1953 Guild X175 (the label doesn't have a hyphen) Assistance Please

Coughlin

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1953 Guild X175 Makeover

Hello everyone. I'm a new member and have been scouring posts on here for a bit. I acquired a 1953 Guild X175 from eBay recently that I thought was a good deal and I was in need of understanding of the Guild world first hand. I'm a long time player and performer and have gone from Gretsch (younger days) to Gibson and stayed there for a long time. I always admired Guild and thought I'd like to have one someday. Well, I bough this pitiful guitar knowing that it needed a full going-through. Someone had not been kind. Knock-off P-90s, trashy tailpiece, black Gibson speed knobs, wrong switch, wrong bridge, no pickguard (we'll get to that later), and a general lack of upkeep. Nothing beyond my restorative skill having been groomed as a proficient restorer of older guitars. I never even played it when it arrived. I immediately took to striping it down and repairing some structural issues. That's all done now. I ordered the re-issue Guild Franz (not really at all) pickups from Cordoba Music Group. They came and I tested them. They are 7.14K Ohm and 7.17K Ohm. I reached out to several people for corrective measures. I'm sending them off to be rewound tomorrow to a comfortable low to mid 5K range. I'll fabricate my own baseplates. The tailpiece will be a middle 1950's Bigsby I've had lying around for a decade in search of the correct plywood guitar to put it on. That's not a dig, I just prefer carved or solid woods. I have the correct switch, pots, and knobs. Now, my questions to you fine Guild people are few, but important to me. First, where do I find someone who can make me a seven-ply pickguard? I've noticed that this is common for this era. Second, is there anyone who can tell me where to find the proper schematic/diagram for this guitar? It's got two pickups, but only two control knobs. How are these supposed to be wired? I'll keep my eyes peeled for the original style tailpiece, but I know chances are slim at finding that. I ordered a harp tailpiece from Cordoba, but it's just yucky to me and screams 'inappropriate'. I also ordered a modern X175 pickguard, but it is also not going to be going on this guitar after doing my research.

I would like to note that from what I've read here, I'm pleased at the professionalism and good conduct. I also want to add that Walter Broes was and still is my vintage guitar story. Walter, if you're reading, you may not remember this, but here it goes. In a distant past, he recommended to me that I'm probably chasing my tail with the modern reissues and clones and such. I was trying to square the circle within a budget and would never get to that happy place of the tone within my head if I didn't just bite the bullet and go old. I did just as he suggested and have been happy ever since. I bought a 1950 Gibson L-7CED, then an L-4CED, and then various other 1940's and 1950's Gretsches and Kays. He was dead on. My search of wholesome goodness was finally realized. There's something that the modern market can't even touch when it comes to tone when compared to the good ol' days. I have various older amplifiers from the 1950's and service them myself as a trained electronics restoration technician. I am now the owner of my first older (I will not say vintage because that term is silly without a qualifier) Guild. Structurally, I really like it. They did a great job back then. Now I'm faced with the task of getting it back to something close to the good times and good tones that I know it's capable of delivering. Thank you, Walter. You're my success story and I stand by that.

Thank you to everyone here. I'm not a big on-line person, but I'm pulling my hair out thinking of how I'm supposed to wire this thing. The pickguard thing isn't a top priority because I can have a five ply one made easily enough. I'll do that for the time being. I have scavenged photographs, enlarged, and made a tracing already to be sent off to WD Pickguards. They do a bang-up job.

Cheers, goodnight, until next time, and glad to be a member. I hope that it proves useful for all of us. Anyone with old electronics questions or luthier questions, feel free to hit me up. I've got more than a few years invested into the vacuum tube era. Over two decades in fact.
 

Walter Broes

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Hey Coughlin,

I'm afraid I don't remember.....please don't take that as any kind of insult! I don't have the greatest memory, and between having been in a very busy band and being behind the counter at a guitar shop three days a week, I talk to a LOT of people about guitars...!

