I Got A New Electric Guitar.

[Silence Dogood]

In the last few years I've gone through several electric guitars trying to find what really works for me.  I've had a few Strats, a Tele, two LPs, a Jackson, a Music Man, and probably a few others that I am forgetting.  Some were nice and I connected with them for a while, but I ended up selling them all and never feeling like I had bonded completely. 

It dawned on me somewhere along the way that I really don't like most electric guitars.  I have played the acoustic for so long now that many electrics feel too small and toy-like to me.  And most of them seem way too cramped for space where the PUPS are.  With a Strat, for example, I end up digging my pick into the middle PUP when I play. 

At some point I became interested in hollowbody guitars as an alternative to the more common electric guitars.  They are basically acoustic guitars with PUPS mounted on them.  These guitars aren't very popular so it's a lot harder to find them to demo.  I played some at different shops and many of them are good instruments but just very poorly set up from the factory.  I came close to buying a high-end Gretsch but would always come back to the Guild.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I have always admired Guilds and I do like the road-less-taken aspect of them. They are a bit like Larrivee in this regard. Most people who play a hollowbody seem to have a Gretsch, and understandably so: they are wonderful guitars.   

I researched all I could about these Guilds but was never able to get my hands on one.  I decided at last to just take a chance and order one.  It is rare to order a guitar that becomes a lifetime keeper, but that is how I got my Larrivee over 20 years ago, so it does happen.

I've had the Guild for a while now and really cannot get enough of it.  When I first started learning about these hollowbodies, I decided I'd not get one with a Bigsby.  Truth told, I think they look kind of funny.  But now that I have one, I cannot imagine a guitar without one!  It's so much fun to use!  I'm a more laid-back player and love to play clean bluesy/jazzy/surfy/rockabilly-sounding stuff, so the Bigsby really is a must for those styles.  At this point I've adjusted my technique to where the bar is either in my right hand or very close to it at all times. 

I'm about to turn 50 and wanted a new guitar to mark what I'm referring to as "the second half of life."  I plan on this being the last guitar I ever buy (I know, I know...).  I now have the perfect electric and the perfect acoustic with my Larrivee.  Maybe someday if the right 12-string comes across my path I will pull the trigger on it.  But I really do want to be done with buying guitars.  I actually don't enjoy it anymore, but rather I enjoy finding something I connect with and spending time with it, learning new music, and just being a guitar player.  Finding new guitars, setting them up, finding the perfect set of strings, etc, etc, used to be fun for me, but now it's more of a hassle.  I just want to play guitar. 

I really wish Larrivee made a guitar like this.  I'd have bought one for sure if they did. 

Anyway, here is my new Guild:

[Queequeg]

Congrats on the new guitar and Happy 50th!
 

[Myopic Squirrel]

Congratulations Silence!

What a way to celebrate your half-century mark - with such a beautiful instrument. And great hearing it sounds as good as it looks! 

[William2]

Congratulations on your Guild guitar. 50 isn't time for your last guitar. I got one this year at 72. I wanted a special run Larrivee coming in later this year, but a 90 year put money down on it LOL!!!

[teh]

What a nice looking guitar, a memorable way to mark your 50th and to provide yourself a new outlet to make some great music. For my 50th, I bought my second Larrivee, a custom 12 string (LV03MT).

[B0WIE]

 What a beaut! I was very close to buying that same model in white. So cool looking. 
I'm around your age and "last guitar" would scare me. I guess I view playing guitar as traveling to another place, mentally. In life, I tend to visit the same places a lot but I occasionally want to find a new spot (and, sometimes I NEED to).

I agree about being "over" the hunt for the right strings, set-up, ect. That used to be fun but now it's an annoyance. I just want to make music with it and not work on it like it's a car. I even hate changing strings to the extent that I just sold a high-end guitar and told the buyer I was sending it with the 6 year old strings on it. As I type that I feel really embarrassed for doing it.

[mike in lytle]

Anyway, here is my new Guild:

I notice you do not say the model. I was looking at reverb, and I could guess, but I would rather not do that.
What is it? It looks really fine, and complete!
Mike

[Silence Dogood]

I notice you do not say the model. I was looking at reverb, and I could guess, but I would rather not do that.
What is it? It looks really fine, and complete!
Mike

It's called a Manhattan X175. Made in South Korea in the old Samick factory. I consider it a pretty high-end guitar, priced between the good Epiphones and the Japanese Gretches.  As far as I know, Guild no longer has a USA-made line.

  It has DeArmond PUPs that sound just killer. The vibrato system works perfectly and it holds tune extremely well.  It came with D'Addario regular 11s on it and it was set up just about right for me. I will try some different strings to see what really suits it. I'm also playing it with a very heavy pick which is unusual for me. A lighter pick just doesn't bring out the fat tone this guitar wants to give. 

