Hans' book is on the way! In the meantime I was wondering if someone could provide a brief history of the X-700's before Benedetto reconfigured. I am specifically curious about how this guitar might have changed over the years. Also, how do the early, mid-2000 models compare to earlier years for sound and response?
Pre-Benedetto X-700 History Lesson
- Thread starter G'well
- Start date
Darryl Hattenhauer
Venerated Member
Somebody please answer. This topic and the recent Johnny Smith and not-Johnny Smith is info that can save a fellow forumite somebody thousands of dollars. Or hundreds of Euros.
guildzilla
Senior Member
At the risk of providing misinformation, here is my stab.
Westerly X-700's are pretty rare. Adding a carved spruce top (instead of the laminated maple top on the X-500) it briefly replaced the X-500 as Guild's top line electric archtop in 1994. The official (probably inaccurate) records show 213 built through 1999. At that point, Benedetto appropriated the X-700 as a Guild Custom Shop guitar and redesigned it.
I've never held a Benedetto X-700, so no way to compare. However, the Westerly X-700 I briefly owned had a wonderful acoustic tone, with much greater volume and presence than an X-500.
Westerly X-700's are pretty rare. Adding a carved spruce top (instead of the laminated maple top on the X-500) it briefly replaced the X-500 as Guild's top line electric archtop in 1994. The official (probably inaccurate) records show 213 built through 1999. At that point, Benedetto appropriated the X-700 as a Guild Custom Shop guitar and redesigned it.
I've never held a Benedetto X-700, so no way to compare. However, the Westerly X-700 I briefly owned had a wonderful acoustic tone, with much greater volume and presence than an X-500.