I am brand new to the forum, and I just wanted to say how great it is to find a community of like minded souls who realize and really get how special Guild guitars are. In the early 1990s, while between careers, I did a brief stint running a music store. One day a gentleman came in with a 1971 X-500 and wanted to trade it for a whole bunch of gear he needed. That was my humble introduction to Guild guitars. I ended up trading with him. At the time, I knew very little about Guild. I was young, inexperienced, and poor. Some time later, I traded the X-500 for a vintage Martin for my wife. While the trade was fair value wise, that X-500 haunted me for years. I never forgot how that neck felt and just the overall energy of that guitar; the way it spoke to me. Fast forward 20 years, and one day I decided to look and see if I could find an X-500. I stumbled on to an X-700 instead, which I didn't even know was ever made. After missing a couple, I finally nabbed #62 from archtop.com. The guitar has been my pride and joy ever since. I would like to learn all I can about the X-700s, as I feel they are among the finest jazz guitars ever built. I have some questions concerning my guitar for which I have been unable to find answers. I'm betting I can find some help here on the forum. When time permits, I will post my questions. For now I just wanted to say hello and thanks for allowing me to be a part of this very special community. J. Paul.
Feeling Right At Home Here
- Thread starter J. Paul
- Start date
krysh
Guildarist in the mod squad
Hello and welcome, and what a gorgeous entry into ltg.
Post well, post often.
Post well, post often.
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Welcome!
Moving to misc.
Moving to misc.
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Welcome to LTG! The X-700 Stuart is a real upgrade to the already high end X-500. Biggest difference: The X-700 has a solid carved spruce top rather than the laminate maple top of the X-500, for a warmer acoustic voice and resonance. The X-700 was only introduced in 1994 and your model seem to be a 1995 one. Wonderful!
This is what the July 1995 price list showed:
Ralf
This is what the July 1995 price list showed:
Ralf
Cougar
Enlightened Member
It looks like it! Love that burst! Welcome to the forum!
Welcome! Beautiful guitar!
walrus
walrus
hansmoust
Enlightened Member
Welcome to LTG! The X-700 Stuart is a real upgrade to the already high end X-500. Biggest difference: The X-700 has a solid carved spruce top rather than the laminate maple top of the X-500, for a warmer acoustic voice and resonance. The X-700 was only introduced in 1994 and your model seem to be a 1995 one. Wonderful!
This is what the July 1995 price list showed:
Ralf
Hello J. Paul,
Welcome! Most likely no HB-1 pickups on your guitar.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
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Welcome! I have a blonde one from the same era (though mine's a '97 with SD1s) that's in the late-stage of my review pile. I'm jealous of your sunburst, though!
Thanks for the v warm welcome guys. Yes, I am assuming that my X-700 has the SD-1 pickups. They have the black Phillips head screws spaced 3/4" apart. I know they sure sound good. Can someone tell me what was the board radius of the X-700s? I have quite a story to share about my fingerboard, and I would very much like to hear anyone weigh in who has had a similar experience or who might have knowledge about this issue. I played my guitar and giggled with it for about 5 years before doing anything to it other than having a couple of fret ends filed down a bit. My Luther had checked the frets and determined that there was some variation in height, but he recommended against a plek job, fearing that the frets would end up being too low for my liking. I agreed and proceeded to put the guitar to work. Over the ensuing years,I became aware that some areas of the board did not feel or respond the same as others. I noticed that when making stretched out voicings, I had a tendency to buzz (toward the nut) just prior to nailing the note. I assumed this was caused by a low nut slot. Two months ago I tired of putting up with these minor irritants and decided to have my Luther do a refret. We decided to go with the same size fret wire as ogiginal. When he checked the board radius, he was shocked to discover some bizzar inconsistencies in the board, the likes of which he had never seen in nearly 40 years of practicing his craft. The radius at frets one and two was approximately 22". Then moving up the board, the radius varied between 17" and 14". There was also inconsistency between the bass and treble side of the board. While the treble side was close to normal, the bass side had a mild back bow. After getting past the initial shock and giving it some thought, I told him to just make the radius 16" all over, as I play nothing but jazz and tend to prefer a bit flatter board. He was able to accomplish this without damaging the inlays, as they were sufficiently thick. We installed a brand new set of gold Grovers as the old ones were starting to grind and slip a little. My Luther also fitted a new properly radiused ebony bridge, which has given me spot on intonation with the strings I prefer (Thomastik Jazz Swing Flats 13s). All this was not cheap, but my guitar now plays like a dream, and I feel that all the trouble, expense, and worry was well worth it. Only problem is now I am too broke to afford Hans's book. So please weigh in on what might have happened with # 62. My luthier's guess is that a different person did the board than whoever built the rest of the guitar, which, by the way is very well done. Perhaps it was an isolated instance of a lapse in focus. Of course the upside to all this is that I now have a fantastic guitar with which I am well pleased. Still this remains quite the intriguing mystery to me, so please weigh in with any thoughts or relevant information. Thanks, J. Paul.
geoguy
Senior Member
Interesting tale . . . welcome!
