Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
Nope, I don't think there are any natural finished humbucker Starfires. I have a 1960 Capri in natural, and that has an "almost Gibson" neck too, on the rounder, chunkier side, but that guitar has Franz pickups, so you'd have your noise problem again with something like that. I used to have a 1960 X175 with almost the same neck.Yep, I was thinking too, but I do like my blondes (when it comes to guitars, anyway), and there no blonde finishes for Starfire II or III from that era that I ever seen.
Also, I stopped by Rivington Guitars the other day, good vintage store in NYC, they had two Guilds, 64's Starfire II, and 61' A50. I grabbed the Starfire first, and damn, it had the same exactly neck as on my 98' Starfire III. On thinner and wider side, that I so dread now. I noodled for a minute, but didn't feel inspired to even plug in.
A50 on the other hand was really fantastic! Dearmond Rhythm Chief pickup, and just sounded great acoustically, great vibe, and feel! And the neck is big, fat, and chunky, I can play those all day!
I have a 61 Starfire, (with DeArmonds), and that has a small, thin neck, but it's not flat or wide. It has a round profile on the back, and something between a 9 or 10 radius on the fingerboard. I can't stand wide thin neck, cramps up my hand terribly, and while the SF neck certainly is almost unusually small, it's round enough so it's comfortable for me.
I think it won't be that easy to find a 60's humbucker Guild with a big neck. I've never played one.