Pretty hard to find rare guitar, especially in a blonde natural finish. The Guild X-500T is an upscale full 17″ hollow body with two P-90 pickups and a Guildsby (Bigsby). Been on my wishlist for sometime, but you rarely see these come up for sale. Showed up in my REVERB feed and I bought it instantly. I knew I would regret it if I missed this one.

The X-500T is a real Rockabilly masterpiece and a great cross section of two of my favorite guitars Gibson ES-295 and Gretsch 6120! There are not a lot of big hollow body guitars with P-90s around these days. The Guild X-500T and the Gibson ES-295 stand out in that regard. Even Gretsch does not have a stock guitar with two P-90s.

This 2001 Guild X-500T was built (going by inside label) in the Westerly, Rhode Island factory. Spruce top, Figured Maple back and sides, 1 11/16th” nut width. The neck thickness is .86″ at the first and .93″ at the 9th fret with a 12” radius. Five piece flamed Maple Neck. Ebony fingerboard which features inlays made from genuine pearl blocks and abalone inserts. The tuners are gold Grovers, the pickguard is the Guild-emblazoned stair-step design as used on Guilds of this era. Came with nice Guild hardshell case and is in excellent condition with original hang tags. Weights 8-lbs 7-ozs.

Features two volume, two tone controls, 3-way pickup selector and a master volume. Two Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog-Ear P-90 Pickups.

The Guild X-500T is based on the Guild X-500 and will be forever linked to the DE-500 Duane Eddy model which was made in limited numbers with a thinner body with a Bigsby. Guild X-500T has a laminated spruce top that is made from two pieces of Sitka spruce selected by plant manager at Westerly, Willie Fritscher. The Guild X-700 has a carved top which makes them pricey, but is similar to the X-500 with bound f-holes, ebony fretboards with the high-end abalone inlays. These guitars are step above the popular Guild X-175, X-170, X-160, as they feature binding on neck and around headstock, higher-end inlays and gold hardware.

Guild’s highest-end jazz guitars are the Guilds Artist Award models. They have carved tops and are basically acoustic instruments with floated pickups and controls. These are hand-crafted instruments aimed at jazz players with the highest end appointments. Since my Jazz chops suck, these are out of my league.

The Guild X-500T is a more rockabilly version due to the two P-90 pickups and the Guildsby vibrato. Due to the pickups the X-500T is brighter and snarlier than the humbucker HB-1 version. Being single coils the P-90s are a bit noisier with its 60 cycle hum and that is part of their appeal. Since these are large guitars, their size contributes to a deeper sound. The X-500T laminated spruce top actually helps with feedback as the top is stiffer. A carved top is more resonant and at higher volumes feedback is a big issue.

This Guild X500T is a full hollow body with no sound post. See some pictures I took with my iPhone inside the large “F” holes.

Notice the rough routes for the P-90 pickups in the picture below. Seems Guild did not bother to make a proper jig for these P-90s.

Hans Moust, author of the Guild Guitar Book (the definitive authority on Guild Guitars) posted this on Let’s Talk Guild:
At Guild they used a jig to rout out the tops of the hollowbody electrics to allow for the pickups to be installed. They had a specific jig for routing out the holes for the humbuckers, but the P-90s were a recent addition on the X-500, and they never made the proper jig for it. The worker would drill 4 holes at the corners and the rest of the material was removed free-hand with a router, which is the reason why it looks like it does.

Note that the X-500T is different from the similar X-550P. The X-550P was a signature model for Dave Gonzales of The Paladins. The X-550Ps were made in the Fender Custom Shop and while they had the same P-90 pickups, it featured a 25 5/8″ scale length like the older 1950s Guild X-500s. The X-500T has the shorter 24 3/4″ scale (similar to Gretsch 6120 and Gibson ES-295).

The Guild X-500T had a list price of $3,599.99 in 2001. So these were not inexpensive guitars and given that this model was made at the Westerly, Rhode Island facility, (not the later Fender Corona, California factory) the build quality is top notch. Unfortunately Guild only kept serial numbers for the combined group of X-500s and X-500Ts, so there’s no way of telling right now how many X-500Ts were actually built. I think this X-500T was from 2001. However serial number can easily get confused as 1995. I do not believe any X-500T versions were actually produced in 1995.

The P-90 pickups are great. The neck pickup produces a great jazzy tone with all the woody overtones. Roll-off the tone and you can swing with the best. The middle position (both pickups) wonderful balanced sound. The bridge pickup has all the girth and snarl of an angry Les Paul Jr. but with the woody tone of the big maple guitar.

  • Guild (Paladin Style) X-500T
  • Built in the Westerly, Rhode Island facility
  • Natural Finish
  • 43 mm Nut
  • Flamed Maple Back & Sides
  • Five Piece Flamed Maple Neck
  • Sitka Spruce Top
  • Ebony Fingerboard
  • Genuine MOP & Jewelry Grade Abalone Block Inlays
  • Lower Bout is 17-inch
  • Upper bout is 12.5-inch
  • Body Depth is 3 1/2-inch
  • Guildsby (Bigsby) Tremolo
  • Metal Compensated Floating Bridge
  • Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog-Ear P-90 Pickups
  • Gold Grover Machine Heads
  • Bound Body, Neck, Head & ‘F’ Holes
  • Gold Hardware
  • Weight: 8-lbs 7-ozs
  • Original Guild Plush Lined Case

Guild X-160 Rockabilly and Guild X500T

Gibson ES-295 and Guild X-500T

Gretsch G6120EC Eddie Cochran and Guild X-500T

The Guild X-500T is a large bodied guitar. I posted this picture next to one of my Telecasters as a comparison.

Fender Telecaster Thinline Limited Edition and Guild X-500T

Gold hardware tends to tarnish with age and use. This guitar was in excellent condition, but the gold Grover tuner buttons and the Guildsby arm showed this usual tarnish. I swapped out the Grover tuner buttons with brand new ones I had that are exactly the same.

I swapped out the flat style Bigsby arm with a gold Duane Eddy cast one that I have used on several of my other guitars. I love the feel of these. Plus they look better as well. Put own a set of 11 gauge D’Addario Half-Round strings. These are brighter then most flat wound strings.

Original Bigsby arm

Duane Eddy arm

Please read this excellent review on the Guild X-500T by GAD.