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Guild X-170B Manhattan Hollow Body Electric Guitar 1998 | Reverb
Here she is, my first full hollowbody guitar. Guild X-170 Manhattan. Thank you Santa. My b-day/Christmas gift to myself.
I ordered some LaBella flats 11-50 to go with it so I'm waiting for them to arrive before doing a little polishing and tidying it up. The action is nice and low in the lower registers but is a touch higher than I usually run my semi-hollow past about the 10th fret. The bridge is adjusted about as low as it can go so I'm not sure what I might do to get it a little lower, maybe a minor truss rod tweak with the new strings (?), but it is nice, resonant, and completely buzz free without any dead spots anywhere on the guitar.
It sounds real nice acoustically, louder than I expected. I need to lower the pickups and raise the pole pieces as they are set higher than I think necessary so I will have to bust out an amp at gig volumes and get busy with it soon. Seems like I can run the same basic EQ on the Twin as I run my ES and there appeared to be a lot of good sounds available bridge, neck, and combo with tone control adjustments. Nice. Came home from the gig last night to a dark neighborhood with no electrical power so I played her unplugged in the pitch black near the woodstove for a half an hour as I didn't have much time with it before I left last night, only giving it a cursory run through the amp at wife-present volumes to make sure the electronics were working good. Overall, quite satisfied. $1700 plus tax and free shipping. Best deal on an X-170 on reverb I could get.
Any suggestions for removing the the tarnish off the gold would be helpful, it's just kind of got that frosty look from mostly being unplayed. Aside from a little gold wear and one or two very tiny blemishes in the finish and a few scratches in the pickguard it's in great shape and a real beauty. The flame changes as you move the guitar around. Merry Christmas and thanks for any advice. The best guitars have F-holes!
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12-24-2022 12:48 PM
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Congratulations! That’s a great choice. I’ve had a few Guilds over the years and loved every one.
I use a two-component jewelry polishing cloth on gold plated parts. I think mine is called Connoisseur and cost about $8. There are many out there - Google it or check Amazon (where I got my last one). But be very careful because that plating is thin and is easily worn through by aggressive polishing. Only use the softer leaf if you get a two component cloth. The blue Sunshine polishing cloth is also very good.
I’ve never had or even seen a guitar with gold plated humbuckers that was played reasonably often and didn’t have at least some plating worn off down to the base metal. Tailpieces aren’t rubbed on as much, but over years they also lose plating if polished more than sparingly and infrequently. And there’s no eraser on these cloths - once the plating is gone, it’s gone. So easy does it.
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I would rub it with a handkerchief before using any micro abrasive polishing cloths.
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Very cool guitar. Always liked these. Hope it give you years of great music..
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Why not? It can't hurt & it might help
Originally Posted by AllanAllen
ANother good metal polish if used with care is low abrasive toothpaste. Most of those for sensitive teeth (e.g. Arm & Hammer, Tom's) are about half as abrasive as standard ones like Crest and Colgate. Avoid the "whitening" totthpastes, which are even more abrasive than the regular ones.
If I need a light metal polish, I'll put a small drop of toothpaste in several drops of mineral oil and mix it around. Then I apply and rub it gently with a clean, soft cotton cloth like an old T-shirt before wiping off the residual with a clean part of the cloth. Again, easy does it. I'd rather have some residual oxidation than bare patches of white metal peering through the gold.
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Nice guitar! I have the same one in the same color except mine has a tremolo. It can be a real nice jazz machine and really worth the cost. Good luck with it. Originally Posted by DawgBone
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Skip the polishes, a little warm breath and a clean soft cloth is all you need.
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Gold plating is so incredibly thin, you might be better off leaving tarnish where it sits and accepting is as the natural state of a 25 year old guitar. Hope you long enjoy playing it.
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What are you stringing it with and what kind of amp do you use with it? Assuming you are doing mostly jazz stuff, just interested to hear your experiences with the model since you've owned one a while. My ES has a bigsby, which I thought I would dislike but I prefer it to stop tailpieces as I do lots of bending and felt tension is much lower with the bigsby though I never use the actual trem. The same low string tension seems to hold true with the harp tailpiece on the Guild so I am happy about that. Originally Posted by charleyrich99
I notice the supposed "block" inside under the bridge is pretty minimal so no surprise it's pretty resonant. Thanks to other posters on polishing advice, I will go easy and hopefully remove some of the frosting on the gold parts.
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I am playing jazz on it. I use D'addario pure nickel strings. .11 gauge Originally Posted by DawgBone
I use a Laney VC30 210 amp. I have a number of online recordings of it on my YouTube channel.
