GUILD STARFIRE I DC

first play
21
NOVEMBER 2020 GUITARIST
GUILD STARFIRE I DC & SC GVT
GUILD STARFIRE I DC
PRICE: £479
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: Double-cutaway, centre-
blocked thinline semi
BODY: Laminated mahogany top, back
and sides with mahogany centre block
NECK: Mahogany, ‘Modern Thin U’
profile, glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
NUT/WIDTH: Composite/42.85mm
FINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood,
pearloid dots (5mm), 320mm (12.5”)
radius
FRETS: 22, narrow tall
HARDWARE: Guild tune-o-matic
bridge with stud tailpiece, Guild open-
back vintage style 18:1 ratio tuners –
nickel plated
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 51.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Guild HB-2
humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup
selector switch, individual pickup
volume (with pull-push coil splits)
and tone controls
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.15/6.93
OPTIONS: Available with licensed
Bigsby vibrato as the DC GVT, £569
RANGE OPTIONS: The double-cut
Starfires start with the IV at £1,135
with harp tailpiece; the IV ST has
direct mount tune-o-matic with stud
tailpiece at £1,090 and as a 12-string
at £1,180. The Bigsby-loaded Starfire
V costs £1,180
LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model; the
Starfire IV ST Lefty in Black is £1,090
FINISHES: Cherry Red (as reviewed),
Pelham Blue – gloss polyurethane
Selectron UK Ltd
01795 419460
www.guildguitars.com
GUILD STARFIRE I
SC GVT
PRICE: £569
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: Single-cutaway hollowbody
w/ bridge block electric
BODY: Laminated maple top, back
and side, with bridge block
NECK: Maple, ‘Modern Thin U’ profile,
glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
NUT/WIDTH: Composite/42.5mm
FINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood,
pearloid dots (5mm), 320mm (12.5”)
radius
FRETS: 20, narrow tall
HARDWARE: Guild tune-o-matic
bridge with stud tailpiece, Guild
open-back vintage style 18:1 ratio
tuners – nickel plated
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 51.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Guild HB-2
humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup
selector switch, individual pickup
volume (with pull-push coil splits)
and tone controls
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3/6.6
OPTIONS: Available with tune-o-
matic bridge and stud tailpiece as the
SC at £479
RANGE OPTIONS: Starfire III: thinline
single-cut design but with Bigsby,
LB-1 humbuckers and wooden-foot
tune-o-matic bridge (from £1,090).
Starfire II: direct-mount tune-o-matic
and stud tailpiece (£819); with
Dynasonic single coils (£1,125)
LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model
FINISHES: Seafoam Green (as
reviewed), Snowcrest White, Antique
Burst – gloss polyurethane
PROS Nice build for the price; good
weight; pretty classic voice with
additional coil-splits
CONS A little TLC in fi nal setup
would be welcome; you’ll need a case
PROS This more-hollow single-cut
version seems to suit the coil-
splits and has a generally more
characterful sound
CONS Ditto the DC
8
9
7. Original Starfi re models
invariably had a harp
tailpiece or Guildsby.
This ST setup is more
generic Gibson-style:
both bridge and
tailpiece direct-mount
into the body
7
rolled into one. For heavier, crunchy alt-rock
and Americana-meets-modern country,
both are more than fun – but again it’s the
SC that gets a little more play time. We’re
suckers for that on-the edge-of-feedback
tone, particularly with this vibrato.
Verdict
Using a historic model name to title this new
mini-series is a bit unusual but, to be fair,
the demand for a single-pickup Florentine
cutaway thinline electric is probably slight
in today’s market. Still, there’s nothing
irrelevant about this pair.
The DC does sound a little generic but the
quality of sound and the playing experience
is no less valid than a host of others. Our
showier-looking SC won’t be to everyone’s
taste but in terms of its sounds it covers a
lot of ground, the bridge pickup placement
making more sense for the split-coil voicing,
too. A little fine-tuning might be necessary
to get them up to gigging level but again
that’s not exclusive to this pair. They present
a very retro style with more than competent
sounds and very little to dislike.
GIT465.rev_guild.indd 21 01/10/2020 03:02