X-180 Park Avenue

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Would anybody care to discuss the X-180? They have soundposts, right? And SD1 buckers? Did any of them come with a bigsby? Were there any colors besides blond and sunbust? Jake and Squawque, you guys have one, right? There's not a lot about them on the net.

 

[northbayj]

I love the bound headstock with the chesterfield inlay. Seems like that is unique to the x180. I thought they were semi-fancier x175s, but if they had soundposts, does that mean they had the same body dimensions as x170s?

 

[matsickma]

I believe the body size of the X180 is similar to a X170 but they are deeper and do not have a soundpost. The lack of a sound post is the reason I walked away from buying one in the past. A few years back Warpdrive Music was selling a bunch of these. One I was seriously considering buying at the time was a X180 that was a very deep blue. Very unusual color. The X180 blue was not the same color as the X160 Rockabilly blue. It was much darker.

M

 

[matsickma]

Oh...I believe the pickups were Fender reissue Guild Humbuckers.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Mat,

Please pardon my ign'ance, but what is the difference between Fender reissue Guild humbuckers, and others like the SD1 and SD2?

And since the 180 is deeper and doesn't have soundposts, is it basically an X500? Did Guild ever make anything with soundposts?

hf

 

[matsickma]

Hi Darryl,

Hans is probably the right guy to answer most of these questions. To my knowledge only the X170 and it less ornate cousin the late 1980's X160 (i.e., not the Rockabilly model) came with a sound post.

In regards to the pickups...it is my understanding the Fender reissue pups look like the Guilds except have a 3 + 3 adjusting screw configuration instead of the standard Guild 2 + 1. I cannot comment on sound quality or tone. I beleive there was a thread about these pickups a while back. I assume any of the Corona guitars with the "Guild" pickups (X500, X700, X180) came with the Fender reissues. I believe the SD pickups are the Seymore Duncan pups used on Bluesbirds and reissue S100's.

M

 

[Squawk]

I have an X-170 - not a 180. I had contemplated a 180 at one point, but the 170 came my way first. I do not know about the sound post in the 180 - in fact, I didn't know about the soundpost in the 170 until Hans told me to look for it. I am pretty sure that the 180 is deeper, but all other dimensions are identical. The headstock binding is cool - mine doesn't have it.

 

[Huibvh]

Hi,

i'm new here.
Bought me a Guild x180 on ebay. Serial nr CR 000047. Beautyfull guitar, sound varies from clear and dry to mellow and dark. Very different compared to my Starfire 4 (also Fender),also HB-1 humbuckers.
I can't see any soundpost, its as hollow as can be. The Fender frontline 2002 says: 16" body, 3" deep. 2 Guild HB-1 humbuckers.
Could be built in the Fender custom shop??? Looks great
Anyway, that those Guilds give you a great value for your money.

Sorry, i don't write English very often.

Huibvh
Belgium

 

[fronobulax]

Hi,

i'm new here.
[snip]
Sorry, i don't write English very often.
Huibvh
Belgium

Welcome and your English is good enough.

 

[krysh]

Welcome and your English is good enough.

+1

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

HUIBVH,

Welcome to the party. If you hadn't said otherwise, I would assume you're a native speaker of English.

Because Coastie improved my name, people here (and Skwalk too) call me "Hatted Frau." Among other things.

 

[Huibvh]

Thanks


it's nice to be welcome.
Some more info on the 180X
the fender frontline catalogue 2002 saysthatr the wre available in Blond and Antique Burst. They don't mentiona sound Post, the only guitar with a center block is the starfire4.
The differeence with the X-5OO is that the X-500 has a laminated spruce top and an ebony fingerboard. It is a 17" body, 3 3/8 " deep. The neck is a 5 pece curly maple. The inlay is MOP-Abalone.
Does anybody know when and how much X-180's were built?

Huibvh

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

It must be that Guild doesn't put sound posts (or soundblocks) in any guitar that's over about two and a half inches deep, which is 63.55 millimeters.

 

[BluesDan]

X-700 Westerly.....negative on the sound post.

 

[Squawk]

It must be that Guild doesn't put sound posts (or soundblocks) in any guitar that's over about two and a half inches deep, which is 63.55 millimeters.

They also don't necessarily put them in thinner guitars either - my Starfire III does not have a sound post - and it does feedback sooner than my X170.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

That may be one reason why I like a starfire 4, 5, 6, and 12.

 

[Guildtarzan]

Hi! Brand new to this forum. I recently acquired a Park Avenue X180 & am totally enamored with it. It's probably, at least for my ears, the best sounding guitar I've ever owned. However, I'd sure like to get any stats, specs, history, etc. on this wonderful work of art, so any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Welcome to the jungle.

As a tribute to your name, here is one of my favorite parodies of Dylan.

"Guildtarzan"
(With apologies to Ray Stevens)

He's free
as the breeze.
He's
always at ease.
He
lives in the jungle and hangs by his knees.
He
swings through the trees
without a trapeze
In his B.V.D.'s.

He's
got a union card,
and he's
practicing hard
To play the guitar.
Gonna be a big star.
He's
gonna go far
And carry moon
beams
home in a jar.

He
ordered Chet's Guitar course C.O.D.
Makes "A" and "E,"
and he's working on "B."
Digs "C"
and "W" and R&B.
And me
and the chimpanzee
agree
that one day soon
he
will be
a celebrity.


Guildtarzan,
he's a Guildtar man.
He's all you can stand.
Give him a hand,
Guildtarzan

I don't know much about the X-180 except that it doesn't have soundposts. Does anybody in LTGdom know if any of them came with a bigsby? I hope to get one someday in one of the rare colors Guild used--emerald, purple, etc

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Guildtarzan and welcome: can't help you much with either your guitar or the lyrics to George of The Jungle but welcome any. If you don't have a copy of the Guild Guitar Book by our friend and fellow BBer Hans Moust, look into finding one. I flipped through mine but it seems to stop at the X175 ...really. Anyway, welcome! cj

 

[krysh]

sorry, no info here, too.
but welcome guildtarzan.