1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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shadowplay
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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by shadowplay » Thu Apr 18, 2019 3:19 am

Pure elegance, I'd love that guitar, not so much for classic Jazz playing but I whenever I play a big box I turn into a ten bob Lee Underwood. I trust you put a tie on when you play it. I'd like to think that if you approached it in flipflops,a sloppy joe* and a pair of cargo shorts it would self-immolate.

It's so pretty I might even be allowed to have it out in the front room without being told it's making the place look untidy.

D

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by i love sharin foo » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:32 am

shadowplay wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 3:19 am
I'd like to think that if you approached it in flipflops,a sloppy joe* and a pair of cargo shorts it would self-immolate.


*Scottish for baggy teeshirt
Ha! I would also like to see it go up in flames if I attempted to play it while wearing that!

At first I wasn’t sure about it being blonde, but it is growing on me. It is nice to have the grain unfettered by pigment. It sounds fantastic, exactly like the old one. Guild really had something with these pickups. This one still has the original Guild HB1 pickups. They would transition to Duncan and then Fender made versions. The look of the guitar is total class, but it is very versatile. You could really do about anything with it if you wanted.
The whispers cut like hard rain, Like sugar in a hurricane

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by Bert Camenbert » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:42 am

Nice! Gorgeous guitars. I own three guilds: two starfires III from the late 90s (both with guildsbys, one with buckers and another with P90s, the Starfire with P90s is my favourite guitar, my number one) and an excellent D40 acoustic from the 80s. My acoustic has the same kind of sunburst as your first X170 and my Starfire with buckers is a blonde like your second X170. I don't understand why US-made Guilds don't have a higher rep.
Last edited by Bert Camenbert on Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:58 am, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by Bert Camenbert » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:54 am

øøøøøøø wrote:
Mon May 02, 2016 6:04 am
Telliot wrote:Beautiful, congrats!! I wonder how different these sound from a Starfire II, I assume the body is deeper?
They're quite different. More in common with an ES-175, or even an ES-5 truthfully.
Yeah: the starfires are thinner, lighter and they have one piece aluminum bridges. In my opinion, the older starfires with the Minibuckers, Dearmonds and even the big Guild HB-1 humbuckers, while they have their own sound, are more in the thinbodied Gretsch camp than in the Gibson camp. There are also Starfires with P90s, and they sound a lot like an ES-125 or an ES-330.

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by i love sharin foo » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:28 am

Bert Camenbert wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:42 am
I don't understand why US-made Guilds don't have a higher rep.
I wonder that myself. A lot of them are still really great bargains compared to similar Gibson or Gretsches. The quality is absolutely outstanding.
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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by Bert Camenbert » Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:46 am

There were Starfires made in the late 90s, early 00s, with P90s, real P90s, not the Franz pickups. In fact, I think they're Duncan Antiquities. I should know, I have a red Starfire III-90. They're quite rare, it took me a while to find mine and I paid too much for it. But it was worth it.

Image

Check this link: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2016/09/07/2002 ... re-iii-90/

And this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jl2vA1Gb_Q

And, as far as I know (I might be wrong), guild never made Starfires with Franz pickups. I've seen them with minihumbuckers, Dearmond pickups and, most commonly, with humbuckers, either Guild HB1s, Duncan SD-1s and Fender made humbuckers.

To my ears at least, the minibuckers, the HB-1s and, obviously, the DeArmonds that are in the older starfires don't sound much like regular humbuckers: chimier, treblier, more percussive and with better note separation. The Duncans SD-1s and the fender buckers, common in the Starfires made in the late 90s, early 00s, are regular humbuckers.

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by Maggieo » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:41 pm

i love sharin foo wrote:
Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:21 pm
I suppose I will fast forward three years and resurrect this thread from the dead... Been doing that a lot lately...

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That is one of the most beautiful guitars I've seen since the first post in this thread! :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :?
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I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by MT » Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:30 am

Blonde X-170’s - beautiful guitars aren’t they?

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by i love sharin foo » Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:04 pm

MT wrote:
Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:30 am
Blonde X-170’s - beautiful guitars aren’t they?

Image
Oh yeah! That is a beauty! It’s the right year (range) too. Did you add the Bigsby and bridge?
The whispers cut like hard rain, Like sugar in a hurricane

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by MT » Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:52 pm

No, the Bigsby was on there when I got it. How’s the neck on yours? This one feels like a bit of a C shape but narrow across at the nut. Perfect for my smaller hands.

My serial is in the 500’s and yours in the 700’s so they can’t be too many years apart in build date. Love the markings on your lyre tailpiece.

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by i love sharin foo » Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:08 pm

MT wrote:
Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:52 pm
No, the Bigsby was on there when I got it. How’s the neck on yours? This one feels like a bit of a C shape but narrow across at the nut. Perfect for my smaller hands.

My serial is in the 500’s and yours in the 700’s so they can’t be too many years apart in build date. Love the markings on your lyre tailpiece.
Mine has a 1 5/8" nut width. The profile is somewhat full, especially in the shoulders. Real balanced though. Not chunky.
The whispers cut like hard rain, Like sugar in a hurricane

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Re: 1994 Guild X170 Manhattan

Post by Bert Camenbert » Sat Apr 20, 2019 5:26 am

The bigsby can't be original: if it was, it would say Guild. Lovely guitars, by the way!

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