Congratulations on the guitar - looks like you're doing what I would probably do with a guitar like that. The reissue Franz pickups are pretty great in that except for the exact shape of the baseplate, they're physically the same size as the originals, which is more than I ever expected would happen. fifties Franz pickups are all over the map resistance wise, and from what I've been told by various people, the earlier NY ones were quite a bit hotter than the late 50's/early 60's ones I love so much, so I guess the 7-something reading of the reissues is kind of a happy medium of the different years. They're a little hotter than what I'm used to myself, but that's easily corrected for less than the price of a new pickup, so there.

Wiring - I think if that guitar were mine, I'd wire it like a 50's Gibson as far as the volume and tone controls go, so you can dial back the volume a little without things going to full mud straight away.
 

gjmalcyon

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Welcome to the Fellowship of Guild Enablers. As you have observed, this is a generally civilized and supportive place, but we do require pictures whenever possible. It is easier than reading.

I did a little internet archeology with the Wayback machine, and came up with this from Guild's website in 2008. Don't know how accurate it is.

3QSbedi.png
[/IMG]
 
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adorshki

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Yeah great story, enjoy the fruits of your labor!
("Good luck" just ain't the right words here)
And yes, pics please!
 

Default

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Fwiw, alpep told me that the reissue Franzes are based on his Guild all-gold archtop.
 
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AcornHouse

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Welcome! Can’t wait to see some pics when you get it (re-)done.
 

Coughlin

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I would not expect you to remember a conversation from, I'd say, somewhere in the 2004 or so range. It was important to me, but probably just something casual to you. I went to Los Angeles and tried a Gibson ES-175 from 1954 and that was that. No worries.

You said that you'd make it like a '50's Gibson. What model are you referencing?
 

Coughlin

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I don't know how to add photographs. When I try, it asks me for a URL. The photographs are not online. They are on my computer. Sorry, I don't have much of a presence online. No social media. No website.
 

fronobulax

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I don't know how to add photographs. When I try, it asks me for a URL. The photographs are not online. They are on my computer. Sorry, I don't have much of a presence online. No social media. No website.

You need a host. I have found WordPress works for me. I just upload pictures there and link to them here. There are other hosting alternatives.

Sometimes another user will host pictures for someone else. The volunteer and the picture owner exchange email addresses in PMs, the pictures are sent to the volunteer and then the volunteer posts them here. If no one else has volunteered, I can but I'm busy enough that I can't guarantee they would be posted by July 4.
 

Coughlin

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Update: I sent off the tracing I painstakingly made from a photograph of a 1953 X150 and X175. I'm using WD Pickguards. Also, I now am in possession of correct pickup covers. Someone is making reproductions and selling them on eBay! When you purchase the reproduction pickups, there is only one variety...neck. I was wrestling about this issue when I got the pickups because there should be a taller cover for the bridge pickup. I was thinking about all these fabrication options. Shame on you, Cordoba! They offer the neck and bridge pickups with white covers, but not black. Oh, and by the way, the replacement covers are a different shape and not squared off like the new ones. They look really good. This reminds me of the issue with real Bigsbys versus the "Licensed" reissues that are prevalent these days. They are the close, to the untrained eye, but don't fool me. Same with the modern P-90 covers. The only thing you can get that's close is the Seymour Duncan Antiquity covers.

I'm still having trouble with the images thing. I have a hosting site for images, but I don't understand how to link to them. I'm working on it. This is sorcery to me.
 

gjmalcyon

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For more info about images, try this thread. Ignore the references to the rat ba$^&@ds formerly known as Photobucket. I'm using Imgur and it works pretty good for me.
 

fronobulax

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Ok, I think I'm going to try this...
x5ngqq

The link you tried to post was to
https://www.sendspace.com/pro/x5ngqq

It does not end with "jpg" so it is never going to display as an image on ltg.

I have never used sendspace but it looks like they want me to download a file rather than display.

You might try poking around and see if sendspace will craft direct link to the image.

Sorry :-(
 

Coughlin

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So, a friend of mine was finally able to help me out. Take a look at this schematic. Old people are awesome. He actually has tons of old Guild diagrams and literature.

 
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