Guild S-100 Polara

KEY FEATURES: Satin finish double
cutaway mahogany body and
three-piece 629mm [24.75"] scale
mahogany ‘Thin U’ profile set neck,
350mm [13.7"] radius Pau Ferro
fingerboard with ‘Racing Flag’ inlays,
24 extra jumbo frets, Seymour Duncan
SH-4 JB humbucker [bridge], Seymour
Duncan SH-1 ’59 humbucker [neck]
master volume, master tone,
three-way pickup selector toggle
switch FINISH: Natural Satin
CONTACT: espguitars.com
AT A GLANCE AT A GLANCE
KEY FEATURES: Gloss polyurethane
finish double cutaway mahogany body
and 629mm [24.75"] scale ‘Soft U’
profile mahogany set neck, 305mm
[12"] radius Pau Ferro fingerboard with
‘Pearloid Block’ inlays, 22 narrow
jumbo frets, 2 x Guild HB-1
humbuckers, 2 x volume, 2 x tone,
three-way pickup selector toggle
switch, nickel tune-o-matic bridge and
compensated stop tailpiece FINISH:
White [reviewed], Black, Cherry Red
CONTACT: guildguitars.com
MARCH 2019 TOTAL GUITAR
THE TG TEST
103
The force of the SG is strong in this one...
Yeah, just like the ESP/LTD Eclipse gear pays, ahem, tribute to the
Gibson Les Paul, the Viper has its wicked way with the aesthetics of
the SG. This is not a copy, however. The off set body is much deeper
than the lightweight SG, closer to a Les Paul, in fact. It also has an
incredibly thin neck.
This is a shredder’s guitar, then?
If you happen to thrive on the rapid-fi re heavy stuff , the 24 extra
jumbo frets, 350mm [13.7"] radius Pau Ferro, not to mention the
What’s with the Soundgarden reference?
An original white 70s S-100 is actually ‘superknown’ as the
constant companion of Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil. That
should give you some idea of what the Polara is capable of in terms
of tone and output. In fact, the twin HB-1 ’buckers fi tted to our
reboot are higher output than Kim’s 70s era pickups.
Do you get a rosewood ’board?
Well, it all depends when your S-100 left the factory. At some point
Guild switched to a Pau Ferro ’board just like you’ll fi nd on our LTD
ultra-slim neck profi le, will put a big fat grin on your Satan-
worshipping chops.
What’s the deal with the pickups?
You get American-made Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB and SH-1 ’59
humbuckers; aka the most iconic pup partnership since
Disney’s The Lady & The Tramp . Rest assured, these Seymours
have way more tonal variation than your usual overwound
meat-grinding metal pickups. This Viper is a rock/metal/
shred beast that - gasp! - actually sounds good through a
clean channel.
Viper and Mexican-built Fender stuff . You should fi nd plenty of
examples of both rosewood and Pau Ferro spec’d S-100s for sale
out there...
What’s the difference?
As Pau Ferro is harder than rosewood you can expect a slightly
brighter tone and a shinier surface. The diff erence will likely be
pretty subtle. In other timber-related news, you might well be
interested to know that the 3.2kg [7lb] S-100 is only two ounces
heavier than the Gibson and almost .9kg [2lbs] lighter than the
Yamaha and LTD.
LTD
VIPER-400M
All bite. No hiss
GUILD S-100
POLARA
Superunknown? Not for long...
£699
£629
TGR316.gear_test.indd 103 31/01/2019 19:19