1964 Guild Starfire — Questions added

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
I probably should have done my thread listing in reverse but what's done is done. New member here, long time lurker. I have a slight obsession with Guilds for some reason. My best friend jokes that I have a problem. I correct him and remind him he doesn't own a Guild.

Honestly, I don't remember when it started but I always remember hearing good things about Guilds. My guitar education started in the mid-late 90s in a music store in Chattanooga, TN. Lots of Fenders and Gibsons, as you'd expect. Typical stuff for a store dealing in vintage back then. Guilds would come and go and I remember them being interesting - well crafted and typically at a fraction of the others. What's not to love?

I've bought and sold a lot of gear over the years. I only bring in stuff I would be happy to get stuck with. Amazingly it took a long time for a Guild to enter the fray. A good friend offered me a 59' M20 with a lot of battle scars. We've passed it back and forth a few times. He says this is my 5th time owning it. I think it's #3 or 4. Nonetheless, it's back with me now. It sports a number of repaired cracks and your typical dings/dents. It got a partial refret recently. I informed my friend that the $$ had gone up but not to worry, it's likely to stay with me now. Here pictured with my equally beat (well far more beat) 52' Southern Jumbo. The M20 is a cannon.

ACtC-3eZq9xMT6swdky23F5ySqvw24bvR_6k6uxDl1QRw6gZMSNi5QDBhXvw8-F3JROLXCq1pMSzXiT76r8iZWZA9Zrvu0YiHG9RqER5eb57faoojtlVIsx747OGQKyAEttZghT-UOY4cbRBs9_BHh9Gdk-c=w1068-h1424-no


The reason for the FS thread just listed is the following. I'm in the fund recoup phase. This is another one I owned before. I found this thing on CL. I cleaned it up and sold it to another friend. I'm buying it back. It was it filthy when I got it. With any luck you'll be able to see the images in the link below. It's an amazing guitar and rounds out a small stable of instruments, none of which were ever on my MUST HAVE list. Amazing how they pick us sometimes.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tU6fAMwT2HqqE2pBA

ACtC-3cidIIqRjaX4_zSK8oHoD7TVZX-2rWo74_TwkOEQYF93u96kf987UkUC_BFoQzMG8fJo6SYKzfjVZl59NuDv9Q-5l9mJ0Akz3bHV2V6wO60nw0VE_rRzHinCGj7hKGbqDvaIul-oqJespfQLDo7Tb-T=w1068-h1424-no
 
Last edited:

GGJaguar

Reverential Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
21,324
Reaction score
31,417
Location
Skylands
Guild Total
49
Welcome to LTG! We're all a little more than obsessed with Guilds, too. Cool guitars, thanks for sharing!
 

Stuball48

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
4,736
Reaction score
2,534
Location
Dickson, TN
Welcome To a wonderful forum. And agree with you on, "what's not to like about a Guild."
You will find many knowledgeable folks on this forum and they do a couple things, exceedingly, well:
1. they will share their vast knowledge of experience aquired Guild information.

2. they will encourage and help you spend your money on Guild equipment
 

Cougar

Enlightened Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2015
Messages
5,323
Reaction score
3,016
Location
North Idaho
Guild Total
5
Welcome to the forums! Quite the interesting acquisition history you've got! Good luck with the sale!
 

kakerlak

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
2,354
Reaction score
128
Location
Oklahoma
I hate to confess this, but I'm more interested in the southern jumbo and hint of telecaster peeking out behind the starfire.
 

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
Kakerlak - The heart wants what the heart wants. No harm in that.

The Southern Jumbo was purchased from a dear friend. I swear it was in pieces when I first saw it. He's working to track down pictures. Anyway, it had a snapped headstock with a metal plate on it. It's a beast. There's extra binding in spots. I swear there's Gorilla Glue in there as well. It's both phenomenal to look at and a bit of a bastard all at once. It should not sound as good as it does. Every time I'm in Nashville I pick up all the J45s and SJs to compare to mine. I haven't found one that sounds as good.

The Telecaster is from 68'. I purchased it when I got the SJ. It was a consignment in the shop my friend had and I could tell it had something, but was playing so so at the time. The only original bits are the body and neck, with original finish. The rest (maybe control plate aside) is modern. I have Lindy Fralin's split blades in there, a modern aged bridge and modern tuners. It has something like medium jumbos on it. It's a guitar I never wanted to own (my first maple board tele) but I cannot see ever letting it go. I'll see if I can drum up a few photos of it.
 

fronobulax

Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
24,708
Reaction score
8,836
Location
Central Virginia, USA
Guild Total
5
Welcome. I mus confess that when I saw you selling a bass and then talking about a '64 Starfire II my heart stopped momentarily. There are Starfire basses with serial numbers that date to '64 even though they were not officially introduced until '65 and any Starfire bass I prior to 1967 is unusual. But your 84 has two more strings, so... :)
 

shihan

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
1,540
Reaction score
796
Location
Ventura CA
Welcome! Very cool Guilds, with good stories to boot. We’ll be glad to help you acquire some more.
Glad to see another Gibson amp fan here. Is that a Ranger? I have a ‘59 GA-20t and a ‘65 Scout.
 

Shakeylee

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
478
Reaction score
278
Location
Philadelphia
Guild Total
4
glad to see you guys using good amps. way too many people have nice guitars and lousy amps :)
i'd rather do it the other way around if i had to.
 

