FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

After the FMIC takeover of Guild, the Starfire IV continued to evolve through the end of its US production in 2004. Seymour Duncan SD-1 pickups were substituted for the Guild HB-1 pickups sometime in 1994. The ebony fingerboard was changed to rosewood in 1995 and the Muller bridge and stop tail was changed to a Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge/stop tail combination. In 1996 the guitar was once again offered with a mahogany body. The 3-piece maple neck was replaced with a 3-piece mahogany neck sometime in 1997 and the pickguard was changed back to the 1970s style acrylic guard with Guild logo. The pickups made one final change to Fender HB-1 units sometime in 1999. Finally,the mahogany body option was dropped after production was moved from Westerly to Corona. Interestingly, in 1997 there were Starfire IVs made with misaligned bridges and a service bulletin was issued. The guitar shown here has the optional mahogany body which results in a warmer sound. Please visit Gary Donahue's review for more information about late 1990s Starfire IV's.

  Body:  Semi-hollow; laminated 1-piece mahogany top, back, and sides; 5-ply bound top and back

  Finish:  Natural,  nitrocellulose lacquer

  Neck:  3-piece mahogany/maple, set-in; black plastic headstock overlay with pearloid logo and Chesterfield inlay

  Fingerboard:  Indian rosewood, single bound; pearloid dot markers

  Number of Frets:  22

  Pickguard:  Acrylic

  Bridge:  Gotoh Tune-o-matic with stop tailpiece, chrome

  Nut:  Plastic

  Tuners:  Grover Rotomatic, chrome

  Pickups:  Two, Seymour Duncan/Guild SD-1 with adjustable pole pieces, chrome

  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 3/8 inches

  Body Depth:  1 1/2 inches

  Weight:  7.9 lb