❌SOLD❌ Guild X170 Archtop Electric Sunburst, 2002

Guild archtop guitars, like this beautiful, original condition Guild X170 Archtop built during 2002 in Westerly Rhode Island, have been popular with jazz and blues players for decades. The Guild X170, also sometimes identified as the X-170 on the same guitar (here the truss rod cover reads X-170, the label X170), was introduced in 1985 and produced until 2002.

The roots of Guild archtop guitars go back to a labour conflict at Epiphone during 1951. Unable or unwilling to come to terms with the workers, management moved production from New York to Philadelphia partly to break the strike. Many of the New York craftsmen moved to the new Guild company founded by Alfred Dronge, a music store owner and George Mann, a former Epiphone executive. The company naturally focused on archtop models, but by the 1960s electric and flat top acoustic guitars were the higher-selling items. The Guild F-412 and F-512 jumbo 12-string models are still some of the best built 12-string guitars.

This last year of production 2002 Guild X170 Archtop Electric Guitar is in very good condition. The model seems to have gained the name ‘Mini-Manhattan’ as it replaced the slightly larger, Spruce top X175 Manhattan.

The pickups are the original Guild SD-1 models, instantly recognisable with a three-screw adjustment system and two raised areas on the covers. These pickups were made by FMIC (Fender Musical Instrument Corporation) starting about a year after Guild’s transfer to FMIC in 1995. For a year of tooling up, Fender had the pickups made by Seymour Duncan. There’s an impression from the retention of the SD-1 name that the pickups were still made by Duncan, though they were not.

All the metal parts are gold plated, and the original etched Guild harp tailpiece is in good shape.

The Guild X170, like most electric archtops, uses maple laminates for the body to reduce feedback, and this example has a very nicely flamed set for the top, back and sides, nicely set off by the shaded finish. For bracing, there are two long bars running from the neck to tail blocks, and an approximately two inch wide, half inch thick sound posts or blocks under the bridge. The neck is maple with a typical Guild walnut center strip, and bound rosewood fingerboard with block, mother of pearl position markers. The bridge is a traditional compensated Rosewood, height adjustable model.

The finish is a very nice shaded gloss burst, in good clean condition with very light marking. Fret wear is light.

The original Guild-branded hard shell case is included, and contains the owner’s manual.