Guild X-175 Manhattan Special Hollowbody Electric Guitar Gold Coast

The Dynasonic single-coils are simply incredible, very sensitive and picking up every tiniest detail - they almost have piezoelectric qualities. They have just a hair less bite and depth than Lollar P90s, but also have far less hum and other unwanted noise. With the tone knob dialed back on the bridge pickup you have a convincing jazz box, or you can go full blast for screeching blues/rockabilly. The body itself sings nicely, but without too much shimmeriness - and with little feedback at studio volumes. For players who like clean tones, this guitar provides them in spades. I don't use pedals (except a looper) so I can't comment on that - I would suspect this guitar wouldn't do great with high distortion. I also can't comment on its fitness for gigging, or if it feeds back unreasonably at higher volumes. The neck is very sleek and playable, neither too thin nor too chunky, and out of the box I didn't need to adjust the relief - just bringing the bridge down slightly. The intonation is spot on, and the tuners seem to hold up reasonably well against bends and sustained play. The only complaints I have are minor: 1) Although I really like the tone control, the volume control could be a little better - it falters quite noticeably at low volumes, with cutouts and crackling. Perhaps this is inherent to the retro pickup design, and it's a tiny gripe compared to how great they sound otherwise. 2) While the low-gloss blue finish looks cool, it is rough to the touch and feels a bit cheap. I don't spend too much time rubbing my guitars, so not a big deal to me. But people looking for especially sleek or pretty guitars might not be a fan of this one. For me, it's money well-spent.