Guild S-100 Polara

91
september 2018 Guitarist
reviewGUILD JETSTAR & S-100 POLARA GUILD JETSTAR & S-100 POLARA
Video demo http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
THE RIVALS
All roads point to Gibson’s SG – the 2018
SG Standard is streeting around £1,000
and comes in Autumn Shade, Ebony and
Heritage Cherry and includes Gibson USA
fitted hardcase. Epiphone’s G-400 Pro SG
(approximate street price, £380) loads in
Alnico Classic Pro humbuckers and coil
splits – a great way to experience the SG
flavour and a favorite for budding Derek
Trucks slide wannabes.
The Viper is ESP’s offset SG-alike, the
LTD Viper 256 (approximate street price,
£330) in See Thru Black Cherry chases a
classic SG vibe but with master volume
and tone. ESP has just changed distributor
so stocks and prices will currently vary,
while Vintage has the more Guild-alike VS6
available in various formats and colours
from approximately £309 and with vibrato,
as the VS6V, for £429.
On paper both guitars share a quoted all-
mahogany construction (hidden under the
opaque finish), glued-in necks, pau ferro
fingerboards – originally the S-100 had a
rosewood ’board but was changed, from
mid-2018, to avoid the added complication
caused by the latest CITES import/export
restrictions – and dual pickups. However,
there are plenty of differences, not least
that the Jetstar is Chinese-made while the
S-100 is still Korean-made like the rest of
the Guild Newark Sts (although different
factories are used for different models).
There is another fundamental difference in
that the Jetstar, unlike the 60s original, uses
a longer Fender-style 648mm (25.5-inch)
scale; the S-100, and most of the other Guild
electrics, use a Gibson-style 629mm (24.75-
inch) scale.
Taking its cue from the 60s S-50, the
dual-cutaway body design retains a depth
of 38mm (the same as the Polara), that
curved base, as well as comfort contours
on both the treble and bass-side rear
waist . Meanwhile the back-angled,
reverse six-in-a-line headstock, which
appeared back in 1966, gives the model
considerable style.
A major difference, of course, is that the
Jetstar has two small humbucking Guild
LB-1 pickups (which actually make it more
like the original 60s-era S-100) although
the scratchplate-mounted volume, tone
controls and output jack are retained and
augmented, obviously, by a three-way
toggle pickup selector at the treble-side
tip. Two colours are offered: Black and
White with a tortoiseshell scratchplate
and Seafoam Green with a white
plastic scratchplate.
The Newark St. S-100 Polara certainly
sticks more closely to its 70s incarnation.
Again offered in a choice of colours, Cherry
Red translucent and solid Black and White
– all with the same black pickguard and
Guild logo – there’s a more deluxe vibe
with a cream bound fingerboard, large
pearloid block inlays and the classic dome-
topped Guild head with that 70s-style
solid ‘Chesterfield’ logo. Scale length aside,
it’s the Polara’s dual, full-size Guild HB-1
humbuckers – each with their own rear-
mounted volume and tone controls – that
give it enhanced versatility over the now
entry level Jetstar.
Feel & Sounds
These decade apart designs offer rather
different feels. Weight-wise neither is
overdone, the Jetstar slightly heavier than
the Polara, which, bearing in mind its
quite broad body (that makes the Polara
look quite svelte in comparison), is not
surprising. The bridge of the Jetstar sits
lower down on the body and the neck exits
at the 18th fret; the Polara’s neck leaves
around the 20th/21st fret and, despite
having quite a chunky heel, allows easier
The S-100 Polara sticks
more closely to its
70s incarnation, with
a more deluxe vibe
and an enhanced
versatility
2. Like the second pickup
here, the Jetstar
never used this more
contemporary ‘off the
shelf’ bridge/tailpiece
set-up. That said, it’s a
typically efficient set-up:
replicating hardware
from the 60s can be
expensive and not
always successful for
the modern player
3. This second version
headstock shape
appeared in the
mid-60s. The original
model, like the Polara
and Thunderbird,
had a three-a-side
asymmetrical design
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GIT437.rev_guild.indd 91 09/08/2018 18:42