Neck Profiles

[Mark WW]

I owned a 2003 SFIII and a 2004? X150D. I believe both were built in Corona. Both had nice slightly chunky necks with I believe a 1-11/16" width at the nut. The SFIII was gorgeous and perfect in every way except the pups. They were very bland IMHO. I was so excited when Guild reintroduced their electric line until I noticed the nut width at 1-5/8". Every guitar I have played with this nut size causes me discomfort after even a short while. So here is what I am working up to. Can anyone tell me which years of the SFIII-V had the wider nut widths?

I am interested in looking for another Guild but it needs the wider thicker neck.

 

[walrus]

Lots of discussion on this board about the Bluesbird and the Blues 90 and their "chunky" necks. Great guitars if you want an electric Guild...

walrus

 

[cc_mac]

My '97 Starfire II and 2000 X150D (both Westerly, RI) have 1 11/16" width at the nut. My 1969 Starfire IV is 1 5/8. One might not think a 1/16" is that big a difference spread out across 6 strings but it is noticeable. The Newark Street line was based mostly on early to mid 60s era Guilds and 1 5/8" seems to be the standard for that era. It's been reported on this forum that the 1 5/8" width continued through the 70s, 80s and into the early 90s on many models. Not sure if there's a strict guideline for models or a breakpoint at which there was a mass change to 1 11/16".

 

[GAD]

I greatly prefer the 1 11/16" necks, which is why I always gravitate towards Westerly reissue Starfires over the 70s models.

I would advise you to try and find a NS Starfire to play, because I was very impressed with its playability when I played a NS SFIII.

Every Westerly Starfire I've owned made 1994 and later had the 1 11/16" necks. That's not to say it's a definitive list, because it's not, but of the many I've owned, the oldest with the wider neck was a 1994. My current only Starfire is a 2000 model in which I had the pickups rewound. With the new pickups, it's the best playing and sounding Starfire 4 I've ever played. My 'hog '76 Starfire sounded better, but the neck was *tiny*. My '94 played and sounded as well (if not slightly better with its real HB1s), and it was smokin' beautiful, but I kept the '00 for sentimental reasons.

Also, having gone down this rabbit hole myself, it's not just the nut width - it's the neck *depth* as well. I had an S300 that I loved, and it had a 1 5/8" neck. A 70s Starfire with the same width was just too thin for me because it was 1mm more shallow, which made a huge difference. Since they were all hand carved (IIRC), there may be differences between each guitar from the same line and year.

 

[Mark WW]

I thought the late 90's in to the early 2000's had the 1-11/16" nut width. And the "thickness" - thicker is better, but not a deal breaker. There are not any dealers here in OTown carrying the Guild line that I am aware of. I would love an orange X170 and a custom pup rewind would be in the cards for sure.

 

[NYWolf]

I own a Starfire iii from 1999 or so. It's one of the best sounding guitars I have, but I can't play it due to the combination of 1 11/16 nut and its neck profile. It just feels wide and flat, and my fretting hand gets fatigue pretty quick. I tried a few other Guilds archtops from the same Fender era, all had the same feel I detest. Too bad, they are really beautifully made and sounding instruments. New NS Guilds have most comfortable necks, but alas, don't sound as good to my ears.

 

[cc_mac]

Lark Street Music just across the Hudson from NYC has 2 Guilds that might suit you

1) 1994 X160T verified 1 5/8" width at the nut
2) 1973 CE100D which from that era should sort the 1 5/8"


Not affiliated with the seller in any way.

 

[NYWolf]

That x160 looks mighty cool! It never came up in my searches, or I would seriously go and check it out, it's not far from me. As of now, I already pulled the trigger on x50 from 1962, which has a chunky neck and 1 5/8 width....