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
Shihan - The Gibson is a GA-18, with tremolo but without the T. I believe it to be 1959. I've had two of these. I don't regret selling much but the first Gibson GA-18 never should have left. I was lucky to find this one 5 years ago. I just got it this month. There's a long story there.

I had a GA-20 a while back, which I'd totally forgotten about. I remember it being okay. It and a SG Jr went to a friend. He confirmed that that amp was so so at best. I've heard other GA-20(s) that were great.

I've also have a 78' Princeton Reverb, another amp model I never wanted but have come to love over the years. I think the late 70s are the best PRs, especially if you can find them with a wood cabinet. This is the latest wood cabinet PR I've ever come across.
 

shihan

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
1,540
Reaction score
796
Location
Ventura CA
That’s crazy; I also have a ‘78 Princeton Reverb. Great minds think alike! You’re very lucky to get a wood cabinet that late.
My PR has been beefed up with a Deluxe Reverb output transformer and a ‘fat’ circuit in place of the awful ‘distortion’ circuit. It sounds scary good. My GA-18t sounded pretty anemic before my tech went through it ; now it sounds great. A good amp tech is a very good person to know.
 

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
The Starfire is back from the shop (full fret job) and I have a few questions about the guitar. First off, I always assumed this was a 64’. No volute amongst other elements. A friend asked yesterday and I checked the chart online and it seems this doesn’t fall logically in the date range. So is this a 65, but pre serial changes? I should mention the label is long gone. Not surprising considering the state I found this in a few years back.

3EF6213E-0441-4155-A141-8226566F5D79.jpeg
I’m also curious about the pickguard. I have no reason to believe The assembly is right, but the guard itself (at best) has be altered. Can someone fill me in on how these guards were made? Every one I see seems to be clear with black on the back. Is that the case? I’m wondering if this is actually the original guard but someone altered it with the flag.

4076072D-9D26-4204-9156-3D7B135C2E15.jpeg

C844A419-DB53-4D9B-BC6D-4D7FF561BDA6.jpeg


I was looking through old emails yesterday and realized it's been about 5 years since I first went after this thing. I sold it to my friend and got it back. It’s here to stay and finally playing like it should.

Thanks all.
 
Last edited:

Shakeylee

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
478
Reaction score
278
Location
Philadelphia
Guild Total
4
An M20, a SF,a tele ,a SJ and a GA-18?
Yep, I could finish the rest of my life with those 😂
 

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
Haha thanks. I’m having a wild hair to sell the PR to buy back an old amp of mine, a 6g6-b tuxedo bassman. It is the definition of overkill for me and this PR is the best I’ve owned (64 included) but the bassman is pulling me.
 

rbrcbr

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2018
Messages
126
Reaction score
108
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Guild Total
2
Dang, what a stable of instruments/amps. Congrats on getting the Starfire back. I gotta admit, I'm super jealous of that SJ. Played this '52 at Retrofret here in Brooklyn months ago and honestly it's gotta be one of the best sounding/feeling/playing guitars I've ever picked up. Been GASing ever since, thankfully I've got a really great J-45TV to hold me off for now.
 

SFIV1967

Venerated Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
18,442
Reaction score
8,956
Location
Bavaria / Germany
Guild Total
8
A friend asked yesterday and I checked the chart online and it seems this doesn’t fall logically in the date range. So is this a 65, but pre serial changes?

I’m also curious about the pickguard. I have no reason to believe The assembly is right, but the guard itself (at best) has be altered. Can someone fill me in on how these guards were made? Every one I see seems to be clear with black on the back. Is that the case? I’m wondering if this is actually the original guard but someone altered it with the flag.
The serial number is clearly a 1965 one, the 1965 range was from 38637 to 46606.

The pickguard is not original. The original pickguard started as a clear part, the gold was silkscreened and afterwards it was somehow painted black from below, so the gold was in between. The pictures are only for demonstration.

1596969167946.png


The original guards usually still have protective tape on the back so you would not scratch the black layer when the cutouts are made and where the mounting bracket is fixed.

1596969375374.png


That's a 1965 Starfire II:

1596969930617.png


The guard on your guitar has a total different shape towards the tailpiece, it's bigger, that is not a Guild shape:

1596969686370.png


Ralf
 
Last edited:

secndshft

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
235
Reaction score
244
Guild Total
2
Thanks Ralf. I had this thing for only a handful of months the first time and I guess made some assumptions. Now that it’s back and in great playing shape I’m finding myself paying attention to little things along the way.

This guard is pretty well made. Someone took the care to countersink the holes, apply the decal, then paint it. It’s almost like a piece of folk art. I’ll keep my eyes out for an original. I’m not sure how often they pop up and how reasonably they sell. Realistically I kind of like it as much without the guard as with.

Thanks again
 

parker_knoll

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
1,453
Reaction score
410
Location
London
The serial number is clearly a 1965 one, the 1965 range was from 38637 to 46606.

The pickguard is not original. The original pickguard started as a clear part, the gold was silkscreened and afterwards it was somehow painted black from below, so the gold was in between. The pictures are only for demonstation.

1596969167946.png


The original guards usually still have protective tape on the back so you would not scratch the black layer when the cutouts are made and where the mounting bracket is fixed.

1596969375374.png
I need to replace the protective tape on my Duane Eddy. The guard has scratched but it did it long ago. it adds character :)

Where does your clear guard pic come from? Did you have this done?
 
Top