What's a good case for a Westerly Starfire?

[DeArmond Hammer]

I have a Westerly Starfire II that needs a case. I've posted a WTB ad for an original, but could anyone suggest a non-OEM case that would work well? The Westerly Starfire body is just slightly deeper than the Newark St. Starfire body, so the Newark St. case doesn't fit well.

 

[Guildedagain]

Guild

 

[fronobulax]

could anyone suggest a non-OEM case that would work well?

Guild

I am momentarily lacking in patience so I will somewhat crankily point out that the response is neither funny nor helpful.

 

[Bonneville88]

DeA/H - can you post a couple of photos of the guitar in your original thread?
What year is it?
How much deeper does the case need to be, relative to the NS Starfire case?

 

[parker_knoll]

Try the case finder here

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

DeA/H - can you post a couple of photos of the guitar in your original thread?
What year is it?
How much deeper does the case need to be, relative to the NS Starfire case?

The guitar that needs a case isn't here yet, but it's a 1998 Starfire II which I believe has a body like my 2000 Starfire III. That Westerly body is 1/4" deeper than my Newark St. Starfire V (2" vs. 1.75" at the top), just enough to require some force to close the Newark St. case on the Westerly Starfire, which makes me uncomfortable.

Here's my red Newark St. Starfire in the Newark St. case:

Here's my blonde Westerly Starfire III, showing that it rests slightly higher in the Newark St. case:

When the Starfire II arrives, I'll know for sure how it fits in the Newark St. case. If it fits, great, I'll order a new Guild case for it. If it doesn't fit, and I can't find a Westerly Starfire case, I may get a generic 335 case with compatible dimensions. The Starfire II that's coming to me is a player, not a collector, so the original case isn't so important. I just thought someone here might have experience finding a case for a Westerly Starfire so I could get a head start. (I'm a little excited.)

 

[parker_knoll]

Since you're in a position to compare, can you rate the NS Starfire against a USA version? Heavier? rougher fretwork? no different?

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

Since you're in a position to compare, can you rate the NS Starfire against a USA version? Heavier? rougher fretwork? no different?

My Newark St. Starfire V is a little heavier than my Westerly Starfire III, but that's comparing a mahogany center-block guitar to a maple hollowbody. The build quality and neck feel are similar on the guitars, or at least I don't have a complaint against either guitar in those areas. The pickups are different. I think the Newark St. LB-1 is a little snarlier and the Westerly HB-1 is a little cleaner. If I could keep only one of those two guitars, I would probably keep the Westerly because I prefer its pickups for much of the music I play. GAD has done thorough reviews of various Starfires and you can look there for better informed opinions.

 

[Default]

The guitar that needs a case isn't here yet, but it's a 1998 Starfire II which I believe has a body like my 2000 Starfire III. That Westerly body is 1/4" deeper than my Newark St. Starfire V (2" vs. 1.75" at the top), just enough to require some force to close the Newark St. case on the Westerly Starfire, which makes me uncomfortable.

Here's my red Newark St. Starfire in the Newark St. case:

Here's my blonde Westerly Starfire III, showing that it rests slightly higher in the Newark St. case:

When the Starfire II arrives, I'll know for sure how it fits in the Newark St. case. If it fits, great, I'll order a new Guild case for it. If it doesn't fit, and I can't find a Westerly Starfire case, I may get a generic 335 case with compatible dimensions. The Starfire II that's coming to me is a player, not a collector, so the original case isn't so important. I just thought someone here might have experience finding a case for a Westerly Starfire so I could get a head start. (I'm a little excited.)

Just wanted to point out that the upper bout on a Guild is much wider than a Gibson, so a 335 case may not work for you.

 

[Guildedagain]

Wasn't supposed to be funny. Guild cases are the best for Guild guitars. It's worth looking on eBay and Reverb, the right one always pops up.

 

[Bonneville88]

With Default's comment in mind - this may be a BTDT, but I've had some luck with Gator - click on "What Fits", punch in some dimensions
and see if it might work. They also list all dimensions for their cases...