[Silence Dogood]

What a beaut! I was very close to buying that same model in white. So cool looking. 
I'm around your age and "last guitar" would scare me. I guess I view playing guitar as traveling to another place, mentally. In life, I tend to visit the same places a lot but I occasionally want to find a new spot (and, sometimes I NEED to).

I agree about being "over" the hunt for the right strings, set-up, ect. That used to be fun but now it's an annoyance. I just want to make music with it and not work on it like it's a car. I even hate changing strings to the extent that I just sold a high-end guitar and told the buyer I was sending it with the 6 year old strings on it. As I type that I feel really embarrassed for doing it.

50 might seem soon for a last guitar, but I'm honestly tired of buying things.  I love to find what works and bond with it. My Larrivee has been like that and I've had it 21 years now. I don't want another acoustic, and if I really bond with this Guild like I hope I will, I won't want another electric.

[jpmist]

Really nice post, thanks for sharing. And nice guitar too, congrats!

I went thru something similar with my strat partscasters. I have zero ability to dial in tones simply due to too many choices. Two tone knobs, volume, 3 pickups, 5 switch points and that's before you get to the amp with it's volume and overdrive, compression, reverb and whatever flavor of the month dial in addition. I reached a point where I simply gave up and now prefer playing cleaner tones the strat does well. Also a bit of planning for the future where my hands will balk at playing acoustic when the nearby strat is so much easier.

Being a few decades your senior, let me assure you these are not your last guitars!

[StringPicker6]

Back around 2010 I foolishly traded a Gibson les paul Jr. that was in a satin burgundy finish.  Ah, the simplicity of one P90 pickup, one volume and one tone knob!!

[mike in lytle]

I like this thread. There have been personal comments given that are open and revealing.
Mike

[Silence Dogood]

Really nice post, thanks for sharing. And nice guitar too, congrats!
...
Being a few decades your senior, let me assure you these are not your last guitars!

Glad you enjoyed my post.  Thanks.  Sometimes when I get a bit of quiet time with my laptop, it's fun to try and write out something meaningful, so it's nice when it's appreciated by someone.

I understand what you mean about being my senior and my likely wanting more guitars in the future.  And I will even leave open the possibility.  But I really am tired of buying things.  For so many years I've rat-holed money (I don't use credit), saved, sold stuff, and it's somewhat disheartening to have all my money gone by getting something new, and then starting the whole endeavor over again. 

And not just that, but the joy of *getting* has really left me, and I hope it doesn't come back.  Even with getting this new guitar, it wasn't so much about getting a *new* guitar, but getting something that I love to make music with.  I don't really like going into guitar shops and demoing guitars anymore either, etc.  It just seems like a big hassle to find one, get it set up, find the perfect strings, upgrade parts, etc, etc.  It's all wearisome to me at this point.  I just want to play guitar. 

When I put this new Guild in my hands, I connected with it as a means to an end, that end being my playing the music I enjoy and getting the old sounds I want.  Back in the day I would have started looking at *other* hollowbodies and seeing what nuances they might have to offer, etc. 

It's that endless tone-chase that I'm so weary of.  Who cares if the Gretsch would have done this or that better?  Or if the D'Angelico might've had a superior bridge (as an example)?  It just goes round and round and I want to move on from it all.  I really think I have arrived at that place, which is exactly what I want. 

[Silence Dogood]

I went thru something similar with my strat partscasters.

Your bit here about a partscaster got me thinking of something.  About 25 years ago I built one and it was a truly amazing guitar.  When I got into the acoustic I was convinced that I was done with playing electric, so I offloaded the guitar, my amp, pedals (I had a minimal setup but it was nice), etc.  For years, as my wife predicted (she's good at that), I regretting letting go of the Strat. Now that I have the Guild and my simple little setup again, I'm finally (many years later!) over letting go of that Strat and honestly don't want it back again.  I feel at home with a hollowbody guitar.  But, man, someone ended up with a killer Strat on the other end of eBay back in the day!  I hope they are still enjoying it. 

[Sandstorm]

Nice guild!  I had my eye on the x175 recently too...the new production model has this beautiful natural finish and if I recall some soap bar looking p90s...reasonable price too.

Guild is a cool brand and I understand Yamaha purchased them recently so I'm excited to see if they start making some of the Starfires in Japan.  I love the look of a natur maple semi hollow or hollow.

[Silence Dogood]

I decided I wanted to dress up my Guild a bit so I had a custom truss rod cover made by Jayne Henderson of EJ Henderson Guitars.  Not only does she make great guitars and ukes, but she is known for her wonderful inlay work.  I named my new guitar "Gilda," sort of after the Rita Hayworth character, and because the name Gilda means 'golden.'  It seemed fitting for a vintage-looking gold guitar.   What do you think?

 

[teh]

Nice touch to an already classy headstock.

[StringPicker6]

I would be honored to have a single TOOTHPICK from Henderson Guitars!!  Very nice touch!