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

113
november 2016 Guitarist
review GUILD S-200 T-BIRD & HAGSTROM H-III
8
9
10
GUILD NEWARK ST
S-200 T-BIRD
PRICE: £745 (inc gigbag)
ORIGIN: Korea
TYPE: Offset double-cutaway
solidbody electric
BODY: Mahogany
NECK: 1-piece mahogany, ‘C’ profile,
glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
NUT/WIDTH: Bone/43.5mm
FINGERBOARD: Bound rosewood,
pearloid block inlays, 305mm
(12”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
HARDWARE: Nickel-plated Guild
tune-o-matic-style with Hagstrom
Vintage Tremar vibrato, Grover open-
backed tuners
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE:
51.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Guild LB-1 chrome-
covered humbuckers. Dual mode
slide switch. Mode 1 (neck pickup
only): volume, tone. Mode 2 (both
pickups): bridge and neck on/off,
tone (high-pass filter) slide switches.
Volume, tone
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.36/7.4
OPTIONS: None
RANGE OPTIONS: The more
conventional S-100 Polara
costs £699
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISHES: Antique Burst
(as reviewed) and Black
Selectron UK Ltd
01795 419460
www.guildguitars.com
HAGSTROM H-III
PRICE: £589
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Offset double-cutaway
solidbody electric
BODY: Alder
NECK: Maple, bolt-on
SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Black Tusq
XL/43.5mm
FINGERBOARD: Resinator, pearl dot
inlays, 381mm (15”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
HARDWARE: Chrome-plated tune-o-
matic-style with roller saddles,
Hagstrom Vintage Tremar vibrato,
Hagstrom-logo’d die-cast tuners
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
ELECTRICS: 3x Hagstrom Ceramic
C-spin single coils. Volume control.
Neck, middle and bridge on/off
switches. Master Tone, Mute and Top
(Bass Cut). Kill switch
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.61/7.94
OPTIONS: None
RANGE OPTIONS: The twin pickup
H-II costs £549, the Pat Smear
Signature is £729
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISHES: White (as reviewed), Black,
3-Tone Sunburst, Aged Sky Blue
Rosetti
01376 550033
www.hagstromguitars.com
PROS Nice repro with shimmering
single-coil sounds and 60s vibe
CONS The vibrato; sounds are a bit
bright; a Strat could do most of the
switching with a few wiring mods
PROS Nicely made repro of 60s
model; excellent core sounds;
quite a looker!
CONS That vibrato isn’t the best,
nor is the tuning stability
8 7
9. Simple rollers in this
tune-o-matic help to
keep tuning stability
superior to the S-200.
Guild, take note!
10. Designed as a master
mute switch back in
the day, the switch
on the upper horn is
more useful as a kill
switch – essential
for those stuttering,
feedback-loving
noiseniks out there
GIT413.rev_guild.indd 113 28/09/2016 16:00