GUILD STARFIRE I DC

first play
19
NOVEMBER 2020 GUITARIST
GUILD STARFIRE I DC & SC GVT
Starfires. Peering through the unbound
f-holes of both, that certainly looks correct,
but there’s another more fundamental
difference. The SC has a two-piece block
directly under the bridge, the top portion
stretching back under the front of the
vibrato so the vibrato and tune-o-matic can
be firmly mounted into solid wood (like the
III). The DC has a full ES-335-style centre
block (like the IV and V) that appears to be
solid mahogany.
In terms of size they’re pretty similar: the
SC is 419mm (16.5 inches) across its lower
bouts, the DC marginally thinner at 416mm
(16.38 inches). The different construction
also has a similarly marginal effect on the
weights: the SC is slightly lighter at 3kg
(6.6lb), the DC weighs 3.15kg (6.93lb). Yet
another subtle difference is that the more-
hollow SC is also slightly deeper: 50mm at
the rim as opposed to the 46mm of the DC.
While both are extremely manageable for
their styles, the historically earlier style of
the SC means its 20-fret neck joins the body
at the 14th fret; the later style of the 22-fret
DC joins at the 18th fret. You don’t need
us to tell you which is more accessible and
comfortable in higher playing positions.
Our SC’s Seafoam Green will undoubtedly
evoke a Marmite-like reaction – just
remember you have a choice of Snowcrest
White or Antique Burst, too – but it’s an
opaque colour, which means outwardly
there’s no way to comment on the materials
used. Still, through the trans cherry colour
of the DC you can see the wood grain and
that distinct striping to the body. The neck
is a lighter colour and you can also see a heel
stack and head-splice just in front of the
lower two tuners. The DC’s body laminate
is slightly thinner compared with the SC
– which we’d guess indicates three-ply as
opposed to the SC’s five-ply.
Like the Aristocrat HH, we get a pair of
the HB-2 humbuckers (standard-sized
versions of the slightly large HB-1) with just
a single height-adjustment screw on the bass
side. They are spec’d with Alnico 2 magnets
and DCRs of 7.35/3.69kohms for the full/
split-coils of the SC’s bridge; 7.25/3.65kohms
on the DC. The neck pickups on both
measured the same 7.01/3.56kohms, which
drops them into vintage underwound
territory for their style. Tapping the pickups
plugged in we’d guess they’re potted, too.
The hardware on both appears typically
Asian in style, although the near generic
tune-o-matic bridge has easy-to-adjust
slot-head posts. The tuners ape the Grover
Sta-Tite open-back style used on other
Newark St models, these with screw-on
‘butterbean’ metal knobs. They do the job.
Feel & Sounds
To be fair, ‘do the job’ is a pretty accurate
description of these guitars. There’s
little to moan about at this price. Yes, the
DC’s rosewood ’board is lightly coloured
compared with the darker, more ‘expensive’
hue of the SC’s. The fretwire is a narrow/
tall gauge and pretty well installed, lacking
the sort of 10-minute final polish that would
make them feel a little more expensive.
There are a few file marks on the neck’s
binding, too. The neck shapes aren’t a
million miles away from the higher-priced
models: quite slim depth’d at the 1st fret
(20.6mm) with quite a flat-back D sort of
3. The Guild logo’d
licensed Bigsby B70 is
known as a ‘Guildsby’ by
Guild afi cionados
4. These Guild logo’d
open-back tuners ape
the original Sta-Tite style
and similar types are
used across the whole
Newark St range
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GIT465.rev_guild.indd 19 01/10/2020 03:02