Leftie Starfire IV - looking for informations

Rabatavus

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Hello,

I bought a leftie Starfire IV from Reverb. Seller says it was made in the 90s but doesn't know exactly when.
On the sticker inside there is:
MODEL : StarFire IV
SERIAL : AG001591
MADE IN USA
GUILD MUSIC, WESTERLY, RI 02891

Can you guys help me know when it was made and where? Any info is more than welcome.

Also, the seller didn't have the original sales receipt, he says he bought it from ebay and the original owner didn't keep his. Does this mean the warranty is void on that instrument?

Thanks a lot for any help
Aziz
 

GAD

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Hello,

I bought a leftie Starfire IV from Reverb. Seller says it was made in the 90s but doesn't know exactly when.
On the sticker inside there is:
MODEL : StarFire IV
SERIAL : AG001591
MADE IN USA
GUILD MUSIC, WESTERLY, RI 02891

Can you guys help me know when it was made and where? Any info is more than welcome.

Also, the seller didn't have the original sales receipt, he says he bought it from ebay and the original owner didn't keep his. Does this mean the warranty is void on that instrument?

Thanks a lot for any help
Aziz

Welcome!

The Guild that existed in Westerly RI is no more, so there is no warranty to be expected.

I'm sure Hans will be along to verify the year.
 

dbirchett

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Warranties are normally extended only to the original owner that purchased from an authorized retailer. Once it is sold by the original owner, the warranty is void. So, if you buy it, you would be the third owner.

On the other hand, I would think that the Westerly Guilds such as this one are among the most reliable of guitars out there. I wouldn't worry about the lack of a warranty if the guitar is in good condition when you purchase it.
 

Rabatavus

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Thanks.
the craftsmanship is like nothing I saw before. and it sounds amazing compared to an Ibanez AS93 I had before. I'm discovering this forum and trying to learn as much as I can. I'm learning about the different HB-1 pickups and wondering which one is on mine. The more I read the more I'm curious about its history, what's sure is that it was worth the hunt for this leftie
 

adorshki

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I bought a leftie Starfire IV from Reverb. Seller says it was made in the 90s but doesn't know exactly when.
On the sticker inside there is:
MODEL : StarFire IV
SERIAL : AG001591
MADE IN USA
GUILD MUSIC, WESTERLY, RI 02891

Can you guys help me know when it was made and where? Any info is more than welcome.
Welcome Rabatavus!
The s/n fits in with very late '90's, see this chart:
http://guildguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/history_of_your_guild.pdf
Note although the chart implies it shows s/n's from '97 to '99, actually they're only through '97
Guild's s/n charts are known to have many flaws and errors.
We have a member, Hans Moust, who wrote "the Guild Guitar Book" and as mentioned will probably be able to give you the exact year of manufacture.
For sure it was made in Westerly Rhode Island as the label says.
Westerly has a stellar quality reputation.
 

GAD

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Welcome Rabatavus!
The s/n fits in with very late '90's, see this chart:
http://guildguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/history_of_your_guild.pdf
Note although the chart implies it shows s/n's from '97 to '99, actually they're only through '97
Guild's s/n charts are known to have many flaws and errors.
We have a member, Hans Moust, who wrote "the Guild Guitar Book" and as mentioned will probably be able to give you the exact year of manufacture.
For sure it was made in Westerly Rhode Island as the label says.
Westerly has a stellar quality reputation.

I have Starfires from Westerly from 2000, unless I misunderstand what you're saying.
 

adorshki

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I have Starfires from Westerly from 2000, unless I misunderstand what you're saying.

OK I see my syntax was confusing, was focused on the fact that the s/n's don't go beyond '97, but for our new member's info: Westerly was producing until August or September of '01.
(I just forget the exact month, now).
In fact that s/n AG001519 could well be later than '99, you could probably narrow it down from your samples.
SF production was moved to Corona sometime in late '01 "IIRC" ; but the label will say Corona and the s/n letter prefixes are different.
(Right?)
:blushed:
 

GAD

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OK I see my syntax was confusing, was focused on the fact that the s/n's don't go beyond '97, but for our new member's info: Westerly was producing until August or September of '01.
(I just forget the exact month, now).
In fact that s/n AG001519 could well be later than '99, you could probably narrow it down from your samples.
SF production was moved to Corona sometime in late '01 "IIRC" ; but the label will say Corona and the s/n letter prefixes are different.
(Right?)
:blushed:

Make sense.

