Guild X175 Manhattan Special Review

[GAD]

My completely uneducated guess is that they wanted more wood for the screws to purchase.

 

[Walter Broes]

First, a disclaimer - I'm not saying NS archtops are going to implode or aren't fine playing and sounding guitars. I've owned four of them and think they are an excellent value. But, these are my observations and, IMHO, there is something inherently wrong with cutting through the parallel braces to fit a pickup.

Hey, I hadn't seen those. Interesting. I guess the braces on all of those archtops are humbucker-ready in case there would be a version of the 175 with "little buckers"
I agree that removing that much wood doesn't seem like a good idea.

Haven't seen tops moving on the NS175's, and I've been around a few - I had a sunburst early (FMIC) one for a while, ended up selling that, and now I've owned a black one for about four or five years.
The one thing I have seen on the X175's that isn't stable, three guitars including mine : the fretboard extension that sits on the body. They moved up so much that they had to be worked on for the guitar to play without excessive fret buzz.
Luckily these guitars have pretty big frets, so my luthier buddy was able to take enough material off of the frets on the fretboard extension to get things level, and it hasn't moved since, but if it does it'll mean planing/refretting at least that part of the fingerboard. Funny detail is that the luthier in question has a NS X175 too, and it developed the exact same problem.

 

[Walter Broes]

IN OTHER NEWS THOUGH......!!!!

A buddy of mine who works at the major musical instrument retailer chain over here just posted this on his facebook page today, and it freaked me out enough that I called our Guild rep for an explanation. He told me there were six of these available for Europe, and he wasn't 100% clear on them himself. His best guess was that they were part of a test or prototype run, OR they might be something Guild would have introduced had there been a Summer NAMM this year.

Tadaaa!!

 

[dhdfoster]

IN OTHER NEWS THOUGH......!!!!

A buddy of mine who works at the major musical instrument retailer chain over here just posted this on his facebook page today, and it freaked me out enough that I called our Guild rep for an explanation. He told me there were six of these available for Europe, and he wasn't 100% clear on them himself. His best guess was that they were part of a test or prototype run, OR they might be something Guild would have introduced had there been a Summer NAMM this year.

Tadaaa!!

What!!!!!!!!

 

[ChasingGuitars]

Here's my review of the super blue Newark St. X175 Manhattan Special

Guild Newark St. X175 Manhattan Special | GAD's Ramblings

Today’s Guild is a Newark St. X175 Manhattan Special from 2020, and I gotta say that as soon as I saw this guitar announced I knew that I had to have one. From the killer blue finish to the DeArmond pickups, this guitar looks like everything I’d ever want in a guitar. Is it? Read …

www.gad.net

As always, please PM me with any typos or mistakes.

Great review. I enjoyed reading it as always. I love the look of this Guild and glad to see the Korean Guilds are quality guitars for the money. However makes me never want to sell my X-160 Rockabilly. In my case I found the stock pickups OK, but replaced them with TV Jones with white plastic which were better IMHO. Nice to know that this model is a decent alternative as it is not to easy to find a clean X-160 Rockabilly these days.

 

[GAD]

Great review. I enjoyed reading it as always. I love the look of this Guild and glad to see the Korean Guilds are quality guitars for the money. However makes me never want to sell my X-160 Rockabilly. In my case I found the stock pickups OK, but replaced them with TV Jones with white plastic which were better IMHO. Nice to know that this model is a decent alternative as it is not to easy to find a clean X-160 Rockabilly these days.

Thanks!
How did you get white TV-Jones? Can you special order them?

 

[Default]

IN OTHER NEWS THOUGH......!!!!

A buddy of mine who works at the major musical instrument retailer chain over here just posted this on his facebook page today, and it freaked me out enough that I called our Guild rep for an explanation. He told me there were six of these available for Europe, and he wasn't 100% clear on them himself. His best guess was that they were part of a test or prototype run, OR they might be something Guild would have introduced had there been a Summer NAMM this year.

Tadaaa!!

And you can see how far away from the bridge that one is too.

 

[Bonneville88]

Enjoyed the review, awesome as ever!
Beautiful guitar, but the finish is of concern to me - our shop has sprayed lacquer and
various catalyzed coatings daily for years. No way should finish be popping off - anywhere.
IME satin / or any low gloss finishes on any kind of "service" surface - and a guitar
top is one - even with perfect adhesion - are potential aesthetic problems
down the road as they can't be buffed or brought to any kind of gloss consistency once the surface
begins to wear.

 

[guitarlover]

That's nice !

 

[GGJaguar]

How did you get white TV-Jones? Can you special order them?

I think you make the request for white tops in the comment box during the ordering process. I, too, am planning on getting a set for my X160 within the next few months.

 

[ChasingGuitars]

Thanks!
How did you get white TV-Jones? Can you special order them?

