Corona Built vs. Westerly Built Archtops

[teleharmonium]

A friend of mine has a Corona built X150 or X175 (I forget). I like the sunburst on it and it seems to be very well made, nice neck and fretwork, but it has the same type of thick finish and dark sounding humbuckers (HB-2s I suppose) that characterize the later RI-built guitars. It's a bit heavy too (again, like the later Westerly guitars tend to be compared to the older ones). He does have D'addario Chromes on it which are not helping the darkness issue, but he likes that sound.
There's certainly nothing wrong with the way it looks or plays and the things that bug me about it are matters of taste rather than objective quality.
I like the NJ built guitars, that's all I have.

 

[Guest]

I've got a lovely Westerly-built X-170, blonde, a gift from a long-time friend (I'm in his will - he just decided to give it to me early). As with all Guilds, it's beautifuly made, but yes, a bit heavy. It's also mighty narrow at the nut (especially if you're accustomed to 1-3/4" at the nut!). I don't play down there often, so it's not a huge problem. The pickups look identical, except the neck pickup has "GUILD" and 'MADE IN USA' stamped on the back of it, while the bridge pickup has nothing stamped in it. They do sound dark and muffled, though, almost like there is a blanket over them. They sound pretty dead with nickel roundwounds, but sound MUCH more lively with .012 Chrome flatwounds (this defies the laws of physics, IMHO - go figure!!). The G-string is weak no matter how I adjust them. I pulled out the entire harness this week, and it's carefully bagged and put away now. A new harness with a matched pair of custom-wound Kent Armstrongs will go in next week, with a blend pot in place of the three-position switch. My task this weekend is to make a pair of ebony pickup rings with outer dimensions and screws holes matching the Guild rings, but with the inside cutout and pickup screws matching the KA humbuckers. This was a great axe to begin with, but should be FABULOUS a week from now. Can't wait.

 

[john_kidder]

I seem to remember a great deal of excitement around the web when the Corona-built X-500 Paladins were released - anybody have particular experience?

 

[capnjuan]

Hi rajones19 and welcome to LTG; sounds like a might fine guitar ... this group loves pics ... if you get the chance! CJ

 

[Walter Broes]

I seem to remember a great deal of excitement around the web when the Corona-built X-500 Paladins were released - anybody have particular experience?

I don't know if there were any X500T's made in Corona, but the last development of that guitar was the X550P - and I think that was produced in extremely small numbers before the model was phased out. (and the Paladins stopped touring)

I plunked around on Dave Gonzalez' own X550 for ten minutes backstage, unplugged. That guitar I think was built by Chris Fleming, and it was a beauty. Except for the bigger headstock and Duncan P90's, it looked and felt exactly like a vintage Hoboken-built guitar, but new.

I don't particularly care for the Westerly built archtops I've had in my hands, they felt too heavy, quite a bit bigger and deeper, and had very different neck profiles than the Hoboken-built guitars I'm used to.
I have no use for humbuckers, but even the two X500T's (Duncan P90's and Bigsby) I've played briefly felt too unfamiliar.