I'd wait for Hans because I'm always wrong when I play this game. If I see pics I won't be able to help but play, though. :emmersed:
 

hansmoust

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I bought a leftie Starfire IV from Reverb. Seller says it was made in the 90s but doesn't know exactly when.
On the sticker inside there is:
MODEL : StarFire IV
SERIAL : AG001591
MADE IN USA
GUILD MUSIC, WESTERLY, RI 02891

Can you guys help me know when it was made and where?

Hello Aziz,

Welcome! Your Starfire IV has a sunburst finish and was made during the year 2000 in Westerly, RI and should have the Fender designed humbuckers.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Rabatavus

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Hello Aziz,

Welcome! Your Starfire IV has a sunburst finish and was made during the year 2000 in Westerly, RI and should have the Fender designed humbuckers.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Thanks a lot sir, so it's 2000 and not the 90s as advertised.
Somewhere I'm happy I bought without doing much of a search. I would have started second guessing my choice, and probably passed by this fine instrument.
I decided to start playing guitar in 2015, after watching a show of a band called Colour Haze in Munich. The guitarist plays a Starfire IV that looks exactly the same as this one, so the obsessive side of me wouldn't have been happy until I get one ^^.
Thanks a lot for your help, let's get back to reading more threads.
Cheers
 

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Thanks a lot sir, so it's 2000 and not the 90s as advertised.

Welcome.

Guild "reissued" Starfires "in the nineties". Sometimes people will refer to something as a 90's Starfire to make it clear that they are not talking about a vintage instrument (60's-70's) or a 21st Century instrument even though it is literally true that some of these "90's Starfires" were made in 2000 and 2001. Perhaps the seller meant "the 90's style reissue" and not literally "made between 1990 and 1999"?
 

Frank4001

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Thanks a lot sir, so it's 2000 and not the 90s as advertised.
Somewhere I'm happy I bought without doing much of a search. I would have started second guessing my choice, and probably passed by this fine instrument.
I decided to start playing guitar in 2015, after watching a show of a band called Colour Haze in Munich. The guitarist plays a Starfire IV that looks exactly the same as this one, so the obsessive side of me wouldn't have been happy until I get one ^^.
Thanks a lot for your help, let's get back to reading more threads.
Cheers

Having owned a 70's version SF-6 and now a 2000 I can tell you they were both excellent guitars.
The 2000 being a bit more 335-ish with the stop tail, tune a matic, and mahogany neck vs. the 70's version with large HB1's, bigsby and floating bridge and all maple construction.

I've been using the 2000 just about every week , twice a week plus other stuff for the last 3yrs,
and its a champ.
Sounds and plays great, solid tuning, and travels well (meaning dealing with temp changes and humidity ect..)
Give the Fender Buckers a chance. You may read a lot of negative things but they work great for me and I get people asking about the guitar often. The the guy I back up is a blind harp player with "bat ears" and he says it's his favorite out of all my guitars....
Of course that's personal and easily changed because they are standard size...

Good luck and have fun
 
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GAD

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Welcome.

Guild "reissued" Starfires "in the nineties". Sometimes people will refer to something as a 90's Starfire to make it clear that they are not talking about a vintage instrument (60's-70's) or a 21st Century instrument even though it is literally true that some of these "90's Starfires" were made in 2000 and 2001. Perhaps the seller meant "the 90's style reissue" and not literally "made between 1990 and 1999"?

Yeah, this is pretty true. I'd probably lump them into groups like this even though it's not quite accurate:

'60s Starfire: Has AntiHum (minihum) pickups w/dot inlays
'70s Starfire: Has HB1 pickups w/ block inlays
'80s Starfire: Has ebony fretboard and XR7s
'90s Starfire: Westerly Reissue with Stop-Tail and SD1/Fender HB1s
'00s Starfire: Corona Reissue
'10s Starfire: Korean Newark Street reissue

The lumping is not accurate and there was no real delineation between decades. It's just easier to lump them like that. For example a '94 Starfire just might have rare 4-wire HB1 pickups in it. A '00 is likely from Westerly. A 1980 Starfire looks more like a '70s Starfire than what I'd call "an '80s Starfire" and so-on.

