FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The double cutaway Starfire series was introduced in late 1963 beginning with the Starfire IV and Starfire V. The Starfire VI followed in 1964. These guitars were made to capture part of the market that was almost exclusively enjoyed by the Gibson ES series guitars. Like the Gibson ES-335, the Starfire IV has a center block of wood that runs from the neck to the tail and is glued to the top and back. This reduces feedback and increases sustain. Up through 1967 the neck was joined to the body at the 16th fret. After 1967, the neck-to-body joint was moved to the 18th fret to facilitate better access to the upper registers. In the early 1970s, it received the fancier appointments of the then discontinued Starfire V. The striped appearance of the wood on the guitar pictured here is characteristic of sapele, a mahogany-like wood from Africa, that Guild commonly used in the mid-1960s and early 1970s.

 Body:  Semi-hollow; laminated 1-piece Sapele top and back, and laminated mahogany sides; 3-ply bound top and back

 Finish:  Cherry Red,  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:  Hagstrom Adjusta-matic on rosewood base with Guild harp tailpiece

 Nut:  Plastic

 Tuners:  Grover Rotomatic, chrome (non-original)

 Pickups:  Two, Guild "Anti-Hum" 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 7/8 inches

 Weight:  7.8 lb