Guild ST S-200 T-Bird & Hagstrom H-III

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november 2016 Guitarist
review GUILD S-200 T-BIRD & HAGSTROM H-III
dot-inlaid ’board’s camber is relatively flat
at 381mm (15 inches) with wide and low
wire (which could do with a final buff ) and
simple dot inlays. The head rakes back like a
Gibson, but, importantly, has straight string
travel over the lubricated nut to the generic
but good-enough tuners. Two base-placed
strap buttons also mean, coincidentally like
the T-Bird, that it’ll stand up leant against a
wall or amp.
The T-Bird, by comparison, looks like a
school project that went a little west. Its
slightly cut-out square base means it’ll
stand up leant against your amp, so the
flip-out rear stand that it originally featured
is, not surprisingly, omitted here. If the
base makes a certain sense, the different
horns look unconnected, although the wide
waist, curves and over-long body give an
appearance that does grow on us. At 39mm
in depth, it’s thinner than the H-III, but
has those SG-like edge chamfers again,
which are quite heavy on the bass-side,
simulating both forearm and belly-cut
contours. It’s a little lighter, too, despite its
all-mahogany construction, and we have
a bound rosewood ’board with narrower
higher-fret wire, cream binding that’s been
pretty nicely rolled, smart block inlays
and, ahem, that headstock (see the school
project comment).
The Tremar vibrato is a peculiar device.
A top plate pivots in the upturned front of
the baseplate, which is stopped from being
pulled off by the string tension by a single
screw attached to a spring. This sets the
travel of the unit, specifically the up-bend,
W
hile Guild’s early history
was centred on archtops and
hollowbodies, clearly inspired
by the Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguar, its
first solidbody range that appeared in the
early 60s was very much en vogue with that
swinging decade. Of that range, the S-200
Thunderbird was introduced in 1964 and
ran through to 1968 before Guild went for
a more conservative – and very Gibson
SG-like – restyling.
Hagstrom’s dual decade of electric
guitar manufacture produced a slew of
models (many appeared under different
brand names such as Kent in the USA
and Futurama in the UK) that referenced
classics such as the Les Paul and ES-335, not
to mention this reasonably conventional-
looking H-III, which was launched in 1965,
along with the twin pickup H-II. In today’s
range, these guitars fall into the RetroScape
series with more leftfield designs including
the Impala and Condor, but like the now-
named Guild S-200 T-Bird, they share a
bit of an obsession with slide-switches for
pickup changes and tone colouration.
Where to start? Both guitars share the
same Gibson scale length and Hagstrom’s
Vintage Tremar vibrato just like the
originals. The H-III has a Strat-meets-SG
vibe with a 41mm-thick alder body with
pointed offset horns and plenty of SG-like
edge chamfering. The maple neck is bolt-
on, quite heavily glossed on the back and
topped with the synthetic Resinator (which
we suspect is similar to the Richlite used
by Godin and Martin, among others). The
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Our obsession with all things 60s continues as we check out two switch-
laden blasts from yesteryear to discover whether they’re still valid today…
GUILD S-200 T -BIRD
& HAGSTROM H-III
£745 & £589
What You Need To Know
Another new Guild?
Yes, the brand is on a roll this year.
Hot on the heels of the Bluesbird
comes this T-Bird, originally the
S-200 Thunderbird that appeared in
the early 60s and was famously used
by Muddy Waters.
And Hagstrom?
The original Hagstrom company
made electrics in Sweden from
the late 50s to the early 80s. Via a
licensing deal with the Hagstrom
family, the brand reappeared in 2004,
with instruments made in China.
Who’s going to play these?
Anyone with a 60s obsession,
obviously, but with their onboard
switching options, both are
surprisingly useful, not least for the
creative recording guitarist looking
for different textures. Hagstrom
is popular with the punk/grunge
brigade, too, thanks in part to Pat
Smear (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
who has his own signature model
and a large collection of Swedish-
made Hagstroms.
Words Dave Burrluck Photography Joseph Branston
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GIT413.rev_guild.indd 109 28/09/2016 16:00