Even though yours is a '00, it was made in Westerly and "made in Westerly" carries a premium for a lot of people even though the Corona electric guitars are great. I have a '00 Starfire IV and it's one of my favorite guitars: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2017/02/02/2000-guild-starfire-iv-4/

Guild-2000-Starfire4-TopFull5.jpg
 

Rabatavus

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Hello again,
Thanks a lot for your answers guys.
Special thanks to GAD for the link to your blog, I felt the neck was special, I have large hand and playing it felt natural, I thought the nut width was 1 11/16 but it felt larger than my strat. I'm away from home for work but once I'm back I'll go check if it's a 1 3/4".

I have another question, I read GAD's article about HB-1 and their variations. I searched pictures I took of the show I talked about and found one where he tunes his guitar. What I understood from that article is that these must be either SD1s or seymour duncan 59/jb in his guitar.
Can anyone help me confirm that?
IMG_20180412_003625.jpg


For anyone curious, the first lick you hear on this song is the tone I'm looking for. That's to my ears the best sound ever.
 

Rabatavus

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Nice, I managed to upload pictures. You guys must be sick of looking at these but here's mine^^
IMG_20180410_181856.jpg

IMG_20180408_163422.jpg

IMG_20180408_163401.jpg

IMG_20180408_163341.jpg
 

GAD

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The pickups in this guitar appear to be SD1s. If it's a '94 or so there's a chance that they're the JB/51s, though that's probably not something I'd worry to much about.

IMG_20180412_003625.jpg




The pickups in this guitar appear to be Fender HB1s:

IMG_20180408_163422.jpg





I should point out that this is an educated guess based on what we've seen over the years. It's possible that the pickups have been swapped and spacers used to make them fit, though that's honestly not too common.

Lastly, the tone I hear in that riff you linked is mostly amp IMO. The right amp dialed in just right and you're there. Hear how it's just on the edge of breakup until he digs in and then it just slams - that sounds like a sweet tube amp to me. Well, that and the right fingers of course - lot's of tasty phrasing in that clip.

Just pray he doesn't have a Klon. That way lies madness. :emmersed:
 
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Rabatavus

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The guy uses 2 amps, a soldano SL60 II, and a sunn model T reissue. He's mainly playing with a volume pedal to go from cleans to heavy distortion. I bought a kemper thinking I might get something closer, but it's never there. I wish I could know how to describe sounds with words, but his sound has that honky top end that kinda punches through the low end. I don't know what it is, but I wish someday to pluck a string and get the same sound.

Other than that, I'm officially hunting for a set of SD1s. If anyone has one of those, your price is mine.
 

GAD

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There's a good chance that SD1s won't fit in your guitar since they're larger. I could be wrong, though, as I haven't personally tried, but I can tell you that SD1s have the same larger dimensions as Guild HB1s. It will all depend on the pickup route in your guitar.

SD1s show up on eBay from time to time, usually when GibsonDependable murders a Guild and sells the parts.
 

GAD

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The guy uses 2 amps, a soldano SL60 II, and a sunn model T reissue. He's mainly playing with a volume pedal to go from cleans to heavy distortion. I bought a kemper thinking I might get something closer, but it's never there. I wish I could know how to describe sounds with words, but his sound has that honky top end that kinda punches through the low end. I don't know what it is, but I wish someday to pluck a string and get the same sound.

Other than that, I'm officially hunting for a set of SD1s. If anyone has one of those, your price is mine.

Also from everything I've heard the Kemper is a killer tool. I have an Axe-FX and I've been floored by the tones I get from it. Those are some pretty specific amps, though, and i'd be surprised if it's got them built in. Still, the Kempler is supposed to have killer profiling which should be able to get you close, though I haven't played with one myself.
 
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