FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The S-100 Polara has a long history with Guild producing several versions - a 1960s version with a double-cutaway, offset body, a 1970s version that was basically Guild's take on the Gibson SG, a 1990s reissue of the 1970s version and a Newark Street series "reissue". The guitar shown here is the first version. The S-100 shared the same body, headstock shape and pickups as its sibling, the S-50 and is, essentially, a two pickup version of that model. The earliest version from 1963 had a pickguard that extended under the bridge, but this trimmed down in later versions like the one shown here. The early versions were also fitted with a built-in "kick stand" that, in theory, allowed the guitar to stand upright without the need for a separate guitar stand. The design did not provide a stable 3-point stand and many Polaras (and S-200 Thunderbirds which also had this feature) suffered broken headstocks from falls. Thankfully this guitar is not one of them. Guild did a strange thing with the cherry finish on some early versions of the S-50 and S-100. Instead of being a monochromatic clear red finish, the edges were darkened to create a sunburst finish. Yet, the catalogs still called this finish "Cherry Red" instead of maybe, Redburst. Want more crazy? Guild offered this model and the S-50 in a true sunburst finish called "Sunburst". Guild has always done confusing things.

 Body:  Solid; mahogany

 Finish:  Sunburst, nitrocellulose

 Neck:  1-piece mahogany, set-in; black plastic headstock overlay with pearloid logo and Chesterfield inlay

 Fingerboard:  Rosewood, pearloid dot markers

 Number of Frets:  22

 Pickguard:  5-ply black/white plastic

 Bridge:  Hagstrom Adjusto-matic with Hagstrom Tremar vibrato tailpiece, chrome

 Nut:  Bone

 Tuners:  Grover Sta-Tite, nickel

 Pickups:  Two, Guild "Frequency Tested" single coil with adjustable pole pieces, chrome

 Controls:  3-way pickup selector switch, volume and tone controls for each pickup

 Scale Length:  24 3/4 inches

 Neck Width at Nut:  1 5/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout:  13 3/4 inches

 Body Depth:  1 1/2 inches

 Weight:  7.7 lb