Guild Starfire III Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1960)
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Item #5067
Guild Starfire III Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1960), made in Hoboken, NJ, cherry lacquer finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown tolex hard shell case.
A very fine and extremely rare version of the Starfire III with distinctive features marking it as one of the very earliest of this long-running series. The thin hollow and semi-hollow Starfires have been Guild's most consistently successful electrics since their introduction, and 1960's models have become much respected as some of the finest of their type. This guitar dates to late 1960 and would be one of the first Starfire III's made, as the Starfires I and II were introduced in summer 1960 with the III model added to the line slightly later.
The Starfire III was the same guitar as the II with the addition of a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and bridge. This particular guitar mounts a pair of rare white-topped Schaller pickups (although mis-identified as DeArmond-made in most references; these were in fact German made and are rarely seen in the US) used only on the very first Starfires. The medium dark cherry finish body is made of maple instead of the customary mahogany, with a triple bound front but unbound back (like a T-100) with a single-bound fingerboard.
The early style rounded-edge back-painted lucite pickguard has Guild logo and chevron emblem. Other fittings include Grover Sta-tite tuners, transparent amber "G-logo" knobs and a standard Bigsby B-6 instead of the proprietary Guild logo harp-shaped version introduced in 1961. The truss rod cover on the early "open-book" style headstock is the small '50's style. Many of these features were changed over the next year or two of Starfire production.
This is a very classy and versatile thin-body electric; a particularly nice example of one of Guild's finest designs and compared to many Gibson or Gretsch models still a rather undervalued guitar.
Overall length is 41 1/2 in. (105.4 cm.), 16 3/8 in. (41.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.). 100% original and quite clean overall; the only noticeable flaw is some small areas of finish disturbance on the face that appear to be from prolonged contact with a vinyl cord or strap. No other damage, repair or alterations; very light wear overall-appears little used for many years-the guitar came in strung with ancient Gibson Sonomatic flatwound strings! Includes the very fine original light rust brown Guild case. A superb example of the very earliest style Starfire. Overall Excellent Condition.
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A very fine and extremely rare version of the Starfire III with distinctive features marking it as one of the very earliest of this long-running series. The thin hollow and semi-hollow Starfires have been Guild's most consistently successful electrics since their introduction, and 1960's models have become much respected as some of the finest of their type. This guitar dates to late 1960 and would be one of the first Starfire III's made, as the Starfires I and II were introduced in summer 1960 with the III model added to the line slightly later.
The Starfire III was the same guitar as the II with the addition of a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and bridge. This particular guitar mounts a pair of rare white-topped Schaller pickups (although mis-identified as DeArmond-made in most references; these were in fact German made and are rarely seen in the US) used only on the very first Starfires. The medium dark cherry finish body is made of maple instead of the customary mahogany, with a triple bound front but unbound back (like a T-100) with a single-bound fingerboard.
The early style rounded-edge back-painted lucite pickguard has Guild logo and chevron emblem. Other fittings include Grover Sta-tite tuners, transparent amber "G-logo" knobs and a standard Bigsby B-6 instead of the proprietary Guild logo harp-shaped version introduced in 1961. The truss rod cover on the early "open-book" style headstock is the small '50's style. Many of these features were changed over the next year or two of Starfire production.
This is a very classy and versatile thin-body electric; a particularly nice example of one of Guild's finest designs and compared to many Gibson or Gretsch models still a rather undervalued guitar.
Overall length is 41 1/2 in. (105.4 cm.), 16 3/8 in. (41.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.). 100% original and quite clean overall; the only noticeable flaw is some small areas of finish disturbance on the face that appear to be from prolonged contact with a vinyl cord or strap. No other damage, repair or alterations; very light wear overall-appears little used for many years-the guitar came in strung with ancient Gibson Sonomatic flatwound strings! Includes the very fine original light rust brown Guild case. A superb example of the very earliest style Starfire. Overall Excellent Condition.
