NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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alvinstraight
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NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by alvinstraight » Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:32 am

Double new guitar day for me (sort of)! Picked this up yesterday a couple of hours outside of Oslo. Came from an old small town music dealer who had kept a couple of guitars in the attic after closing shop 30 years ago. The guy who was selling this for him told me the guitar had apparently been stored in a couple of plastic bags all that time. One of the other guitars he had (but was sold before I had a chance to see it) was a ‘64 Mustang. Both sold at affordable prices. First impressions after less than 24 hours together: oh wow what a guitar! Super thrilled about this one!

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Never had/tried a vintage 335, but would be interested to know how people feel about the differences between these in terms of construction and feel (I get that they will sound different)? I mean, this was less than a 1/10 of what a 1964 Es-335 would sell for. Seem like such a steal these guitars.

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cestlamort
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by cestlamort » Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:08 am

Congratulations, amazing guitar!
I think the old guilds pickups are just phenomenal, as are the guitars.

My first real guitar was a guild starfire III from the same era and it is the one guitar I’ll never part with: warm, clear, articulate somehow. I sometimes wish I’d found a IV instead as the semi-hollow body can better deal with volume.

Again: congratulations

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by Trout » Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:13 am

:-* Stunning
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by Fiddy » Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:25 am

Damn, nice score.

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antisymmetric
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by antisymmetric » Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:12 pm

Very appealing! Are these fully hollow?
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by Maggieo » Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:32 pm

Ohhhh! You got one with the magic pickups!
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by cincinnatiharry » Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:50 pm

Congratulations! Nice lookin’ guitar!
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by Telliot » Thu Jan 06, 2022 1:21 pm

Fantastic. I love vintage Guilds so much.
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by alvinstraight » Thu Jan 06, 2022 2:44 pm

antisymmetric wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:12 pm
Very appealing! Are these fully hollow?
The IV, V and VI have center-blocks, just like a 335. The I, II and III are fully hollow. Both version seem really cool.

Thx all! Feel very lucky to have run into this one. I’ve only had Guild acoustics (D25 and D35) before, and this is my first electric.
Last edited by alvinstraight on Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by cestlamort » Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:19 pm

alvinstraight wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 2:44 pm
antisymmetric wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:12 pm
Very appealing! Are these fully hollow?
The IV, V and VI have center-blocks, just like a 335. The I, II and III ser fully hollow. Both version seem really cool.

Thx all! Feel very lucky to have run into this one. I’ve only had Guild acoustics (D25 and D35) before, and this is my first electric.
For vintage/90s-00s ones:
Hollow w/ dots, single cut (Florentine):
I = neck pickup only
II = two pickups, harp
III = two pickups, guildsby

Semi-hollow (double cut):
IV = two pickups, harp (or stoptail), dots
V = two pickups, guildsby, blocks
VI = two pickups, guildsby, blocks + bling
XII = two pickups, harp, dots

I think all the new Newark St ones (MIK) may be semi-hollow (?), and the model numbers are all different.

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by Telliot » Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:28 pm

alvinstraight wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 2:44 pm
antisymmetric wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:12 pm
Very appealing! Are these fully hollow?
The IV, V and VI have center-blocks, just like a 335. The I, II and III ser fully hollow. Both version seem really cool.

Thx all! Feel very lucky to have run into this one. I’ve only had Guild acoustics (D25 and D35) before, and this is my first electric.
This is how I remember it:

Fully hollow:
I : Florentine cutaway, single pickup, no Bigsby
II : same as I with double pickups
III : same as II, but added Bigsby
*(Early models of these had single coils before switching to Guild HBs)

Semi hollow:
IV : double pickup, double cutaway, no Bigsby
V : same as IV, added Bigsby, block inlays
VI : same as V but super fancy appointments (gold hardware, etc)
XII : same as IV but with 12 strings
*(All with Guild HBs)

[edit: oops, cestlamort beat me to it :D ]
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by antisymmetric » Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:44 pm

Telliot wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:28 pm
[edit: oops, cestlamort beat me to it :D ]
Thanks guys, some corroboration never hurts. ;D
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alvinstraight
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by alvinstraight » Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:16 am

Maggieo wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:32 pm
Ohhhh! You got one with the magic pickups!
Have had some more time with it, and the bridge pickup sounds absolutely bonkers good! Like I dont want to stop playing. Jangle but with both depth and some heat.

The neck pickup I’m finding a bit murky though. Like, I’ve had to check the tone control multiple times just to make sure I’ve not turned it the wrong way kind of murky. Sounds cool with overdrive, but perhaps I wish it had some more high-end. Has this been your experience as well?

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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by rumfoord » Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:26 am

Congratulations! so beautiful

I picked up a 1970 M75 a couple years ago, and I love it like CRAZY. Mine doesn't have those pickups, unfortunately, so I can't speak on that. Definitely check out GAD's writings:
https://www.gad.net/Blog/gads-guilds/
https://www.gad.net/Blog/2018/03/09/gui ... r-pickups/

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cestlamort
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Re: NGD! Guild Starfire IV 1964

Post by cestlamort » Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:22 am

antisymmetric wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:44 pm
Telliot wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:28 pm
[edit: oops, cestlamort beat me to it :D ]
Thanks guys, some corroboration never hurts. ;D
Haha. Indeed. Jinx!

One note: sometimes the middle position is out of phase from the factory.
Another note: the pickups changed over the years (but all are good to great). GAD and Let’s talk guild have all the details. (The 60s ones sound better than the 90s ones but the 90s ones still sound good).

The neck pickup on mine (SFIII) is pretty “jazzy” but not really muddy. Maybe some adjustment could help (? Height, pole pieces, etc? But beyond my skill set to offer more info here)

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