X500: Vintage or reissue

[telegeir]

Hi all. This is my first post here. I am sorry if what I ask have been discussed ad infinitum before. (I did try some basic searches.)

As a short introduction: I am 50+ years old, live in Norway, and only play for fun in my home studio. I have not played in a band for the last 25 years. I have a few guitars, including strats, teles, Les Paul and a Gretsch, but am sorely lacking a Guild. For a few years I have considered buying an X-500 or 550, ever since the Paladins played here in fact. I have even bid on a few on eBay (including a couple of 350s) but never had the highest bid. Probably a good thing, that, since they usually appear on eBay when I cannot really afford them...

I want the single coil version, as it has the sound I am after and also complements my other guitars best. (Or so I imagine.) That limits the selection a bit. Anyway, I have a few questions, and hopw that someone may find time to respond to one or more:

1. A few years back (2000?) Guild reissued these guitars, for a short while. What - as far as features - differs between the original X-500 and 550 and the reissues..

2. Any way to describe the difference in sound between the original Franz pickups and the modern P-90s? (Not asking what is "better" sounding, that I am sure is a matter of taste.)

3. For those that have had the good fortune to try both the vintage and new ones: Any difference in build quality or playability? What would you select if given a choice? (I am not a collector, just a player.)

4. What did the reissues sell for, and what is considered a fair price for a used one? (Don't have to be mint.) I don't see too many of them for sale, fewer in fact than the vintage ones. Wasn't too many made?

5. Any recommended listening material featuring the X-500 single coil? As mentioned above I have seen the Paladins in concert once. Edit: But any style of music is of interest, as long as it showcases the sound of the X-500.

Thanks in advance!

Geir

 

[Walter Broes]

Geir! Hope you're well, it's been awhile since I've been in your neck of the woods.

Finding a newer single coil X500 might be even harder than locating an old one! You saw Dave G. play in Bergen with his X550P, made by Chris Fleming at the Fender Custom shop, and those guitars are beyond rare - Dave has his own, and only a handful, if that many, have been made apart from that one before the model got discontinued. If you have a fantastic relationship with your Fender rep and a lot of money, the Fender Custom shop might still build you one, but I think it would take a lot of begging and $$$. (??)

The unique thing about the X550P is that it has the "pre-1956" longer scale (25 1/2") and the slightly shallower and slightly smaller late 50's body shape. (still not exactly small though!)
Those features would be hard if not impossible to find on a vintage Guild, except maybe an X175 made with an X350 neck and body (extremely rare, but they àre out there!)

There's the X500T that was made for a short while too, basically a standard X500 with a Bigsby and two Duncan antiquity P90's. These are cool guitars, but don't sound or feel like the 50's versions, or even like the later X550P, which was really a much closer recreation of the "real thing".

The 50's ones aren't really cheap of course, but compared to how crazy the vintage guitar market has been going in the last five years, they're actually not thàt expensive. Depending on finish and originality, you might find 50's X500's for between $3000 and $5000 - though for $5000, you'd get a collector-clean untouched natural finished one.

Just keep in mind vintage guitars usually need a little setup work before they "play", might need a refret, and those vintage Franz pickups usually need potting.
Also, not all vintage Guild archtops have the ideal neck angle for a Bigsby, should you want one on there. That's something you'd have to really see on a case-by-case basis, no two seem exactly alike.

Also, keep in mind that if the sound you're after more than anything else, a Franz-equipped X175 is almost the same guitar, except for the mahogany neck on the 175, and more ornamentation (binding, inlay, wood figuring, gold plating,..) on the X500.

 

[hideglue]

Hi Geir & welcome,

Its pointless to add to Walter's accurate post, so I won't. But out of curiosity - are you the owner of that amazing Andy Summer's replica Tele?

 

[Guilderagain]

4. What did the reissues sell for, and what is considered a fair price for a used one? (Don't have to be mint.) I don't see too many of them for sale, fewer in fact than the vintage ones. Wasn't too many made?

Greetings Geir,

I purchased a previously owned Corona, California built 2003 X-500 re-issue for $1,900.00 US this year. It was in excellent condition. This specimen has the Guild Humbuckers. As for the price of Westerly, RI or Corona, CA built re-issues, I've seen them as low as $1,900 and up to $3000.00 US, as seen here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guild-Hollow-Bo...oryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The X-500 is my prefered Guild archtop to play because I like the wider 1-11/16" nut and the jumbo sized frets. Also, it has the best tone compared to my other Guilds (X-150 & X-170), especially when I use the neck humbucker pickup. Overall, the craftmanship is impeccable. The wood selected is very fine. The sides and back are figured maple or commonly called "flamed." This Frets.com website explains the universal use of "flamed" in describing figured maple wood these days: http://www.frets.com/fretspages/general/Glossary/Figure/figure.html

The top is laminated spruce, but curiously two piece. I'm not sure why this was done, or perhaps this is quite common with laminated spruce tops.

The only criticism I have with the this Corona built specimen was the import pickup selector switch which had to be repaired (it did not select the bridge pickup - I was able to repair it though). Also, I'm not convinced the bridge is not an import as well. Compared to the Westerly built archtops, the saddle was not custom shaped to the spruce top. The Westerly saddle bottoms were clearly hand carved and even had serial numbers with treble and bass positions marked for orientation. I almost thought the previous owner had lost the bridge and replaced it with a generic imported replacement. However, Mr. Moust has assured me this bridge is correct for a Corona built X-500.

