FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

Like all early Guild archtops, the X-175 Manhattan has bloodlines to Epiphone, namely the Broadway Zephyr Regent. The X-175 was in the middle of Guild's jazz archtop lineup during its entire production life (1953 to 1983). During the company’s tenure in New York City, Al Dronge personally inspected most of the instruments coming off the line and perhaps this X-175 was among them. In 1956, Guild outgrew the 5-man loft workshop and moved to a new, larger facility in Hoboken, New Jersey. Within 10 years, Guild "outgrew" that facility (read: the landlord wanted them out because they feared all the wood, sawdust and machinery was a fire hazard) and moved to its iconic location in Westerly, Rhode Island. This particular guitarhas features found only on the early X-175s. These include the plain headstock and bridge, 25 1/2 inch scale length, two controls, Kluson tuners, and Epiphone-style heel. In 1963, the body shape changed (wider waist) and, oddly, ebony bridges were used for a short time in 1966. The model continued to evolve through the end of its production.

 Body: Hollow; laminated 2-piece spruce top, laminated 1-piece figured maple back, and laminated maple sides; single bound top and  back

 Finish: Sunburst, nitrocellulose lacquer

 Neck: 3-piece Honduran mahogany/maple, set-in; stained maple headstock overlay with pearloid logo

 Fingerboard: Brazilian rosewood, bound; pearloid block markers

 Number of Frets: 20

 Pickguard: 7-ply black/white laminated celluloid

 Bridge: Rosewood on rosewood base with chrome Guild harp tailpiece

 Nut: Plastic

 Tuners: Kluson Deluxe, nickel

 Pickups: Two, Franz single coil with adjustable pole pieces

 Controls: Master tone, master volume, 3-way pickup selector

 Scale Length: 25 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut: 1 11/16 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout: 16 5/8 inches

 Body Depth: 3 1/8 inches

 Weight: 6.9 lb