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No offense to those that posted but if you use polishes you'll eventually take off the gold, it's just a matter of time.
Gold plating is so thin no matter how mild an abrasive you use won't be mild enough.
Even the warm breath w soft cloth I recommended will eventually start to remove the plating, just from wiping w a cloth.
Ever see a crossbar corner of a tailpiece worn down to the metal from your sleeve brushing up against it?
Doesn't take much.....
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All true - I’ve never understood why anyone wants gold plated hardware on a guitar. But I also understand how irritating it is to have gross discoloration on that fancy trim. I’m guilty of hating it enough to try to reduce or remove it, knowing full well that every wipe could be the last. I’ve minimized tarnish etc by using pure paste wax on gold plated parts, but they’re high maintenance and it only forestalls the inevitable if you keep the guitars long enough. Originally Posted by wintermoon
This is one reason I love my black epoxied Benedetto pickup, my black KA humbucker, my Lace Alumitones and my wooden tailpieces.
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I like gold plated parts and don't mind wear on them or my guitars, it's all adds mojo/ character to me. But then again i still don't mind transporting old heavy tube amps either so II'm probably in the minority when it comes to most things. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Hey I'm on this forum because it seems to be the last refuge of gold hardware enjoyers. I won't own an electric without gold so if it's not gold when I get it I factor converting it into the price tag. I think worn gold looks awesome vs chrome that is all scratched up after lots of use. Nickel is for the change bag, chrome is for my car bumper, and gold is for my guitars. I"m with you on the tube amps as well, it's just hard to find gold plated ones, lol. Originally Posted by wintermoon
I like gold plated parts and don't mind wear on them or my guitars, it's all adds mojo/ character to me. But then again i still don't mind transporting old heavy tube amps either so II'm probably in the minority when it comes to most things.
Well my water got shut down so I'm praying the pipes don't blow. I spent many hours last night r just playing the Guild acoustically in front of the fire since it's cold and I am not fully insulated here. Really enjoying it and it's not just a honeymoon. The narrow nut isn't bothering me at all. It's like a slim taper with a touch more beef to the back of it, and even better, three piece for more stability vs my old Gibson which required seasonal truss rod adjustments. I think I'll plug in today and do a little experimenting while the old lady cooks the turkey. Merry Christmas to all and Lord bless! There is always a reason to give thanks.
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Beautiful git! Congratulations!
IMO Gibson gold plating is the gold standard, but many other companies including Gibson’s subsidiary Epiphone use very thin gold plating which is bound to tarnish and wear off fairly quickly.
My Epi Joe Pass was a good example. Only 10 years old when I got it, but already faded gold parts.
I agree with others it gives it some mojo. I don’t worry too much about it. Shiny guitars are for kids. Worn guitars are for players.
The only guitar I have right now with gold appointments is a Peerless Sunset, whose gold finish has faded a bit. I did clean it up a bit with Tarn-X or Brasso, just a gentle cleaning with a soft cloth, no deep rubbing.
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I truly have no idea why, but my Guild X170t from the 1990's has virtually no tarnish on the gold tailpiece, trem, pickups or pegs.
It has been played several hours a day, gigged with both outdoors and indoors. It's even been sweated on in the hot Florida sun. I leave it on a rack on the wall and do not put it in its case.
I polish the guitar including the gold using Music Nomad polish and a microfiber cloth whenever I change strings, every couple of months. Nothing else.
Must be a fluke as I have done nothing special to "preserve" the gold. I do quickly wipe it down with the microfiber cloth after practice.
-Charley
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Thanks Doc! Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
I wore the gold finish off the corner of my Edwards E-SA's tune-o-matic where my hand rests in a year, this year. 70 gigs (not enough, unfortunately) probably 50 rehearsals, and a couple hundred hours of at home practice. Most of the gigs are outdoors in 90+ degrees so nothing stays perfect, It can be a chore just keeping the sweat wiped off. I appreciate honest wear, you can look at it and think about all the good times you had playing it.
I'm not even sure if this Guild is urethane or lacquer, as the finish is nearly flawless in like new condition. I like lacquer but urethane sure holds up to sweat and grime so it doesn't really matter. As you said, shiny guitars are for kids and worn guitars are for players. I'm not a collector of anything except memories so I buy stuff with a utilitarian mindset though I do like shiny, beautiful things. I was even tempted by some gold Hohner 270 chromatic harmonicas the other day, though I opted for a chrome 280 chromatic for that Stevie tone and 4 octave range.