I hope this helps and good luck in your pursuits!

Alex

 

[telegeir]

Thanks for the replies, folks.

Walter, you must come back, whether to gig (I enjoyed the last one a lot) or just to visit. Especially if I do get myself a Guild. Would be nice to hear it played by someone who knows how... 8)

Guilderagain: I was not aware that there was different (Westerly vs. Corona) reissues. Which years were they from? Was this two different series, or was it just that Fender moved the production at one stage (and changed some specs in the process)?

Hideglue: Yes that is me, and that is one guitar I will always keep. For the rest of you: I enlisted the aid of a number of good helpers in the guitar building business to build a "tribute" to Andy Summers Telecaster. (I won't call it a replica because it is not exact, unlike Fender's Custom Shop I did not have access to the original. But then mine did not cost 15 000 dollars, more like 1500, including custom paint and aging, pickups and all. I hope you all forgive me a non-Guild picture:

I have since changed the neck.

Anyway, more info on the X500/550 is welcome!

Geir

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Hi Gier,

I was going to say exactly what everybody above said, but they read my minds.

hf

 

[krysh]

I don't know anything about the x-500 differences,
but welcome and a nice tele :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[tmoll]

Hi Geir,
I have no experience with the older X-500's or 550P, but I do own a 2000 Westerly built X500T (Bigsby and 2 black cover P-90's). I consider it a superb instrument, although extremely hard to find. I love the sound of the P-90s. It seems that no matter how good a guitar sounds, after a while, I get tired of that sound - that's when I pull something else out of the closet and play it for a while. As soon as I take the X500T out and plug it in again, I always say to myself "Now THAT is the sound I REALLY like." My other guitars don't get played much. Also, the craftsmanship on the instrument is just fantastic - it's a joy to hold and look at. If you can find one, get it! By the way - the hang tag on this guitar reads "X500T PALADIN EL" - I didn't think that this model was actually considered a Paladin issue (Hans?), but must have been. List price was $3374.99 in 2000. Good luck in your search.
Tom Moll

 

[telegeir]

Thanks tmoll. Would you care to post some pictures of your 500T?

Geir

 

[tmoll]

Geir,
Just page back in this forum a few pages and look for the topic "Starfire Ramblings" - I posted a couple pictures there of my X500T and Starfire IV. I'd be happy to private email additional pictures if there is something specific you would like to see better. A big part of the fun for me is the hunt - you learn so much along the way. Enjoy your hunt.
Tom

 

[telegeir]

Thanks Tom! That was indeed a very nice guitar.

So I have seen what appears to be a similar guitar, only the truss cover is different:

Notice it has a chess knight logo and reads X 550 P, where yours simply says X-500. Anyone who can explain that? I understand that the X550P was supposed to be the Gonzalez model, but this guitar apparently is not one of the custom shop ones. So did the truss cover change at some point? Is this maybe what they originally intended to be the Gonzalez model, but which he did not quite like, as it was not really like his original one? (An off forum reply suggested something along those lines.)

Geir

 

[dklsplace]

So I have seen what appears to be a similar guitar, only the truss cover is different:

Notice it has a chess knight logo and reads X 550 P, where yours simply says X-500. Anyone who can explain that? I understand that the X550P was supposed to be the Gonzalez model, but this guitar apparently is not one of the custom shop ones. So did the truss cover change at some point? Is this maybe what they originally intended to be the Gonzalez model, but which he did not quite like, as it was not really like his original one? (An off forum reply suggested something along those lines.)

Geir

I believe this was standard for the Dave G model. Here's a couple pics I received from a member back when these were in the works.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

I got to help Dave lug his stuff into a gig. It was like carrying God's jockstrap.

 

[telegeir]

The Gonzalez model seems to have no master volume. The one I was looking at had a hole for it in the top (the pickguard was missing.) Was the Gonzalez model (the custom shop one) made without one, or was it simply covered by the pickguard?

Geir

 

[Walter Broes]

The X550P, (as opposed to the X500T) didn't have a master volume.

I don't know about trussrod covers, but I've only seen that chess piece one on the X550P...?

 

[telegeir]

That is what is confusing me. If a guitar does have a hole where the master volume should be (possibly even have one, although at least the knob is missing), and still has "X550P" and the chess piece on the headstock, what is it then? Some sort of hybrid? Maybe someone has put a 550P truss cover on a 500T? This is the one:

I was half thinking about giving the owner an offer, but not before I know what I am actually buying. Also, my number 1 desire is still a vintage one...

Geir

 

[Walter Broes]

Hey Geir, the guitar in the pic is an X500T - no matter what the truss rod cover says.

I'd hold out for an old one if I were you.

 

[telegeir]

I don't have the money for one - old or new - right now anyway, so I am on hold regardless. :wink:

If someone else is interested, here is a link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370065159005.

Geir

 

[gilded]

So what's the guitar worth in present condition??? Anybody know the seller??

 

[telegeir]

Don't know what a fair price is. But the seller is in the UK, and I seem to remember that they were priced quite high here in Europe.

It seems the condition is excellent. It looks like the master volume has fallen out of it's hole and dissappeared into the body. But I assume you would be able to get it back in place. A new pickguard is probably easy enough to get hold of, If you want one at all...

Don't know the seller at all, and never got so far as to contact him about this guitar. I Thought I'd ask here first. But he does have a 100% feedback on mostly guitar auctions it seems.

Geir