Guild X-175 Manhattan Special Hollowbody Review

Great Hollowbody

This Guild Manhattan X-175 is really a great hollow body for the money. I have never owned or played Guild before and I have been playing Guitar for 50 years and I am very pleased with the resonance and tone. I have had no issues with intonation or tuning stability seems to be excellent. I love the color, quality and workmanship If you want to play this guitar in front of a very… read more loud amplifier (Heavy Metal) stack this may not be the guitar for you because the body really is resonant and it will feedback easily. I owned an ES-330 when I played in rock bands in the early 1970 s and it performs much like the old 60 s vintage ES-330 s, I wish I never sold that ES-330. It is so much like it with the resonance and tone I thought I had my ES-330 back. The sustain is excellent and I like to use the resonance for artistic feedback. Solid bodies just don t have the resonance I like. I think the rock a Billy tone is perfect. I own several Gretsch's and if you are a Gretsch player looking for a little more resonance and a little more bite this Guild will be for you. When I want a clean tone it sound really smooth and clean with reverb and some delay and works great for all styles in my opinion. I highly recommend this as a great buy for country, rockabilly, old rock, and classic rock. I would not recommend for Metal etc. it is too alive for death metal. If I had to recommend an improvement it would be a spit coil humbucker on the neck but the two single coil pickups really sound great I would recommend this as a buy. The price will only go up in my opinion. Finish is more matte than gloss but this allows the wood to vibrate better and I think is better than having a dozen coats of high gloss that weighs the wood down so it won t vibrate. I love it.

---

Cancel Comment

Guild X175 Manhattan Special

I bought this Guild on 6/29/2021 to replace and older Guild I had sold. I quickly regretted the decision to have sold my older one because I love full bodied Guild Archtops. I couldn't be happier with this purchase. this is my go to Rockabilly Monster. I love the 9-1/2 finger board radius and the DeArmond Dynasonic pickups. The Malibu Blue finish is spectacular. I run this beauty… read more through a Harmony H50 tube amp. Thanks Riley.

---

Cancel Comment

Surf guitar here I come . . .

Needed a hollow body with single coils to get close to the Duane Eddy sound. Also wanted to try some Link Wray, Ventures and Shadows type sounds. It does that 50's/60's vibe really well and the vibrato bar can be used without going out of tune. No doubt it's a looker with that gorgeous blue paint job. The real surprise was cranking it through a JCM800 Marshall stack. Add some… read more delay and you've got instant Cult. Sounds awesome once you get the feel of hollow body feedback with a big amp. I'm usually a Flying V guy and I spend a lot of time above the 12th fret. That's not so easy with the X-175, but use one of the other scale shapes for your solos and move it below the 12th fret - problem solved with a killer sound thrown in as a bonus. Loses a star for the not quite good enough case. Looks like it was put together in a hurry with creases in the exterior vinyl. I didn't buy this for the looks of the case, it's all about the sound of the guitar. So I'll put some Sweetwater stickers over the case and continue to have fun with my Guild X-175. That is if I can wrench it from the hands of the bass player and drummer . . .

---

Cancel Comment

Great Tone

I was looking for a hollow body to expand my tonal options. I saw the demo video and this one looked promising for tonal a variety of tonal options it offers between pickups, tone knobs, and volume knobs. It did not disappoint. I am impressed and love the tone. This guitar has great sustain. When practicing, I have accidentally stumble onto some cool feedback tones as well.… read more This will likely be my main guitar for a while. At least while I continue to learn the different sounds that are capable.

---

Cancel Comment

Enhance your blues

Wow! Wife gave this as a birthday present and now I spend all my free time with the guitar. I own a few Guilds and thought this would be similar to my Starfire V or possibly my D40 acoustic but boy was I all wrong. The X-175 Special has a personality all its own and she's not afraid to show it. If you have blue eyes the guitar will make them sparkle, if you like to wear denim the… read more guitar will brighten even the most faded. If you have blue suede shoes the guitar will rock you right down to your socks and if you get the blues now and again the X-175 will smurff those blues completely away. Guild claims "Made to be Played" they need to add "and played, and played, and played". This baby just won't quit. Guild doesn't claim any acoustic representation but I found the X-175 to be clean and audible in living room sized settings. Plug in the amp and it's like a beacon of bright white light illuminates the hearing senses. Way to go Guild! Many thanks to Patrick and Sweetwater for helping my wife afford this awesome present.

---

Cancel Comment