There might still be a couple of LTGers who can comment from direct experience re: the workflow process at Westerly (because they worked there back in the day).
If that crazy fretboard geometry came out of the Westerly factory, my guess would be that it was simply a set of mistakes, or perhaps some not-dry-enough wood that distorted as it dried out and settled into its new life as a guitar neck.
Or perhaps a prior owner had poor-quality work done on that guitar? Maybe the fretboard was sanded in a clumsy manner, & those weren't actually the factory-original frets when you bought this guitar.
There might still be a couple of LTGers who can comment from direct experience re: the workflow process at Westerly (because they worked there back in the day).
If that crazy fretboard geometry came out of the Westerly factory, my guess would be that it was simply a set of mistakes, or perhaps some not-dry-enough wood that distorted as it dried out and settled into its new life as a guitar neck.
Or perhaps a prior owner had poor-quality work done on that guitar? Maybe the fretboard was sanded in a clumsy manner, & those weren't actually the factory-original frets when you bought this guitar.
GGJaguar
Reverential Member
Wow, that's really wild info about the neck on your X-700! I have no idea why that happened, other than human error during the production of the neck. No worries about Hans' book either - it only covers up to 1977 so your model isn't included in it. You'll have to wait with the rest of us for his second book which will cover post-1977 Guilds. 
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Walls of text can be hard to read. The writer in me encourages you to embrace paragraphs. 
Also we'd love to see more pics!
Also we'd love to see more pics!
davismanLV
Venerated Member
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J. Paul, welcome to LTG!! You've come to the right place for information. Many here so much more about archtops than I so I'll just say hello and yes, we DO love photos!! What a nice burst!!
What a story and evolution of a great guitar reborn.
Welcome to the forum.
Welcome to the forum.
Thanks for all the replies, interest, and compliments. Tomorrow when the light is better I will take some more pics to share. I have not thus far been able to find technical specifications published by Guild when the X-700s were being made. If anyone can point me to where I might find that information, it would be much appreciated. Such specs might answer my radius question.
GAD, I see what you mean about the wall of text. Will watch that in the future. By the way, I do know how to spell Luthier. In my earlier post, my tablet apparently thought I was referring to a gent named Luther.
While I'm thinking of it, a very happy holiday season to you all. J. Paul.
GAD, I see what you mean about the wall of text. Will watch that in the future. By the way, I do know how to spell Luthier. In my earlier post, my tablet apparently thought I was referring to a gent named Luther.
While I'm thinking of it, a very happy holiday season to you all. J. Paul.
Good morning gents. Since you like pictures, I am obliging with some shots of my X-700 taken just this morning. Also, I would like to post more of my questions. Warned you that I had several.
Still like to know what was the original fingerboard radius. As stated earlier, mine is now 16 and just right for me.
Some of the X-700s had a 1 and 3/4" nut while others were 1 and 11/16" Mine is the wider one, although the string spacing is the same as on 1 and 11/16" guitars. The only difference I notice on my guitar is a tad more real estate out past strings 1 and 6 before coming to the edge of the board. Can anyone tell me how it was decided at the factory wich nut width would be used? Which does yours have GAD?
I've never seen this next question addressed at all. Some of the X-700s had rounded corners on the end of the fingerboard as does mine. Others (the later ones I think) were squared off. I suspect that this change may have been part of the Fender inflewnce taking hold, but I don't know that for a fact. I think the change may have taken place in 1996, as I have seen pictures of both versions from that year. Which does your 97 have GAD?
Where does the name Stuart come from in reference to the Westerly X-700s?
Finally, last question for today. Has it been determined how many of these guitars were made? The Guild records show only 213, but I know that a few more were made before Westerly closed in 2001. The highest number I have ever seen was 291.
Still like to know what was the original fingerboard radius. As stated earlier, mine is now 16 and just right for me.
Some of the X-700s had a 1 and 3/4" nut while others were 1 and 11/16" Mine is the wider one, although the string spacing is the same as on 1 and 11/16" guitars. The only difference I notice on my guitar is a tad more real estate out past strings 1 and 6 before coming to the edge of the board. Can anyone tell me how it was decided at the factory wich nut width would be used? Which does yours have GAD?
I've never seen this next question addressed at all. Some of the X-700s had rounded corners on the end of the fingerboard as does mine. Others (the later ones I think) were squared off. I suspect that this change may have been part of the Fender inflewnce taking hold, but I don't know that for a fact. I think the change may have taken place in 1996, as I have seen pictures of both versions from that year. Which does your 97 have GAD?
Where does the name Stuart come from in reference to the Westerly X-700s?
Finally, last question for today. Has it been determined how many of these guitars were made? The Guild records show only 213, but I know that a few more were made before Westerly closed in 2001. The highest number I have ever seen was 291.
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SFIV1967
Venerated Member
There was a thread here guessing:
Ralf