Shopping for first semi-hollow electric....4 choices including Guild Starfire IV

[OzzPocket]

Hi all...1st post. I've never owned a semi-hollow electric, and unfortunately I live in a very rural area with no decent music stores within a couple hours. I'm narrowed down to an Epiphone Sheraton II Pro, Ibanez JSM10, Godin Montreal Premiere HG, or (here it comes) a Guild Starfire IV.

I own a Guild acoustic ....D-40 Traditional made in California, and I love....Love....LOVE it. It was a big expense for me...but I wanted a USA Guild and it has been everything I could have hoped for.

Does anyone have experience with any/all of the semi-hollows I listed? Price-wise, the Guild 2nd most expensive, behind the Godin which is about $80 more. The Ibanez is about $100 less than the Guild and the Epiphone comes in at the budget price of about $500 less than the Guild.

So, all but the Godin are made overseas....normally, I'd prefer a US made instrument, but I simply can't afford them at the moment.

I'm not a trem-guy, and these are all "trem-free"

Just looking for comparisons or opinions on the Guild, or any of the others (It's a Guild forum, so I figure it'll sway that way, but still curious)

Thanks for any input, folks!

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG! I had a Newark Street Starfire V (same as the IV but with a Bigsby) and I liked it a lot. Good fit and finish, and I liked the chimey sound of the pickups. I haven't played an Epi Sheraton is years and the ones I played were made in Korea and were nice, but the pickups were a bit generic sounding to me. Again, not sure what they are pickups they are using these days. The other two I haven't played so I can't comment, but I'm sure some other folks will stop by and add to the discussion.

 

[OzzPocket]

Thanks, GGJ.....Hey.....I've never been a trem guy, so I've been purposely bypassing models that had one.....I've heard that Bixby/Bixby style trems are notorious for going out of tune if you look at them cross-eyed.....

Has your experience shown that you're constantly having to re-tune when using one?

There was a couple of Gretsch's I really liked, but both had Bixby's. And I know many Guilds have a "Guild" trem, that I'm assuming is essentially a Bixby?

I'm probably going to stay "Trem-less" with this one....but maybe down the road, it's something I might reconsider.

 

[gjmalcyon]

Welcome! Stick around - nice bunch of folks around here and your D-40 Trad. is a much-loved example around here.

I have a Newark Street Starfire IV-ST and while I'm primarily an acoustic player, I do like the sound and feel of it.

Guitarist magazine demo here:

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

Hi, @OzzPocket, welcome! My experience is like that of @GGJaguar, with a recent Starfire V and an older Sheraton II. They're both versatile instruments and I'm sure that both have been used for all genres, but I think the Starfire's voice is a bit more assertive, maybe a little snarlier. I'd put the Starfire more on the blues side of the spectrum and the Sheraton more on the jazz side. (Then I'm sure I would hear from more experienced players how wrong I was.)

I haven't had tuning problems from my vibrato tailpieces, but I use them only rarely. I've read complaints about tuning issues, but I've read many opinions that those tuning issues are caused by tight nut slots that don't let the string return after a stretch. Graphite in the slots, or filing if necessary, is the suggested remedy. Anyway, if you don't use a vibrato tailpiece, you don't need one. Have you noticed the different tailpieces available for the Starfire IV? You can get the traditional harp tailpiece, or the stop tail on the IV ST models, which is similar to the Sheraton II's stop tail. I like the look of the harp, and I don't mind any overtones from behind the bridge, but other people like the sustain or whatever they get from the stop tail.

Enjoy your shopping. Any of those options will be fun to play.

 

[GGJaguar]

Has your experience shown that you're constantly having to re-tune when using one?

There was a couple of Gretsch's I really liked, but both had Bixby's. And I know many Guilds have a "Guild" trem, that I'm assuming is essentially a Bixby?

If the guitar is set up properly, there should be no tuning issues with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. I have many guitars with them and all stay in tune just fine. But remember, they aren't made for dive bombing bends, just soft vibrato and they work great for that. The Guild vibrato is made for them by Bigsby. The bottom line is - if you don't use a vibrato much, you might as well stick with the hard tail version (either stop tail or trapeze tail). Good luck with your new guitar journey!

