John Lennon Guild Starfire

adorshki

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The guy in the picture looks like a young Jeff Beck in his pre Strat days!
M

JeffBeck-Yardbirds1.jpg

And featuring his other love (the cars, not the photo):
jeff-beck-english-rock-guitarist-guitarist-at-his-suitton-surrey-home-a54t4d.jpg
 
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Lex

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A bit of old history on this one. In 1965 Guild was purchased by Avnet (electronic components distributor - that weren't much of experts in music and less in its marketing :)). It was Avnet's leadership - a vp - who presented the guitar to John and George. (probably just a big fan) There's a photo in the company history museum.
A few old links:
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-century-of-avnet-technology-3487b4127988 (with the photo)
 

chazmo

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A bit of old history on this one. In 1965 Guild was purchased by Avnet (electronic components distributor - that weren't much of experts in music and less in its marketing :)). It was Avnet's leadership - a vp - who presented the guitar to John and George. (probably just a big fan) There's a photo in the company history museum.
A few old links:
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-century-of-avnet-technology-3487b4127988 (with the photo)
I think the Avnet transition might've been a year or two later than you said, Lex, but I'm not at all sure. In any case, @DrumBob , do you remember the timeframe and what year the Starfire was presented to George? Was it '65? I thought it was later...

Oh, and welcome aboard, @Lex .
 
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hansmoust

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I think the Avnet transition might've been a year or two later than you said, Lex, but I'm not at all sure. In any case, @DrumBob , do you remember the timeframe and what year the Starfire was presented to George? Was it '65? I thought it was later...
The guitar was presented to John Lennon on August 22, 1966.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

SFIV1967

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A bit of old history on this one. In 1965 Guild was purchased by Avnet (electronic components distributor - that weren't much of experts in music and less in its marketing :)). It was Avnet's leadership - a vp - who presented the guitar to John and George. (probably just a big fan)
Welcome to LTG.
No, that was not just "a Avnet VP", that person was actually Mark Dronge, the son of Alfred Dronge, who was the founder of Guild.


Ralf
 

DrumBob

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I think the Avnet transition might've been a year or two later than you said, Lex, but I'm not at all sure. In any case, @DrumBob , do you remember the timeframe and what year the Starfire was presented to George? Was it '65? I thought it was later...

Oh, and welcome aboard, @Lex .
The guitar was presented to John Lennon on August 22, 1966.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
You beat me to it, Hans. That's correct. The Starfire XII was presented to John, not George, although he would have been the logical one, IMO.

Mark Dronge told me he gave it to John, simply because he was his favorite Beatle! He just walked into their press conference. There was no security at all.
 

DrumBob

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A bit of old history on this one. In 1965 Guild was purchased by Avnet (electronic components distributor - that weren't much of experts in music and less in its marketing :)). It was Avnet's leadership - a vp - who presented the guitar to John and George. (probably just a big fan) There's a photo in the company history museum.
A few old links:
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-century-of-avnet-technology-3487b4127988 (with the photo)
The article is wrong. It was presented to Lennon alone by Mark Dronge, the son of Al Dronge, the founder of Guild.
 

Lex

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I apologize for barging in, guys, with what I thought would be useful info. I'm embarrassed at my ignorance, but frankly I didn't have a clue about Guild guitars until last week - when, having seen the picture at the Avnet museum, thought if I find one from those times it'd be a cool gift for someone for whom the Beatles, Avnet and 1965 have a special significance. Then after some googling I realized how big it actually is and possibly outside of my price range. Sorry I don't play and know nothing about guitars - just like giving cool gifts to loved ones. :)
In the course of googling I came across this thread and decided to "shed light" haha.
Now I think Avnet should correct their info and give credit to the company and creators. :). If anyone of you cares to share info with their communications people, I can try to find contacts. Ah, and wiki article is apparently incorrect too.
 
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