Guild X-500

[Surreal McCoy]

I was in GC the other day and tried out a blonde '75 X-500. I don't know much about these models except this evidentely was a good time for the Westerly plant production.

This model seems to be based on a Gibson L-5 or Super 400-style guitar but substantially less money. I loved it.

Are there any problems or issues with the X-500?

Likes / dislikes?

Overall opinion from owners would be great.

[2bornot2bop]

Loved my former X-500, but there are darker sounding archtops to my ears. Great laminate archtop, imo. Depending on condition, at $2k it's priced to sell!

[AlohaJoe]

These are great jazz guitars IMO, all laminate, a little on the heavy side but well made. Binding is sometimes an issue w older ones, but if it's in good shape it could be a great find. What's the price?

[jorgemg1984]

I have a 1965 one that I heavily modded - it had a neck angle problem and the finish was too "heavy". I also jazzed it with wooden bridge, tailpiece, tuners and Bare Knuckles pickups / electronics.

After all this it's the best archtop I ever played. According to my luthier the woods are really really good. Stock was sort of useless but I knew that when I got mine.

[Franz 1997]

I've had a 70s model and still have a '56. If you go to the Let'sTalkGuild forum you'll find lots of info there, but my impressions of the 70s x-500 were very favourable. It had a laminated spruce top, not carved like an L5, so sounds different but still very good. It's a bulky guitar and IMO the shape is not as elegant as 50s Guilds, which were based on Epiphones of that era. The HB1 humbuckers sound distinctly different from PAF types - clearer and with less middle- which some people like, but most don't. The finish is poly, which is practical but doesn't age nicely like nitro lacquer does.
Issues? On some of these the neck angle is quite shallow, and you need to check that there is sufficient bridge height for good action.
They are prone to develop a 'hump'' in the fingerboard around the place it joins the body- but you can spot that by looking down the fingerboard.
Guild used all kinds of frets at that time - mine had narrow and low frets, which I didn't like and refretted with 149's, but that's a matter of preference.
Finally, some but not all X-500s have a hefty maple sound post: again you can check that by looking inside. The sound post is there to reduce feedback, and it does, but it also diminishes the acoustic sound. Not all X-500s have them.
The scale is 24.75 ", not 25.5 like an L5 - I always thought that was a mistake.

These guitars are a comparatively good value in full-sized archtops, and they sound great IMO. If you're happy with the neck angle and like the guild pickups, they can be a bargain.
Jorge on this forum has a 70's ( I think) X-500 ; maybe he'll chip in. No doubt others will too

I sold mine because my '56 x-500 with 25.5 scale, huge neck and Franz p90
pickups was just too hard an act to beat...

[jorgemg1984]

Chris made good points. The tailpiece, tuners and the bridge mods were optional but the pickups and neck angle were not. I could not live with both and did them - in the end still worth it for me. It's a truly amazing archtop now. The new finish also made the guitar much lighter and acoustic... I basically bought the woods Laminates are perfect for plugged playing.

PS - Also did a refret which is normal on a heavily played 1965 guitar.

[Franz 1997]

Jorge, with a 65 model I think you did the right thing with the pickups - they had the small humbuckers which sounded thin, weak and nasal ( to me, anyway). The later HB1's sound good, although not like paf types at all; apparently D'aquisto used to fit them to some of his guitars.

I guess the neck angle is the most common potential issue with many guild archtops, but it's easily checked before buying. If you have a bridge height of much less than 1", be careful that you can get low action with it ( assuming you want that of course!)

I guess that in 65 they were still using a nitro finish, Jorge? ''I basically bought the wood''..

[Blues Fuse]

A Guild X-500 from the mid-70s would have a nitro finish. I have an X-175 that I bought new in 1976 and it has a nitro finish.

[mikeSF]

i had a '69 X-500 for many years. It did develop the hump and I had the neck reset. other than that, a very decent instrument. amazing one piece German maple back on mine. playability and tone were in line with similarly spec'd instruments, not special, but good. Keep in mind, mine was an antique when i bought it, so we aren't talking factory set-up or anything.

editing to mention pickups:

Mine had those narrower than a standard humbucker pickups and I carved the top rout a little larger to accommodate standard humbuckers but not so large that the stock rings wouldn't cover the enlarged routs so it could be returned to a stock appearance. The guitar benefitted greatly with a Duncan Alnico II neck pickup.