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I love the way gold looks on a guitar. I just hate knowing that no matter what I do, it'll be blotchy long before the guitar shows any wear at all. I even put a gold Hipshot bridge/TP on my Tele, where it looks fantastic! But Lace no longer even offers gold plated Alumitones, and I think the black looks great. I'm still considering swapping the knobs, straplocks, and Sperzels for gold ones. Originally Posted by wintermoon
I like gold plated parts and don't mind wear on them or my guitars, it's all adds mojo/ character to me. But then again i still don't mind transporting old heavy tube amps either so II'm probably in the minority when it comes to most things.
And my AF207 looks great to me with its black Benedetto. The stock photo isn't the same guitar, but the pickup that was in it looks very similar to the one I removed from mine.
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Well, I don't care for where the strap button is, but functionally it's fine. Rich Severson's sole complaint was also that. My other small qualm is the jack input is on the side of the guitar instead of the top, although my guess is this is more common for fully hollow archtops for less interference with top vibrations? Anyways maybe I'll warm up to it but it's kind of inconvenient for couching out with a plugged in guitar, lol.
On the plus side the case is virtually in like new condition, and has six beefy latches, with two on the far side of the case from how you'd open it. Locks up like bank vault. Much nicer than most factory cases you get these days outside of the leather handled Gibson USA cases.
I usually play 10 12 14 24 32 42 rounds on my ES's but I wanted to try some flats on the guitar so I sprung for the LaBella 11-50 that are due in the mail soon. Currently strung with what feels like 11-49 rounds. Maybe I should've gotten the lighter LaBella flat set 10-39 but that low string strikes me as pretty thin. I downtune everything a half step but make my money bending strings so we'll see how that works out.
Thanks for all the replies! Nevershouldhavesoldit, how do you like those lace alumitones? They have always interested me but I've never seen or tried a set. They sure are a nice looking pickup.
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They’re great! Mine are built to the same spec George Benson uses - he has them in a few of his guitars. They’re not quite as warm and fat as the best of the old PAFs, but they’re almost there with some EQ, a tube-y amp and the right speaker(s). The pair are very versatile and will do everything from straight ahead jazz to fusion, funk and blues. I need to drop the neck unit into one of my archtops to see how it sounds in a real guitar Originally Posted by DawgBone
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To me, gold on a jazz arch top is like chrome on a Cadillac- when I was a kid I mooned over those classy Gibsons with gold hardware, and after a year of washing dishes at a local restaurant I bought a ‘68 LP custom with gold hardware, my first good guitar. It held up pretty well, but was pretty much ruined by one gig on the deck of a house on the Jersey shore.I still have one of those pickups and it’s pretty bad, but I like the look of worn gold anyway.
Fast forward and the Campellone I’ve had for a year has gold hardware, and the Lollar pickup is already showing the patina of wear. That makes me feel like I am starting to make my mark on the guitar.
I never expect or want to see perfect gold if I am buying a used Gibson or other premium guitar, as it’s part of the story of the guitar. I like nickel to look a bit faded as well.
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Your guitar needs to be showed off in a HNGD-thread (or HHH-thread), a link won’t suffice. Let me help you:
Congratulations and enjoy!
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Thanks little jay!
I'm not very internet savvy post-photobucket era so the link was the best I could do without otherwise making a mess of it.
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Posting pics at the forum is a bit of a hassle but I use the forum in the Tapatalk-app and that lets you upload photos directly from your phone Originally Posted by DawgBone
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Well I have my doubts about using the LaBella 11-50's after some volume testing today through the Twin set to 10. This guitar has massive amounts of bass with the current roundwound set which I"m guessing is somewhere between a 46 and a 50 for the low E. Speaker blowing bass levels. I think I need a low 40's set so maybe the LaBella 10-39"s would be a better choice? It seems like an archtop, or at least this archtop, has larger amounts of bass than a thinline guitar. It's my first rodeo so I'm green.
The Fender/Guild pickups also seem to be less inclined towards being lowered down far with the pole pieces raised as high like the Duncan's and Gibson's I've used in my semi hollows. I was able to find a good happy medium as I felt the height it arrived with were set too high overall although my final settings were similar in distance from polepiece to string as my ES's are set but on the semi's I have the pickups cranked way down near flush with the ring and the poles raised way up.
I was getting some great tones happening with controllable feedback even facing the amp 8ft away. The middle switch settings get very close to my ES's. Still lots of playing around to do, but I think I may just restring with my usual round wound set, clean up the gold a bit, and work from there. Some of the gold tarnish has come off just playing/using the guitar, especially from the tuners. Anyhow, just thought I'd share some new to me discoveries.
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