Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I really want a Starfire, have been wanting one for years, even when I didn't even know it yet.
Fast rewind to about 1993, I'm doing a huge (and dumb) trade with a buddy of mine a couple counties over, he had a flametop...
Traded a '62 P Bass that had been stripped but 100% original in beat up OHSC, a '65 SG Jr, 100% original P90 nastiness, and a '79 4 bolt Strat hardtail with "Deep Purple Metallic" paint done by yours truly, only took about ten tries to get it right... I got the flametop.
He had a Red Starfire in the living room, I'd seen it before the last time I visited him, a 1968. I played it, like it but it wasn't on my radar. I think he wanted $650 for it?
For some reason I never forgot that guitar. I still think about it... I held it, I played, I liked it, I left it.
I finally found the 335 Dot (bucket list guitar) of my dreams some years back (translation, I'm bored with it), and it plays and sounds amazing, I just want a Guild.
What can I except in terms of playability, sustain, etc, from a vintage Starfire. What years are the best years. The single cuts are deeper bodied and more like a ES175 derivative? How thick are the thick and thin ones?
Do the p'ups rock out like a PAF, anywhere close?
I won't put other p'ups in it.
What about the bridge/tailpiece arrangement vs Gibson?
Or, the Bigsby option, I kinda like that idea anyway.
What about action, fretboards and frets, common nut widths? Are they comparable to the Gibson neck/fretboard for wailing leads, or is just not that kind of a guitar?
How heavy are they?
TIA for sharing any knowledge on these cool guitars.
Fast rewind to about 1993, I'm doing a huge (and dumb) trade with a buddy of mine a couple counties over, he had a flametop...
Traded a '62 P Bass that had been stripped but 100% original in beat up OHSC, a '65 SG Jr, 100% original P90 nastiness, and a '79 4 bolt Strat hardtail with "Deep Purple Metallic" paint done by yours truly, only took about ten tries to get it right... I got the flametop.
He had a Red Starfire in the living room, I'd seen it before the last time I visited him, a 1968. I played it, like it but it wasn't on my radar. I think he wanted $650 for it?
For some reason I never forgot that guitar. I still think about it... I held it, I played, I liked it, I left it.
I finally found the 335 Dot (bucket list guitar) of my dreams some years back (translation, I'm bored with it), and it plays and sounds amazing, I just want a Guild.
What can I except in terms of playability, sustain, etc, from a vintage Starfire. What years are the best years. The single cuts are deeper bodied and more like a ES175 derivative? How thick are the thick and thin ones?
Do the p'ups rock out like a PAF, anywhere close?
I won't put other p'ups in it.
What about the bridge/tailpiece arrangement vs Gibson?
Or, the Bigsby option, I kinda like that idea anyway.
What about action, fretboards and frets, common nut widths? Are they comparable to the Gibson neck/fretboard for wailing leads, or is just not that kind of a guitar?
How heavy are they?
TIA for sharing any knowledge on these cool guitars.
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