Back in the Guild saddle, again.

[mad dog]

It didn't take long. Did a trade plus cash deal over the weekend for an elegant and beautiful X-500. No pix yet cause my camera's off getting repaired. But I still had to share.

It's a 2001, one of the last Westerly-built X-500s. Surprising in certain ways:

- Big yes, not as heavy as I thought it would be.
- The wooden bridge sounds quite good. Sacrifices some note clarity and volume down low I think, on neck p/u only. But far better than I expected.
- Impressive setup and playability. Some bigger hollowbodies are a struggle to play. Not this one.
- Excellent p/us. The neck only is where the warm jazz is. More definition here than I expected, though it would probably sound more to my taste with a different bridge. The bridge p/u is WONDERFUL. Middle and bridge only positions are the biggest surprise. This guitar has twang!
- No soundpost, but getting less feedback than expected. It's there all right, just not overwhelming till things get real loud.

.11s on there now. Maybe a bridge swap sometime. Meanwhile, the X-500 is a joy to pick up. It's great to have a Guild again.

MD

 

[Brad]

Congratulations on the the new axe!
I hope to get an x-700 sometime soon.
Just curious about the 11's and getting a nice fat jazz tone. I have always had to use heavier strings on my Gibsons to make it work.

Looking forward to some pics,

Brad

 

[mad dog]

Brad:

This guitar plays so easy with the .11s, it's tempting to leave them on. But I know going up to .12s would probably bring out even more tone. Never had a guitar like this, so it's all a bit of a learning curve. I'm loving this X-500!

MD

 

[Guilderagain]

MD,

You got the X-500, good on you mate! It's one of my favorite Guild X boxes to play - just now finished practicing some jazz chord melodies. I've got 11's on mine too; TI.

Have fun with it!