[jorgemg1984]

Jorge, with a 65 model I think you did the right thing with the pickups - they had the small humbuckers which sounded thin, weak and nasal ( to me, anyway). The later HB1's sound good, although not like paf types at all; apparently D'aquisto used to fit them to some of his guitars.

I guess the neck angle is the most common potential issue with many guild archtops, but it's easily checked before buying. If you have a bridge height of much less than 1", be careful that you can get low action with it ( assuming you want that of course!)

I guess that in 65 they were still using a nitro finish, Jorge? ''I basically bought the wood''..

Yeah Chris, the stock pickups were really bad. They were mini so my tech had to make the holes a little bigger which was scary to see but worth it in the end! Those Bare Knuckles sound great in there. I wanted an angle that allowed that tailpiece not to touch the body - it gave me much more acoustic sound with low action, which is essential to me.

I am not sure what finish was there. But my luthier makes a beautiful finish, the guitar is much more lighter, beautiful and acoustically responsive. It's amazing, everyone loves the guitar here

[Jimmy Mack]

Love those Guilds.

Funny, when I mentioned that Guilds do not have the best reputation for p/ups
(as per many many players) someone questioned my observation.

I stand by that assertion. My Guilds have mostly benefitted from p/up swaps. (Studio 302, NItebird, X170)

But, I love their wood! Currently in love with my 1961 Starfire III with DeArmond DynaSonics. Very hard to beat. Killer tone.

[Franz 1997]

>Funny, when I mentioned that Guilds do not have the best reputation for p/ups
(as per many many players) someone questioned my observation>>

That might have been me, although if I remember rightly I was saying that although many/ most people don't like Guild pickups, some did, incl D'Aquisto.

Guild seemed to use all kinds of pickups at various times, incl DeArmonds and Franz P90-style pickups, which have a fanatical following amongst some Guild fans. Some feel the same about Dynasonics, incl you!!

But, yeah, it's a fair assertion I guess. They certainly didn't take pickups as seriously as Gibson did at that time.
Have to agree about the woods, especially neck woods

[2bornot2bop]

My Guilds have mostly benefitted from p/up swaps. (Studio 302, NItebird, X170)

And it should be said most every guitar can benefit from a pup swap, including Gibson, Heritage, on and on and on. Visit any forum exclusive to any brand and you'll find talk of pup swaps quite common.

[mad dog]

I had a 2000 Guild X-500, Westerly built. With Fender humbuckers. A friend borrowed it and ended up buying it. That one is the best playing large hollowbody I've tried yet. Perfect neck, frets, just about the easiest guitar to play imaginable. So well built and solid. What a fine guitar.
MD

[bosevelt]

Just picked up a '66 and don't know much about the model..Does it fall in line with the '65 as far as the PUs and such?

[AlohaJoe]

Very good Guild Pickup info here:

GAD's Ramblings » Guild Full-Sized HB1 and SD1 Pickup Variations

[cmajor9]

I have to give a contrasting opinion about Guild pickups, in particular HB-1s.

I've had an 80's X-500 and still have a 90's X-170, both with the HB-1s. I very much like the sound, as much or more than PAFs in similar arch top guitars. There's a 'delicacy' to the tone, which also seems slightly closer to a single-coil sound (although original PAFs can also sound closer to single-coils, compared to more modern versions) that I find appealing and useful.

[Franz 1997]

What that article doesn't mention is that original guild HB1s tend to have lower resistance coil windings than gibson HBs, which would contribute to the more open sound and lack of midrange. The internal coil bobbins seem also to be thicker than gibson HBs. The overall effect seems to be to eliminate the pronounced midrange 'hump' of the gibson HB design, and an apparent increase in detail, at least to my ears.

