Guild® Starfire III 1961 - Sold

The Starfire series was introduced in 1960. Based on the T-100, the Starfire III differed only in that it had a laminated mahogany body and a Bigsby tailpiece in place of the T-100's laminated maple body and harp tailpiece. The earliest Starfire IIIs had laminated mahogany bodies and examples of these are rare. This particular guitar is an early Starfire III and is equipped with DeArmond "Dynasonic" single coil pickups which are the same units that Gretsch used in the 1950s. Not so coincidentally, it was Carlo Greco, a former Gretsch employee, that recommended the DeArmonds as an alternate pickup to the Guild "soapbar" pickup. In 1963, the Starfire III, along with the majority of the Guild line, was fitted with Guild HB-1 humbucker pickups. Sometime during 1961, Guild switched from the standard B-6 Bigsby tailpiece (as on the guitar shown here) to the Guild/Bigsby unit. So this puts this guitar as an early 1961. The Starfire III was very popular and remained in the Guild line until 1972.

This is in great shape as you can see from the many detailed pictures. Come in and check it out.

Specifications

Body: Hollow; laminated 1-piece mahogany top and back, and laminated mahogany sides; single bound top and unbound back
Finish: Cherry Red, nitrocellulose lacquer
Neck: 1-piece mahogany, set-in; black plastic headstock overlay with pearloid logo and Chesterfield inlay
Fingerboard: Brazilian rosewood, single bound; pearloid dot markers
Number of Frets: 20
Pickguard: Black backed Lucite®
Bridge: Bigsby aluminum on aluminum base with Bigsby tailpiece
Nut: Bone
Tuners: Grover Sta-Tite, open, nickel
Pickups: Two, DeArmond single coil with adjustable pole pieces
Controls: Tone and volume controls for each pickup, 3-way pickup selector
Scale Length: 24 3/4 inches
Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches
Body Width at Lower Bout: 16 1/4 inches
Body Depth: 1 7/8 inches

Sale Price: $1 900.00

Freight cost (contiguous USA): $35.00

Reference #: 3574

Out of stock.

Call or email us for an in-hand description of this item. 212 353 1775

Hard-shell case included. For orders shipping to a confirmed address in the contiguous USA, buy this now with your credit card or PayPal using our secure server. For all other orders, please contact us. We must provide individual shipping quotes for all overseas destinations.