Help with X-175 purchase

Mbf90 · May 22, 2023

Hello,

I have done a lot of research on various Guild archtops and have settled on a vintage x-175 as my next guitar purchase. I want one somewhere in the 60s to mid to late 70s because I want one that has the mahogany neck and no sound post. I am also partial to blondes.

My question is regarding this 1976 blonde listed on Reverb: https://reverb.com/item/65026022-1976-guild-x-175-w-ohc. Outside of the 3 binding cracks in the fretboard and worn frets, it looks to be in good shape. I thought I would get on here and ask the experts. What do you guys think about it? Do you think those binding cracks are an issue or may point to other issues maybe from heat or humidity? From what I can tell the binding looks good around other areas of the guitar.

Just trying to cover all the bases. Any guidance/advice would be much appreciated

Thank you,

Matt

GGJaguar · May 22, 2023

Welcome to LTG! I have a '76 X-175 that I like very much and highly recommend that model. The Reverb guitar looks okay. The binding cracks are very common on the '70s guitars and not a big deal (a little dab of glue will keep them in place if they fall off). The frets could be an issue if they are really low (I don't play well with low frets). The other thing is to ask the seller about the neck angle. Is the saddle at the bottom or very nearly at the bottom of its adjustment or is there some room to lower it, if needed? Get some more pix if you can. Also, confirm the serial number. That guitar has a cast, hinged tailpiece which is usually found on earlier X-175s (it could be a '74), but with Guild there are always exceptions. Good luck with your X-175 hunting and when you find one, be sure to tell us all about it in your New Guitar Day post!

matsickma · May 22, 2023

As a FYI ...to date I have not heard of any X175's with sound posts. The bigger decisions is the pickups. 70's have vintage HB1's. 50's and early '60's have Franz single coils. Between these time periods the small Guild humbucker is used on X175's.
M

GAD · May 22, 2023

My ‘83 X175 has a sound block in it.

1983 Guild X175 | GAD's Ramblings

This big ol’ thick piece of blonde jazz box goodness is a 1983 Guild X175 guitar. I scored this gem from a user over on the Let’s Talk Guild forum who thought I might appreciate it and write it up. How could I say no, especially for the nice price he offered and the excellent …

www.gad.net

matsickma · May 23, 2023

Well..."bust my britches"... A sound post X175 has been well documented by GAD! I better stay caught up on my Guild schoolin to avoid more "foot-in- mouth" moments! Great article and beauty of a X175 sample.

I had owned a Sunburst X175, late 70's model, a while back and let it go. No sound post was in my sample.
M

GAD · May 23, 2023

matsickma said:
Well..."bust my britches"... A sound post X175 has been well documented by GAD! I better stay caught up on my Guild schoolin to avoid more "foot-in- mouth" moments! Great article and beauty of a X175 sample.

I had owned a Sunburst X175, late 70's model, a while back and let it go. No sound post was in my sample.
M

I’ve found that it’s really difficult to stay abreast of all the changes and details and permutations of Guilds. Hope I didn’t come off as harsh in my response. I’m all about data and was just posting data which I often get in trouble for since I seem brusque.

Being here and being around people like Hans and Ralf has helped me to try and not make declarative statements unless I can show documented proof - and that’s a rarity.

walrus · May 23, 2023

Welcome, Matt!

walrus

Mbf90 · May 23, 2023

Thanks for the welcome and quick responses everyone!

I asked the seller the questions that GGJaguar advised me to raise and here was their response:

“Currently the guitar's action is extremely low and the frets are very low and flat. The saddle is running out of thread to be lowered any more, however I don't consider there to be any issue with the neck angle. I think a re-fret would solve any future playability issues long before a neck reset would enter my line of thinking. If it were mine I would also bump the action 1/64 or so on either side to get a more traditional Jazz tone and action, but this guitar is on consignment from the owner so we are trying not to change anything besides the strings.”

They did not include the serial number or anymore pictures but I guess focused on the neck and fret question. If the neck angle and action would be fine after a refret, I am contemplating whether or not I want to throw out an offer lower than the asking price to accommodate some of the cost of having a local luthier do a refret and setup.

matsickma · May 23, 2023

No offense taken by me! I woke up this morning and saw the info and a "Jethro Bodine" reply seemed in order!

hearth_man · May 23, 2023

Yeah, when it comes to the X-175 there have been many feature changes over the years. It's one of the Guild models that had been around from the early days. To add to the others who noted feature changes, I had a '75 X-175 that had the hinged harp tailpiece, no sound block. Currently I have a '77 model that has a 5 piece neck and no sound block. I believe the '78 model is the same as the '77 model.

Good info all round.

Mbf90 · May 23, 2023

From what I’ve found researching, the earlier versions in the 50s and 60s had a slightly thinner body at 3 inches versus the 3 3/8 inches in the 70s and 80s. The 50s and 60s models mostly seem to have the Franz single coil pickups, and the 70s and 80s went to guild humbuckers. Mostly 3 piece mahogany necks with a strip of maple in the middle up until the late 70s where they seem to have switched to maple with thin Mahogany strip down the middle. The 5 piece necks seem more rare. Then it looks like they added the bridge sound posts in the 80s.

Mbf90 · Jun 8, 2023

So, I offered them $2100 knowing it would need a re-fret probably in the near future, and they accepted. I took some pictures shown below.

It looks very well taken care of and in great shape for its age. The finish looks great. I wonder if it is laquer or poly? Underneath the floating bridge you can see a much lighter color to the finish and much whiter binding in the few small places it has chipped off so a lot of yellowing has occurred. It has a nice aged patina.

The frets are quite low and flat but it is still playable without really buzzing. It also a nice acoustic voice compared to my es335 and I verified no sound post.

Interesting thing is there is no sticker inside the f hole. I included pictures to show this. There is some white specks in the left f hole where maybe a sticker was. Not sure. Also, they listed it as one owner all original. From what I can see that seems to match up but the insert in the case is for an x-500 with a different serial number not a x-175 and the serial number on the headstock.