[snoskier63]

Just picked up a '66 and don't know much about the model..Does it fall in line with the '65 as far as the PUs and such?

The pickups in '65 and '66 should be the same if stock. At the time Guild was using what they called "anti-hum" pickups, which are humbuckers that are slightly smaller than the typical bucker. They give a distinctive sound, kind of in between the full sized Guild HB-1 and the older Franz single coil pup that Guild used into the early 60'. I happen to love the tone, but tone is a very subjective thing, and everyone has their own opinions on the topic.

As for the neck angles, they can be a little shallow, but I used to have a 1961 X-175 (same as the X-500 but with less bling) and it still had the original bridge with more room to adjust, and absolutely perfect action! And regarding the mentioned "hump" present in many older Guilds, I have owned and collected Guild guitars for many years, and while there are examples of issues with every brand I have never had a Guild that had a hump or any other neck issues. Compared with the guitars I have owned from other manufacturers, including Gibson, Gretsch, Ibanez, Yamaha, Fender, Eastman, and others, Guild has had the best and most consistent necks to me. They have also been the most consistent to me in terms of overall quality over the years as I am really not aware of any bad years of production that many of the other manufacturers are known for. All this is clearly stated with a bias as I play almost exclusively Guild (I do pull out a Strat from time to time, but not often anymore), but I wouldn't do that if I didn't think Guild guitars were the best guitar for the price...again, just my very humble opinion as there are a lot of very nice guitars in the world.

I have a '93 Guild X-500 that has the sound post previously referred to in this thread. It is certainly not "hefty" as described, but it does affect the acoustic volume for sure. Plugged in, however, it is one of the best archtops I have ever played in terms of tone. I even took it to a music lesson I had with Gary Smulyan, and after the lesson my playing did not get any praise, but my X-500 played through my Henriksen JazzAmp 112 had Gary giving the tone very high praise. And after all that I am selling it as I purchased Guilds new X-500 that was made to replicate their 50's model, complete with repro Franz pups. I got it as a 50th birthday present to myself, and it is a fantastic guitar! I wouldn't say it is better, but it is definitely different with the single coils, and it is lighter as there is no sound post. If I could keep the 93 X-500 I would, but I am not a gigging musician, and therefore collecting thousands of dollars in guitars is not practical.

Enjoy your '66 X-500!

[bosevelt]

Thanks for the detailed info, I appreciate it.

I picked up from an Antique store. It was in the owner's family for the past 30+ years and is in under the bed condition. The action and feel of the neck is perfect (for me) and didn't require a trip to the luthier for a check-up. That says something about the quality of the guitar to me, as well as the way it has been kept.

It sounds great as well. Some minor finish settling, but I guess you have to expect that.

[AlohaJoe]

What that article doesn't mention is that original guild HB1s tend to have lower resistance coil windings than gibson HBs, which would contribute to the more open sound and lack of midrange. The internal coil bobbins seem also to be thicker than gibson HBs. The overall effect seems to be to eliminate the pronounced midrange 'hump' of the gibson HB design, and an apparent increase in detail, at least to my ears.

I was just re-reading some stories about the "Chord Chemist" Ted Greene and that's exactly what he loved about Guild pickups. He described it as a better separation of notes. Ted was a huge Guild fan (the guitars and the pickups) and had a substantial collection of Guild archtops.

[barrymclark]

Acquired from Jack Zucker.

[Max405]

Wow Barry, nice guitar.
Really beautiful. I like them in burst too.
Tell Jack to get his ass back here.
JD

[barrymclark]

A couple of notes after playing it for a bit. It definitely has that tight punch and decay hat I normally associate with laminates. This guitar seems to have a fun edge of breakup sound even unplugged when I dig into a chord slightly. Kinda cool. That same thing carries over into the amp. Definitely adds interest to the sound. The pickups are fairly bright but serviceable. Some quick EQ and I am in a happy place.

[Cunamara]

Congratulations, Barry. Those are great axes and not doubt, coming from Jack, it is perfectly set up and trouble free.

I second/third/quadruple "tell him to get his ass back here." The forum is just a little more entertaining with Jack around.