Semi-Hollow Guitar Deluxe Wood Case-GW-335-BROWN - Gator Cases

www.gatorcases.com

TKL's offering https://www.tkl.com/products/21183-tkl-premiertm-semi-acoustic-335-style-guitar-case

 

[Troy Mcclure]

Hi
Just bought my first Guild, a 97(98?) Westerly Starfire III, and was having the same problem finding a case. Before anybody asks, the virus restrictions over here make it very difficult to travel around music shops asking to try all their cases (you can’t actually get into our local store without pre-ordering). I appreciate that this is probably more useful if you live in Europe, but I ended up trying a budget 335 case from DV247 (UK and Germany) just to get some hands-on idea of the size. The actual case is slightly different to the web picture and only has one neck cradle.

https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Fame-Hard-Case-Historic-ES-Style-Guitars-/art-GIT0044839-000

The 97 body shape fitted perfectly and a 98 SFII should drop straight in. With the SFIII though, the Bigsby arm bolt just touched the top of the case. This is after replacing the (for some reason) non-original, truck suspension spring with a Reverend Soft Touch version. There’s no reason to be afraid of modifying a case, and crushing the foam under the body support ramp to fit the arch in the guitar back and squashing the neck cradle down a bit to match had the lid shutting perfectly.

There are obviously a lot of other options out there and I wouldn’t want to jump up and down on this one, but someone might like to see a 97 in a 335 case. This one has a raised area in the lid, so a version without it could be a problem with a Bigsby.

The Starfire itself is lovely. I know GAD had one with a plain third bridge, but this one (AG300439) came with the old wound third version. Pickups are Seymour Duncan SD1s.

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

Hi
Just bought my first Guild, a 97(98?) Westerly Starfire III, and was having the same problem finding a case. Before anybody asks, the virus restrictions over here make it very difficult to travel around music shops asking to try all their cases (you can’t actually get into our local store without pre-ordering). I appreciate that this is probably more useful if you live in Europe, but I ended up trying a budget 335 case from DV247 (UK and Germany) just to get some hands-on idea of the size. The actual case is slightly different to the web picture and only has one neck cradle.

https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Fame-Hard-Case-Historic-ES-Style-Guitars-/art-GIT0044839-000

The 97 body shape fitted perfectly and a 98 SFII should drop straight in. With the SFIII though, the Bigsby arm bolt just touched the top of the case. This is after replacing the (for some reason) non-original, truck suspension spring with a Reverend Soft Touch version. There’s no reason to be afraid of modifying a case, and crushing the foam under the body support ramp to fit the arch in the guitar back and squashing the neck cradle down a bit to match had the lid shutting perfectly.

There are obviously a lot of other options out there and I wouldn’t want to jump up and down on this one, but someone might like to see a 97 in a 335 case. This one has a raised area in the lid, so a version without it could be a problem with a Bigsby.

The Starfire itself is lovely. I know GAD had one with a plain third bridge, but this one (AG300439) came with the old wound third version. Pickups are Seymour Duncan SD1s.

Thank you, Troy, especially for the photos, and welcome to LTG! You found a winner there. (Actually two winners, because the guitar is beautiful too!) The case looks like a perfect fit and the brown exterior is handsome. Shipping to the US is 45 euros, not too bad. If I don't find an original case soon, the case you found looks like my top choice.

 

[Smeigel_12000]

I keep my T100d in my Newark St. Starfire III case. It fits perfectly. The case my T100d came in to was a vintage Guild jumbo guitar case or something in which it sat very loose. Now my Starfire III is in that one because I use my T100d for band practice more often.

 

[fuman]

You should contact Sweetwater. If you give them your dimensions, they will probably be able to find a case that will fit your guitar.

 

[bobouz]

I prefer molded thermoplastic cases. My 1997 Starfire III (swapped tailpiece) fits nicely into the less expensive (non-TSA) Gator 335 molded case: