GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria 1964 Guild S-50 Jet-Star

All images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.

FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

In 1963, Guild introduced its first line of solid body guitars: the S-50 Jet-Star, S-100 Polara, and S-200 Thunderbird. The Jet-Star and Polara shared the same double-cutaway, slightly offset waist body that would be used until 1970 when it was revised to resemble a Gibson SG. The '60s version used three different headstock shapes: asymmetric, in-line and symmetrical. The asymmetric headstock was used from 1963 until 1966 when it was changed to a Fendery in-line design. Sometime in 1967, the standard Guild "peaked" headstock shape was used. The S-50 was fitted with a unusual combination bridge unit that had a "swing-off cover" as Guild called it. The model was occassionally fitted with a Hagstrom vibrato as well. The 1970s version used the same Muller bridge and stop tail as the 1970s S-100 and M-75. The S-50 was fitted with either Guild's "Frequency Tested" single coil pickup (1963-66), "Mickey Mouse" single coil pickup (1967-70), or HB-1 humbucker (1970s). The pickup was located in the middle position on the body for all iterations of the S-50 and gave the guitar a unique sound.

GUILD S-50 JET-STAR (1964)

Body: Solid; mahogany