Starfire question

Jerry1

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My next Guild is going to be a Starfire (some day). I'm confused by the model numbers, II, III, IX etc. Year classes, variations, upgrades, or what?
 

shihan

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Others with more knowledge will chme in, but basically 2 different types: SF 1,2,3 are one type. Fully hollow,thin line, with one cutaway. 1 pickup ((SF1) 2 pickup (SF2), 2 pickup with Guildsby (SF3).
The second class is the 335 style; double cutaway, semi-hollow with a center block. The 4,5,and 6 are different levels of appointments, with the 6 having a Guildsby.
You can't go wrong with a Starfire, no matter the model.
 

matsickma

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SF ll and lll (Guildsby) are single "sharp" cutaway thin hollow body guitars with 19 frets. SF lV, V and Vl are double cutaway Semihollow guitars. SF V and VI have Guildsbys, fret block inlays and the Vl is most fancy having gold plating and premium maple tops.
Vintage SF IV have a thinner body than SF V and SF VI. (I assume NS MIK models follow that feature.)
Pickups vary over the 60+ years. The earliest Vintage SF ll & lll had DeArmonds, typucally 2000 SC Pickups. Them Mini humbuckers ti early 1970, then HB1's. Some mud to late 70's have DiMarzio PAF neck and SD bridge.

The 1980's SF's use XR7 PUPs. 1990's begin to use the HB-1s made by Seymour Duncan and early 2000's use Fender made HB-1's. In the 70's the differebce in body thickness, addution if Guildsby, dot or blick fret markers get pretty blurred. Basically " anything goes" and us called a SF4.

NS MIK midels do a good job of capturing the Guild SF designs of the 1960's. They also added new midels with a hard stop in lieu of Harp or Guigsby.

M
 

fronobulax

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Just to confuse things the Starfire basses are often called Starfire I and Starfire II for the one and two pickup models. Context matters. :)
 

txbumper57

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The 4,5,and 6 are different levels of appointments, with the 6 having a Guildsby.
You can't go wrong with a Starfire, no matter the model.

Hey Jerry, I see you are relatively new to the forum so if I haven't already said it, Welcome to LTG!

The Starfire V also had a factory Guildsby and there are several examples of 4's that came with them as well. Another note is the Starfire 1,2,and 3 had the Guildsby B6 style trem while the Starfire 4,5,and 6 came with the Guildsby B7 style trem with the tension bar. There is also a Starfire XII which is a Semi Hollow electric 12 string.

For the most accurate description of the original Starfire Models and the basis for all later reissue Starfires I would try to pick up a copy of Hans Moust's Book, "The Guild Guitar Book:The Company and the Instruments, 1953-1977". While the book only goes to 1977 there is a wealth of knowledge on Starfire's that would take days to post here. Hans is currently working on the second volume to cover from 1977-present. I recommend his book to anyone wanting to really understand the evolution of Guild models and when they had changes applied to them. This book will also help you identify the Starfires you are looking at through headstock, pickup, inlay, and body style identification as well as when they were made through the most accurate Guild serial number collection there is for the time periods listed. It really is a must have and will almost certainly answer the majority of your questions about Starfires and all other Guilds as well. Hans is also an active member here on the forum helping everyone out with their Guild Queries. Best of luck and I hope you find the answers you seek!

TX
 
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Jerry1

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Hi everyone,
Thanks for the information and the greeting. I'm an old guy who cut his teeth on the music of the late 60's through the 70's. Garage bands, small clubs, wedding dances, etc. We made some good extra money playing on weekends back then, let alone the memories a bunch of single guys can manage to create.
I've owned Fenders, Gibson's, Gretches, and a bunch of others but never owned a Guild until I got the bug after i saw Parker Milsapp playing a T-50 on Austin City Limits. Ended up buying a beautiful 1960 T-50 and I'm loving it. I'd like to post a picture but I'm limited to using a Kindle Fire for this and I have no idea how to do it. I've read the sticky about it but that applies to a regular computer and this is a tablet. Anyway, now I've got the bug to buy a Starfire and I'll probably look for an early one with a Bigsby because my T-50 has one and I like it.
Thanks again for the help.
Jerry
 

Quantum Strummer

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The main thing about posting your own pics is the need to store them somewhere online so you can link to them from here. I use Photobucket. There's an iOS app for it…not sure if there's one for the Fire. If not you may be able to use it anyway via web browser. (I do all my web stuff with an iPad.)

-Dave-
 
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