Was easy, just ask for them.

 

[ChasingGuitars]

I think you make the request for white tops in the comment box during the ordering process. I, too, am planning on getting a set for my X160 within the next few months.

They sound quite a bit better to my ears.... The white tops make them “hi-fi” LOL

 

[jp]

Another great review, GAD. It's interesting how carefully the production process has been tweaked to optimize assembly and cost, yet still perhaps add the illusion of value, as with the painted F-holes.

I agree with you whole-heartedly about small tuner buttons, however, I really prefer the design of the older chevron pickguard--solely a matter of taste. I applaud Guild's achievement of presenting a quality guitar at great value, but I still think I'd still shell out the extra cash and waiting time for an X-160, even though it's not blue. :C) Maybe it'll draw more players into the Guild fan base.

 

[Guildadelphia]

I've made my peace with the understanding that the Newark Street Guild electrics are basically "homages" to the vintage originals.
That being said, like GAD, I'm not particularly a fan of the open back Grover tuners. While the 18 to 1 gear ratio is nice and they seem to do the job well enough I find they just don't feel smooth. I would have replaced them, but I am not aware of anything that will cover the original holes and I really don't want to deal with plugging holes so I'll live with them.

 

[kakerlak]

I've made my peace with the understanding that the Newark Street Guild electrics are basically "homages" to the vintage originals.
That being said, like GAD, I'm not particularly a fan of the open back Grover tuners. While the 18 to 1 gear ratio is nice and they seem to do the job well enough I find they just don't feel smooth. I would have replaced them, but I am not aware of anything that will cover the original holes and I really don't want to deal with plugging holes so I'll live with them.

If you're willing to toss the coin at it, I'd assume Waverlys are a direct fit.

 

[Guildadelphia]

If you're willing to toss the coin at it, I'd assume Waverlys are a direct fit.

Not a big fan in general of open back tuners.......(although I would think those Waverlys are quite good).
I've heard that Kluson style tuners will cover the holes (and you can get some nice Kluson style tuners these days) but like I said, the Grovers work, just not my preference. Interestingly, the 18 to 1 Statite 97-18's that come on the Newark St guitars are actually considered superior to the 14 to 1 ratio Statite 98's that come on some high $$$$ Gretsch Pro Series guitars.

 

[kakerlak]

Not a big fan in general of open back tuners.......(although I would think those Waverlys are quite good).
I've heard that Kluson style tuners will cover the holes (and you can get some nice Kluson style tuners these days) but like I said, the Grovers work, just not my preference. Interestingly, the 18 to 1 Statite 97-18's that come on the Newark St guitars are actually considered superior to the 14 to 1 ratio Statite 98's that come on some high $$$$ Gretsch Pro Series guitars.

I've got no personal experience with present-day Statites. I replaced the originals on my S-100 with whatever was the current repro back in the nineties, and those were pretty awful, gritty/sandy feeling tuners. At least they were functional, though -- the originals were unusably worn. They must've had at least a quarter turn of play in them. I'd kind of hoped/assumed that the newer ones are better than those nineties ones. The gears and shaft screws look different, but I'm not up to speed on who made what where over the years. It kind of feels like the Grover name might've been sold/licensed a few times in the last 20 years, like Kluson.

 

[Guildadelphia]

I've got no personal experience with present-day Statites. I replaced the originals on my S-100 with whatever was the current repro back in the nineties, and those were pretty awful, gritty/sandy feeling tuners. At least they were functional, though -- the originals were unusably worn. They must've had at least a quarter turn of play in them. I'd kind of hoped/assumed that the newer ones are better than those nineties ones. The gears and shaft screws look different, but I'm not up to speed on who made what where over the years. It kind of feels like the Grover name might've been sold/licensed a few times in the last 20 years, like Kluson.

The funny thing is, the newer Grover Statite 97-18's w/ the 18 to 1 ratio seem to be universally revered as being significant improvements over the older 97's which have a reputation for grittiness and slop. It's just my own little thing when it comes to open back tuners....especially on electrics.

 

[Guildadelphia]

The funny thing is, the newer Grover Statite 97-18's w/ the 18 to 1 ratio seem to be universally revered as being significant improvements over the older 97's which have a reputation for grittiness and slop. It's just my own little thing when it comes to open back tuners....especially on electrics.
It must be a Jersey thing that I share with GAD.

 

[GGJaguar]

GAD's description of the faux F-hole binding reminds me of what G&L has been doing for about 25 years now. They mask off the edge of the guitar's top, apply the color portion of the finish, then remove the masking tape and apply the clear coats. It produces the desired effect even if it's a cheater method. On light finishes (especially white), they will tint the top edge first, then mask and finish. This produces more contrast between the faux binding the body. Tinting is especially cool when the top is figured maple because it makes the figuring "pop" in the faux binding.