Nut Width on Starfires Coming from Cordoba Imports

[Mark WW]

I had given up on the new imported Guilds because of the 42mm nut width. Then this morning I was looking at a Starfire III for sale by Street Sounds. Dang - the specs on the width at the nut was listed as 1-11/16". OK so I went to the Cordoba/Guild site and guess what? Yup nut width at 1-11/16"". I am so stoked I almost peed my pants. I had a SF III from 2003 and it had one of the sweetest (1-11/16" nut) necks but for some stoopid reason I sold it.

I am planning to make a call to verify this but I am pretty sure this discovery just cost me close to a grand. Now if they would just reissue the X-170T in flame orange with the 1-11/16" nut for around $1,500-$1,600 I would own (2) Guild electrics.

Anyone else confirm the new nut width?

 

[Mark WW]

Just got off the phone with CS at Cordoba/Guild and they confirmed the nut width at 1-11/16".

 

[Guildadelphia]

Not to split hairs, but the nut width on the first generation Newark St Guilds is not 1 5/8" (1.62) but 1.65 which may not seem like much difference but relative to nut widths it actually is significant. That being said, if it feels uncomfortable or cramped to you, that's all that counts. My personal preference is 1.68, but I have really small hands and slim fingers and I have adapted well to the 1.65 nut width on my X175B. I also have a Rickenbacker 620/6 which has a 1.63 nut and I've adapted to that. It does makes sense marketing-wise for Guild to go to the slightly wider 1.68 nut width.....it's not too narrow and not too wide for most.

 

[Mark WW]

You are right...1.65 (42mm). There have not been any dealers carrying the new Guilds in this market. I have big fat clumsy fingers but 1-11/16" at the nut if the neck is not too thin works fine although 1-3/4" is even better. I'll just have to keep my fat fingers crossed!

 

[GAD]

I agree, and I greatly prefer the 1 11/16" nut width of the late-90s/early-00s Guilds. Tiny necks are what keeps me from owning any 60s-70s Guilds. The wide, deep neck on my SFIII-P90 is heaven.

 

[Guildadelphia]

Nut width aside, the Guild Newark St guitars IMO have really comfortable necks. The medium chunky U/D profile has enough girth to keep my arthritic 57 yr old hands from cramping but not so fat as to impede getting around. The medium jumbo frets and 9.45" fingerboard radius really make for great playability for chords, barre chords, single notes and bends. They really got it right.

 

[Los Angeles]

The "narrow" nut is exactly why I love 60's 70's guilds. Just putting in the counter point to balance things out.

 

[GAD]

The "narrow" nut is exactly why I love 60's 70's guilds. Just putting in the counter point to balance things out.

The funny thing for me is that my only guitar from High School well into my 30s was a 1979 Guild S300A-D with a smaller neck. You'd think that would be my preferred contour, but the minute I picked up a Jackson, I was sold. Les Paul R9? Even better! R8? Holy cow - I love it! I'd never even known there were other neck styles to be chasing after. :biggrin-new:

 

[Guildadelphia]

I don't get along with real flat fingerboards (14"+radius) and super shallow, flatback neck profiles (think Ibanez Wizard). Add a longer 25.5" scale to that mix and I'm really uncomfortable. I've been told by some that really know that the baseball bat necks that are so in vogue now with vintage Les Paul reissues are not neccessarilly indicative of the majority of what was being produced during that era...that some of the neck profiles are representative of an extreme to market to the preferences of buyers who are convinced that a proper 50's LP must have a neck like a tree trunk.

 

[NYWolf]

The "narrow" nut is exactly why I love 60's 70's guilds. Just putting in the counter point to balance things out.

Exactly!! You won't see me buying any new Guilds now, that's for sure. IMO Guilds is making mistake. If you like wider nut width, there's tons of other guitar makers... I had Guild Starfire III form the late 90's, which had the most uncomfortable neck I've ever played. Beautiful otherwise, but I couldn't play it. I guess I'm sticking with my vintage Guilds for good.

 

[SFIV1967]

I guess I'm sticking with my vintage Guilds for good.

And the funny thing: Both are real Guild Cordoba's ! :biggrin-new:
Ralf

 

[Zelja]

The "narrow" nut is exactly why I love 60's 70's guilds. Just putting in the counter point to balance things out.

Exactly!! You won't see me buying any new Guilds now, that's for sure. IMO Guilds is making mistake. If you like wider nut width, there's tons of other guitar makers... I had Guild Starfire III form the late 90's, which had the most uncomfortable neck I've ever played. Beautiful otherwise, but I couldn't play it. I guess I'm sticking with my vintage Guilds for good.

Gentleman, whenever you come across a 60's or 70's Guild with a wider nut then please let me know. I have hunted down a few of them and I love them.

My favourite neck may actually be the most unusual neck profile I have - in my X-50. It is 1 11/16" wide, quite deep but has what I believe is decsribed as a "V" profile (rather than a "C" or "D"). I didn't really know what a
"V" profile neck was until I got this guitar. Really comfortable neck for me - although deep, the chunkiness is not felt as much due to the quicker taper from the side of the neck at the fretboard to the back. Just fits my hands well.

 

[GAD]

Exactly!! You won't see me buying any new Guilds now, that's for sure. IMO Guilds is making mistake. If you like wider nut width, there's tons of other guitar makers... I had Guild Starfire III form the late 90's, which had the most uncomfortable neck I've ever played. Beautiful otherwise, but I couldn't play it. I guess I'm sticking with my vintage Guilds for good.

Wow - my '90s Starfires have the perfect neck IMO. Just goes to show how different people view things like guitar necks.

I think the majority of modern electric guitars have 1 11/16" necks, so it wouldn't surprise me if younger players didn't like the vintage feel.

 

[NYWolf]

It's funny I was talking to a guitar player buddy of mine the other day, from the same hot jazz/trad. swing scene, and he told me the same thing, strong preference for narrow necks and small radius. And before that another trad. jazz banjo/guitarist was saying the same thing... I'm actually wondering if that's more about the style you play than size of your hands. If I play 3 hours gig, most of which I will strum rhythm guitar, well, those narrow necks are perfect to play 9s, 6/9, 13 chords fast, easy to squeeze the neck, and the smaller radius makes it even easier. Give me a 1 11/16, or even worth, 1 3/4 neck with 12 radius, and all of sudden my left hand gets tired pretty quick. It's probably easier to bend strings on it, but that's not what I'm doing. It's funny too, because most of the jazz was played on Gibsons, where it's a standard... But yeah, Cordoba from 1962 fits me better than Cordobas today:smile-new:

 

[Walter Broes]

Boy, I hope they didn't change the actual neck spec on the Newark Street Guilds. The neck on the NSX175 I owned briefly was the best thing about it!

 

[NYWolf]

Boy, I hope they didn't change the actual neck spec on the Newark Street Guilds. The neck on the NSX175 I owned briefly was the best thing about it!

Ain't that the truth

 

[Andrew_816]

I'm a narrow neck guy to, small hands and a banged up arm kind of require it if I'm going to play for more than 20 minutes.

So to hi-jack this thread a bit, are the early 60's Guild necks the same at the mid to late 60's? And did they keep this same profile (1 5/8th) and medium to medium thin profile?

I had a 65 CE 100 and that guitar was AMAZING sounding, but it was a 1.67 (1 11/16th) nut width and a good sized 0.85 at the 1st and 1.07 at the 12th fret profile so I couldn't play it. And MAN was I bummed as it sounded glorious!

So will a T100 or Starfire 3-4 from the early to mid 60's get me a 1 5/8th nut width and 0.82 to 0.9 profile?

Thanks!