NGD: NS X175 Manhattan Special

[Walter Broes]

BTW...is the new NS X175 with DeA pups and Guildsby the size and style similar to the X160 Rockibilly but with a set of Vol/Tone controls for each pickup?
M

BTW...is the new NS X175 with DeA pups and Guildsby the size and style similar to the X160 Rockibilly but with a set of Vol/Tone controls for each pickup?
M

similar, not the same. A westerly 160 is a little bigger and deeper. and it has a gloss finish, this new one is satin-finished

 

[GAD]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is my favorite Newark St. guitar to date.

I've found almost nothing to complain about (I mean, there's always SOMETHING to complain about ), I love the tone, I love how it plays, and I LOVE the finish. I think this is going to push all the other reviews back just like the Starfire I did because it's very current and it's just fun to play with.

 

[KuuKOO]

Wow. I can’t wait for the details.

 

[Walter Broes]

We've just recorded a demo at the guitar shop - I didn't edit it, and I would have kept it a little shorter and cut a couple of things out (we recorded this at the end of a long day of demos in the middle of the heatwave we just had), but anyway, here goes :

 

[guitarlover]

Great guitar demoed by a great player ! Nice sounds from these pickups...

 

[jp]

Super demo, Walter. You really exhibit what this guitar is capable of. What were your personal impressions?

 

[F30]

That vintage style pickguard and the Guild bigsby look fantastic on that axe.
Glad to hear the pickups sound great on that body style?

 

[KuuKOO]

Nice stuff! Sounds pretty darn good. How is the pickup height? I know that was the issue with my old corona 160.

 

[Walter Broes]

What were your personal impressions?

Let me put it this way : if this guitar had been available brand new at a price point like this when I was a Rockabilly-obsessed 15 year old, I would have been ecstatic. Now that I'm a blasé/cranky almost-50 year old with two vintage X175's and a vintage DeArmond-equipped Starfire III, I have a couple of extremely specific guitar-nerdy nits to pick, but they're not very interesting.
So in short : it's a heck of a guitar, plays great, sounds great, love the neck profile, still not in love with the color, but that's extremely subjective, and it objectively, it does look stunning in person.

I know that was the issue with my old corona 160.

Not an issue at all -it's great right out of the box

 

[KuuKOO]

Seeing as I'm also a former rockabilly obsessed almost 50 year old, I'd like to hear the nits. Also are they 2Ks or something new?

 

[Walter Broes]

Seeing as I'm also a former rockabilly obsessed almost 50 year old, I'd like to hear the nits. Also are they 2Ks or something new?

I'm going to follow some self-imposed forum etiquette and let GAD post his usual thorough review first before I put in my own anal remarks, because this is his thread, he actually bought the guitar, he does great reviews, etc..., and my take on these things is usually very vintage-guitar/roots-music centered and, like I said...nerdy!

 

[GGJaguar]

Nice demo! I can't really tell if the pickups sound the same as the 2Ks on the X-160 Rockabilly or not.

 

[walrus]

Great demo!

walrus

 

[Walter Broes]

Nice demo! I can't really tell if the pickups sound the same as the 2Ks on the X-160 Rockabilly or not.

2K's were the steel poled DeArmond lookalikes on the Asian-made DeArmond line of guitars - the Guild X160 had alnico-poled pickups that FMIC/Guild called 2000's - and the pickups on the X175 special are extremely similar to, if not the same as the latter.

 

[GGJaguar]

Ah, thanks. Got my pickups mixed up. I still think I will put a set of T-Armonds in my X-160. The 2000s don't have quite enough meat to them.

 

[Walter Broes]

Ah, thanks. Got my pickups mixed up. I still think I will put a set of T-Armonds in my X-160. The 2000s don't have quite enough meat to them.

that's one of the nits I was going to pick, I agree. An original DeArmond, or indeed the TV-Jones or Duncan copies of them, are pretty agressive pickups with a lot of "oomph" - these new "Dynasonics" sound great, but they're lacking in punch.

 

[GAD]

Killer video! Mind if i link to it in my review? You nail the genre better than I ever could hope to.

Let me put it this way : if this guitar had been available brand new at a price point like this when I was a Rockabilly-obsessed 15 year old, I would have been ecstatic. Now that I'm a blasé/cranky almost-50 year old with two vintage X175's and a vintage DeArmond-equipped Starfire III, I have a couple of extremely specific guitar-nerdy nits to pick, but they're not very interesting.
So in short : it's a heck of a guitar, plays great, sounds great, love the neck profile, still not in love with the color, but that's extremely subjective, and it objectively, it does look stunning in person.

Not an issue at all -it's great right out of the box

This is a great summation of the 5000+ words in my review. I think Guild knocked it out of the park with this one.

2K's were the steel poled DeArmond lookalikes on the Asian-made DeArmond line of guitars - the Guild X160 had alnico-poled pickups that FMIC/Guild called 2000's - and the pickups on the X175 special are extremely similar to, if not the same as the latter.

From what I can tell, the Korean pickups in the X175 Special are copies of the 2000s.

 

[Walter Broes]

Killer video! Mind if i link to it in my review?

thanks, and of course I don't mind at all, link away!!

 

[F30]

Well after seeing that clip - I'd say those pickups do just fine. Thanks for sharing.

 

[dhdfoster]

That sounds great, Walter!

It's not quite as smurfy looking as the Photoshop promo pictures.

Your demo reminded me that a couple of your licks in "Busy Soon" have driven crazy trying to get right. I never have.