Guild A vs Guild X ?

[Doug B]

What is the difference between the Guild "A" series and the Guild "X" series?

Thanks.

Doug

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

The A is acoustic and the X is electric. Here are the 1966 catalog descriptions of the two 500s. They delivered the A with round wounds and the X with flat wound strings. BTW, the EA610s that came on X500s were really great and what I used on my 175 from the day I discovered them at my dealer (in about 1962) until Guild stopped selling strings.

[Hammertone]

After applying decoder ring:

A-series guitars typically have carved spruce tops and laminated backs.
X-series guitars typically have laminated tops and laminated backs.

The exception to this is the last gasp X-700 guitars. The Westerly versions have carved tops and laminated backs, and the Benedetto versions have carved tops and carved backs.

[Doug B]

The A is acoustic and the X is electric.

. Thanks. Where it gets confusing is when someone adds a pickup to a Guild A series.

Doug

[John A.]

All of the above applies to older made in USA Guilds. The Current MIK A-150 has a pressed spruce top and isn’t really an acoustic guitar.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

All of the above applies to older made in USA Guilds. The Current MIK A-150 has a pressed spruce top and isn’t really an acoustic guitar.

Thanks, John! I only collect literature from the olden days. So I don't have any catalogs, price lists, or other literature after about 1970 because by then, corporate America had begun to drive our beloved icons into the ground

I've loved every Guild I've ever had, all of which were American made. We even went to visit the Westerly factory the week it closed. One of the remaining employees there gave me a bare half of a flattop top as a keepsake, and it's sitting on the shelf in my music room looking at me right now. As much as I love my Eastmans and other guitars that I now own that were made since 1980, there was something very special about the mid-century greats. When I was in high school (1962), I made my parents take me to the Gretsch headquarters when we went to Chicago. Even just visiting a local music store and playing a new Gibson, Martin, Fender or Guild etc was exciting. My wife and I visited the Gibson Bozeman plant when it first opened, and we've hit places from Willie's to Gruhn over the years just to visit and see what they had.

As much as I like and appreciate modern guitars, I don't feel the same affinity for current Guilds, Gretschs, Gibsons, Martins etc that I and my friends did before the 1970s. We still visit luthiers when we travel. But al I can say about the big names is that the names have not been changed to protect the innocent.