollowbody electrics to allow for the pickups to be installed. They had a specific jig for routing out the holes for the humbuckers, but the P-90s were a recent addition on the X-500, and they never made the proper jig for it.
The worker would drill 4 holes at the corners and the rest of the material was removed free-hand with a router, which is the reason why it looks like it does.

That's not an excuse, but I'm quite sure that a different supervisor would have made all the difference!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 
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GAD

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That would make for a great movie, but in reality the following would be closer to the truth:

At Guild they used a jig to rout out the tops of the hollowbody electrics to allow for the pickups to be installed. They had a specific jig for routing out the holes for the humbuckers, but the P-90s were a recent addition on the X-500, and they never made the proper jig for it.
The worker would drill 4 holes at the corners and the rest of the material was removed free-hand with a router, which is the reason why it looks like it does.

That's not an excuse, but I'm quite sure that a different supervisor would have made all the difference!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl


Now that's a cool bit of info. Thanks for making this place and all of my guitars more interesting!
 
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dbirchett

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C'mon GAD, it's been five days now and we haven't seen the reviews of these beautiful guitars on your blog. I know it's Christmas time and all but your loyal fans are anxiously awaiting the in depth reviews.
 

GAD

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LOL. I accidentally published the ugliest of beginning to the X500T article last night when I clicked the "publish" button instead of the "update" button.
 

parker_knoll

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I dig that X500T and the price was decent too. If you decide you can't live with it, let us know :)
 

dbirchett

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OK, GAD. Christmas has come and gone. New Years has come and gone. Even the College football playoffs have come and gone and we are still waiting for the in depth reviews. We that are having a no-life crisis are dependent on these reviews. Don't let us down.
 

Mark WW

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GAD - Belated congrats on the new Guild's but condolences on the nut width. I have blown through soooo many guitars hoping (there is more info out there today) the nut width would be 1-11/16" or plus. I just have not been able to live with a 1-5/8". It cramps me up real quick. If for some reason they don't work out at least you had the opportunity to try.
 

GAD

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OK, GAD. Christmas has come and gone. New Years has come and gone. Even the College football playoffs have come and gone and we are still waiting for the in depth reviews. We that are having a no-life crisis are dependent on these reviews. Don't let us down.

LOL - guilty. The X170 one is almost ready. Life got in the way but I will endeavor to deliver the goods!
 

GAD

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GAD - Belated congrats on the new Guild's but condolences on the nut width. I have blown through soooo many guitars hoping (there is more info out there today) the nut width would be 1-11/16" or plus. I just have not been able to live with a 1-5/8". It cramps me up real quick. If for some reason they don't work out at least you had the opportunity to try.


Glad I'm not the only one out there.
 

Walter Broes

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In your review the X175 was essentially an X500 with less bling, and that's true. I think the main difference between the two is that (up until 1976, apparently) the 175 had a mahogany neck, not the X500's multi-piece maple neck. That's the one difference that might actually make them sound different (and not just look different)



Picking nits - you mention the X500T's bridge is "all brass" - those Bigsby bridges with the one piece metal saddle and metal base are aluminium, AFAIK.
 
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