1961 X-175

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Hi All,

I am a new Guild convert having recently purchased a 1961 X-175. It's a blonde with a few modifications. It has a bigsby, new DeArmond pickups and Grover tuners. It has a bit of wear back and front and a few dings and scratches. It's a great guitar to play, good neck and setup. ( It is the guitar I should have bought 25 years ago). The neck has pearl dot inlays. All photos on the net show pearl block neck inlays on the X-175. My question is did Guild the X-175 come with pearl dot inlays or does mine have a replacement neck? If so do all the mods effect its value? It is a bit academic 'cos I'm still keeping it and playing it, just curious.

Thanks, gmac.
 

hansmoust

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Gmac said:
Hi All,

I am a new Guild convert having recently purchased a 1961 X-175. The neck has pearl dot inlays. All photos on the net show pearl block neck inlays on the X-175. My question is did Guild the X-175 come with pearl dot inlays or does mine have a replacement neck?
Thanks, gmac.

Hello gmac,

Welcome! A dot inlayed fingerboard on a '61 X-175 would be unusual, but I'm not saying it is impossible. Guild would do unusual things, especially in those days. You should be able to see if the neck has been changed unless the complete guitar has been refinished. Maybe they just changed the fingerboard. Before we draw any conclusions, maybe you could post a photo of the guitar in question. If you don't know how to do that, just mail the photo to me at my regular e-mail address. It's in my profile.

Happy Holidays,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 
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Hans,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a photo of the guitar but don't know how to post it. I'll be away for a few days so I'll work out the technology on return.

The fretboard has very minimal wear for a guitar of its age so maybe it has been replaced in recent times. The body of the guitar certainly shows plenty of signs of playing and general wear and tear.

Gmac.
 

hansmoust

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Hello Gmac,

That's obviously a replaced fingerboard. Guild never did that many position dots passed the 12th fret on regular guitars.
However, you mentioned it's a great guitar to play and I guess that's all that really counts.

You might find it interesting to know that your guitar was part of a medium size batch of 24 instruments of which the majority were X-175s and a few were X-150s. Your guitar was finished in 'final assembly' on Tuesday September 5th, 1961 together with 2 other X-175Bs.

Hope you will enjoy this little piece of information.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

kelvinator60

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Also looking at the picture I can see the lines of where the original Franz pickups used to be. The Dearmonds are obviously replacements as well. Even without seeing the outline of the original Franz pickups Guild only used white topped Dearmonds to the best of my knowledge.

Having said this, that guitar looks great! You have a great player guitar you can gig with and not worry as much as if it were 100% and in mint condition. Hard to go wrong with that one. Hey I'll take it. LOL
 

hansmoust

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early Starfires w. DeArmonds

kelvinator60 said:
The Dearmonds are obviously replacements as well. Even without seeing the outline of the original Franz pickups Guild only used white topped Dearmonds to the best of my knowledge.

Hello Kelvinator,

Yes, the DeArmonds are obviously replacements but re. the use of white topped DeArmonds on Guilds I can tell you that a limited amount of the early Starfires were outfitted with black topped DeArmonds. I have personally seem something like 5 guitars with that feature, so they do exist.

Here's one:

[img:500:271]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/StarfireBlackDeA.jpg[/img]

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

kelvinator60

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Hey Hans,

Love your book. Was referencing something in it just the other night in it.

RE) Dearmonds, it seems there is / are always exceptions. LOL
 

hansmoust

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kelvinator60 said:
Hey Hans,

Love your book. Was referencing something in it just the other night in it.

RE) Dearmonds, it seems there is / are always exceptions. LOL

Thanks Kelvinator,

..... and yes, those exceptions are a researchers nightmare!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
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SugarMountain

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Really nice guitar, looks just like the one Stephen Stills played in Buffalo Springfield

i have a super old photo of them rehearsing and hes playing it
 

hansmoust

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SugarMountain said:
Really nice guitar, looks just like the one Stephen Stills played in Buffalo Springfield

i have a super old photo of them rehearsing and hes playing it

Hello SugarMountain,

Is this the photo you're referring to? If it is, Steve Stills is playing a Guild DE-400 Bl. here. Similar in construction but with a 2-inch deep body.

[img:752:464]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/SteveStills_1.jpg[/img]






Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 
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x-175

Thanks guys for all your feedback. I am having fun with the X-175. Yes, the pick ups are replacements but the originals came in a box with the deal. I have had my local luthier/guitar guru go over it and make a few adjustments. He likes it and enjoys having it in the shop to play with. I have it booked in for some refinements in a few months when he has some spare time. Thanks to Hans's intimate knowledge I even have a guitar birthday to celebrate. I'll buy a six-pack and lock myself in the front room when the time comes.

Gmac.
 
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Pick ups

Darryl,

The original pick ups are the white plastic tops. The replacements are a recent addition. Very new and shiny. Can't tell you much more than that. There are no markings etc.

GM.
 
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