Guild

Features
sound quality
Value For money
Build quality
PlayaBility
oVerall rating
SUMMARY
Features
sound quality
Value For money
Build quality
PlayaBility
oVerall rating
SUMMARY
Features
sound quality
Value For money
Build quality
PlayaBility
oVerall rating
SUMMARY
GEAR ROUNDUP
FEBRUARY 2015 93
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Three-piece mahogany & maple, set
Scale: 628mm (24.75”)
FiNgerBoard: Indian rosewood
FretS: 22, narrow jumbo
PickuPS: 2x Guild Anti-Hum Dual-Coil
coNtrolS: 2x volume, 2x tone, 1x
3-way pickup selector
Hardware: Nickel-plated
Guild Adjusto-Matic bridge
w/ rosewood base, nickel-plated
‘harp’ trapeze tailpiece,
Grover Sta-Tite tuners
leFt-HaNded: No
FiNiSH: Cherry Red only
coNtact: Selectron
UK 01795 419460
www.guildguitars.com
Body: Chambered mahogany
w/ laminated arched spruce top
Neck: Three-piece mahogany
and maple, set
Scale: 24.75”
FiNgerBoard: Rosewood
FretS: 22, jumbo
PickuPS: 2x Guild Frequency
Tested Single-Coils
coNtrolS: 2x volume, 2x tone,
3-way pickup selector
Hardware: Gold-plated Guild
Floating Adjusto-Matic bridge,
gold-plated ‘harp’ trapeze
tailpiece, Grover Sta-Tite tuners
leFt-HaNded: No
FiNiSH: Black, Sunburst (shown)
Starfire IV
at a glaNce
M-75 Aristocrat
at a glaNce
S-100 Polara
at a glaNce
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany
Scale: 628mm (24.75”)
FiNgerBoard: Rosewood
FretS: 22, narrow jumbo
PickuPS: 2x Guild Anti-Hum
Dual-Coil
coNtrolS: 2x volume, 2x tone,
3-way pickup selector
Hardware: Nickel-plated Guild
Adjusto-Matic w/ stop tailpiece,
Grover Sta-Tite tuners
leFt-HaNded: No
FiNiSH: Cherry Red only
FEBRUARY 2015 93
GUild Newark St
S-100 Polara
£779
Kim’s slim
The
S-100 Polara debuted
in the late 60s, a time
when the hippy movement was
dying out. Free love gave way to
cynicism, and the S-100 Polara
reflected that. A stripped-down,
double-cut slab of mahogany, with
two Anti-Hum Dual Coils in neck
and bridge, the Polara feels like a
utilitarian riposte to ostentatiously
spec’d guitars.
That the nickel-plated
stop tailpiece sits at an angle
underscores the Polara’s position
as an iconoclastic take on the
Gibson SG, a position in sync with
the body’s symmetric cutaways.
It comes fitted with no frills but
super-steady Grover Sta-Tite
tuners. It shares the history, build
quality and immaculate finish of
its siblings, but it has the density of
tone you’d expect from the series’
only solidbody.
And it feels timeless: modern
then, and still so now. That it is
Kim Thayil from Soundgarden’s
guitar of choice tells us a lot
about its capabilities. Slightly
uncomfortable played seated, it
comes into its own when strapped
on, with a playing experience and
sound that makes it an ideal – not
to mention £300-odd cheaper –
alternative to, say, an American
SG. That those ’buckers are not
red-hot never put Thayil off.
There’s a bright clarity and punch
to the Polara’s tone, like a post-
pubescent Tele Deluxe, which can
handle overdriven rock riffs, with
just enough mahogany to thicken
up your sound when opening your
amp up full.
TGR263.gear_round.indd 93 18/12/2014 17:51