GUILD STARFIRE I SC GVT

first play
GUILD STARFIRE I DC & SC GVT
18
GUITARIST NOVEMBER 2020
T-100, the first sharp-pointed ‘thinline’
hollowbody Guild that appeared in 1958 –
and that was more than a nod to the Gibson
ES-225TD from 1956. Bearing in mind
Gibson had introduced the groundbreaking
ES-335 two years before, these original
Starfires almost seemed to ignore the
change in musical and cultural climate.
Even when Guild introduced the double-
cutaway dual-pickup IV (its ‘ES-335’) and
the dual-pickup with vibrato V in 1963, they
still featured the old-style ‘jazz’ wooden
bridge. A posher Starfire VI came out a year
later and the XII 12-string was added in
1966 – five years after relative neighbour
Danelectro had released its own.
A Slight Return
While Guild’s current Newark St Starfires
stick pretty close to the historical blueprints,
these new Starfire Is are not a recreation
of the original single-pickup model.
Instead, Starfire I is a catch-all name for a
considerably more affordable mini-series.
The SC is effectively a Starfire II, while
the SC GVT with vibrato is modelled after
the Starfire III. The hardtail double-cut DC,
then, mirrors the Starfire IV ST, and the DC
GVT apes the Starfire V. To add a little spice,
a third-style Starfire I was added mid-year,
the Jet 90, which has three P-90s, vibrato,
a very funky six-a-side headstock and
choice of three satin colours – gold, black
and white. Its dollar price is the same as the
GVT models we have here. But how come
they’re so affordable?
While the upper-market II and upwards
Starfires are Korean made (the Aristocrat
HH and P-90 models hail from China),
the Starfire I models switch to the Samick
factory in Indonesia. Each model is
available hardtail with a direct-mount tune-
o-matic and stud tailpiece, and in that GVT
version with a Guild-logo’d vibrato based
on (and presumably licensed from) Bigsby’s
B70 with its front-placed roller tension bar.
According to the spec sheets, further
differences between the SC and DC models
are the materials: the SCs use laminated
maple for the front, back and sides, and
solid maple for the neck; the DCs swap
to mahogany – more like those original
The SC GVT seems
more centre stage
and here we favour
those coil-splits to
add some snap
to the depth
1
2
1. The thinline single-
cut body of the SC is
laminated maple, cleanly
double-bound and also
slightly thicker in depth
than the DC version
2. These Guild HB-2
humbuckers ape Guild’s
oversized HB-1s but
are regular humbucker
size with one height-
adjustment screw on
the bass side
GIT465.rev_guild.indd 18 01/10/2020 03:01