 

[Cougar]

...I'm narrowed down to an Epiphone Sheraton II Pro, Ibanez JSM10, Godin Montreal Premiere HG, or (here it comes) a Guild Starfire IV.

I own a Guild acoustic ....D-40 Traditional made in California, and I love....Love....LOVE it. It was a big expense for me...but I wanted a USA Guild and it has been everything I could have hoped for.

Good to hear, and welcome to the forum! I've got an Epiphone Dot, which I've kept through all my sales to fund my Guild acoustics. I like it, but if I had to do over, I'd get the Epiphone ES-335 Pro, which is about the same price. The Sheratons are likely good, too. But then I don't know nothin' about Guild electrics. I play mostly acoustics, and then mostly 12-strings. Whatever you get, have fun with it!

2010 Epiphone Dot

 

[mavuser]

check out the Epiphone ES-339 Pro also

 

[OzzPocket]

Thanks.....I keep looking at the Epiphone simply because it's quite a bit less expensive, and I'm not sure what my employment status will be shortly due to fallout from the virus and other factors at my workplace....but, it seems like they're pretty good, as well. (That Guild Starfire is darn pretty, though)

Guild Acoustics.....my love for those started close to 30 years ago...I had just graduated from college and a buddy/bandmate came up to visit for a few days.....
I was looking for an acoustic guitar, and we stopped at this small mom and pop acoustic instrument store....they had Martin's, Taylor's,etc....Tried a bunch....expecting to be bowled over by the legendary Martin's...and they were nice...but....kind of yawn worthy....

Then I picked up a Guild 12 string and played ONE chord on it.....my buddy, from across the room spun around, as did the 2 or 3 other customers in the store.....my friend and I were completely blown away....literally....I don't know what model it was, or if it as a USA or import......probably an import based on the price....it was $1100.....today I'd have walked out with it, but back then, it may as well have been a million dollars....

But....nearly 30 years later he and I STILL talk about that guitar.....That D-40 Traditional, though not a 12 string, let's me relive some of that.

I'd love one of their USA 12 strings, but those start around $3500......and I just can't justify that.....I did contact Guild/Cordoba at one point and suggested they do a USA 12 in a price point more like the D-40 Trad.....and they told me it IS something they're looking into....but, that was a couple years ago and I haven't seen it yet...lol......but if/when I do..... That puppy will be going home with me!

Sorry...I know this isn't the acoustic area of the forum.....but, I just had to put that out there.... I'll stick with hollow/semi-hollow bodies now.....I promise ;-)

 

[GAD]

Consider a used Westerly/Corona/Tacoma/etc. Guild! The prices are very favorable and close to what you might pay for a new Newark St.

 

[Shakeylee]

I regularly see American guilds for less than the godin you cited.
New SFIV and many used American guitars have a similarly price point.
I am a firm believer that if you can save @ $1500 cash, you can have almost any guitar you need.
I regularly see Gibson 135’s and 137’s for 12 or 13. It is not unusual to find guild full hollows around that.

if you just can’t come up with the scratch, a fun Semihollow body to consider is a dean palomino.
Or, of course, a guild made overseas.
Gretsch Center blocks come up for a good price.

 

[OzzPocket]

Hey folks...Thanks for all the input....One more question...is the bridge on the Starfire IV floating or pinned? If floating....does it tend to move if you strum or play "aggressively"? I've never played a guitar with a floating bridge....

Anyone know about whether or not the Sheraton's are fixed or floating, as well?

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

The Starfire IV and Sheraton II have bridges that are permanently (unless you modify them) mounted on the guitars.

 

[Gbart14]

You might try to find a used Starfire IV. I just picked up a 2003 in literally unplayed condition and it is just amazing. I play through vintage tube amps and I just cannot get over the wonderful tone. It all breaks down to what feels good and sounds good to you. It is personal although I can tell you that I have found more consistency in the Guild products in general over the years vs say Gibson. Make a trip to a large city or get something from a legitimate supplier such as Sweetwater or others who let you try something out and ship it back if not satisfactory.

 

[Guildadelphia]

I'll comment on the Ibanez JSM10 as I actually have played one.
Just a heads-up, according to the Ibanez website, the JSM10 is no longer made...however I would guess there are dealers who still have the model.
What I can tell you about the JSM10 is that while being a signature model, it has the features of the Artstar Series of guitars. The Artstar Series while still made in Indonesia have some really nice upscale features and workmanship like beautifully detailed fret work including rounded off fret ends, Super 58 pu's (which sound great), an extra 3 way toggle switch which lets you switch the neck pickup from series to parallel, with a stop in the middle for single-coil tone, bone nut, a hardshell case and just general overall high level of fit and finish. If you are looking for a Gibby 335 type guitar (w/ some extra tonal range) it checks off all the boxes and the quality is exceptional. The example I played was beautifully made, played great and sounded really good. The Godin, I'm sure is an amazing guitar, but (as previously stated in other posts) if you have that kind of $$$$ to spend you could score a very nice used USA made Guild (probably for even less $$$). Never played an NS Starfire, but if it is anything like my NS X175B, I'm sure it's a fine guitar but I'll defer to the folks who have direct experience with the model for their thoughts. The current Epi Sheraton II Pro's I have not yet had the opportunity to play but other Epi Sheraton II's I have played previously were very decent guitars but not on the same level as the Ibanez JSM 10 out of the box. Good luck on your search.

 

[Cougar]

....I'd love one of their USA 12 strings, but those start around $3500......

For future reference, you can sometimes get a great deal on a used Guild USA 12-string. I made a killing on this mint condition Corona-made burst JF30-12 -- 800 bucks! It's utterly spectacular!

 

[bobouz]

Just a little FWIW info:

I got into electrics rather late in life, but then spent ten years immersed in them. For the clean fingerpicking I do, the long & winding road finally came to rest with the Gibson ES-330 (P-90 single coil pickups). Also in this mix is it’s clone, the Epiphone Casino. There are many versions of the Casino - from the Gibson Kalamazoo-made originals played by the Beatles, to past Elitist versions made in Japan by Terada, to current Gibson USA-made releases, to budget examples made in Korea & China. Any of these will provide varying degrees of entry into a particular realm of tone.

The other huge part of the equation is your amp/speaker combo. I’ve settled on Fender USA-made red-knob amps from the ‘90s, both tube and SS - coupled with a variety of Eminence clean-oriented speakers (Legend & Patriot series). Finding the right amp is at the very least as complex as finding the right guitar!

 

[OzzPocket]

Well, in a rather surprising turn of events over the last few days, I actually ended up ordering a Gretsch 5420T (in Fairlane Blue...man that's pretty!) a couple hours ago. It had come down to the Guild, the Ibanez (they actually sold the last JSM10, but had the AS153 which is pretty close) and the Gretsch.....actually a Gretsch semi-hollow and the 5420........after mulling it over, I went with the Gretsch hollow for now....I simply couldn't resist it's sexy charms....though, I still think either the Guild or the Ibanez may still be coming to live here before too long, as I still want a semi-hollow, and am still impressed at the both of them.

Thanks to all who responded and helped me out!

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

Well, in a rather surprising turn of events over the last few days, I actually ended up ordering a Gretsch 5420T (in Fairlane Blue...man that's pretty!) a couple hours ago. It had come down to the Guild, the Ibanez (they actually sold the last JSM10, but had the AS153 which is pretty close) and the Gretsch.....actually a Gretsch semi-hollow and the 5420........after mulling it over, I went with the Gretsch hollow for now....I simply couldn't resist it's sexy charms....though, I still think either the Guild or the Ibanez may still be coming to live here before too long, as I still want a semi-hollow, and am still impressed at the both of them.

I got my orange 5420 before the Fairlane Blue finish came out, or I'd probably have bought the blue one. The 5420 is a well made guitar, and that big hollow body is perfect for some music. If you're like me, you'll still want a Starfire down the road. They're both fine examples of Korean guitar-building.

 

[Mr_Christopher]

I have a Gretsch 5420 as well, note that Bigsbys do not cause a guitar to go out of tune. The usual culprit is binding at the nut. If you watch someone like Brian Setzer live he’s wailing on his Bigsby and you literally never see him have to retune, because his guitar is set up properly