Guild Starfire I DC Semi-Hollow Review

Kris Parke on

I love this guitar. I play a wide range of music from fingerpicking to grunge rock. The fit and finish are great on this guitar. Half a star lost for the tuning machines which do seem to slip a bit. I didn't like the bridge pickup at first, and went as far as ordering a seth lover to replace it. I was jamming with a group I don't play with often, and one of them asked if we could… read more do one of my originals that I usually play on my strat. I split the bridge pickup and discovered I actually do like it lol. It's not stratty but it cuts through and is definitely a usable tone through my ac15 I don't have very much experience on the real deal es335, but I tried the hagstroms, ibanez, epiphone, and gretsch semi hollows and didn't find one that I fell in love with. I ordered this guitar because I tried a buddy's older starfire and was blown away. This guitar has the vintage feel with modern affordability. Try it. You won't regret it

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Guild Starfire I - Cherry Red

Wow, what a great affordable semi-hollow guitar! I had read other reviews on this guitar and requested to be notified when it was in stock. My fantastic sales engineer, Paul LaFemina immediately emailed me that the guitar was expected to arrive in March. He allowed me to actually place an order with no obligation just to assure I got one when when the shipment arrived. Then when… read more the guitars arrived Paul claimed one for me and confirmed via email that I still wanted one. Of course I did and Paul had it shipped that same day. Couldn't be happier with the guitar, Sweetwater and Paul LaFemina. After three months I probably pick up this guitar more than any I have.

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Guild StarFire 1 DC Pelham Blue

Pros: Set up and intonation were good No sharp fret ends Pickups sound great for Jazzy riffs as well as Rockabilly. Neck very comfortable Cons: Black paint on headstock face "crept " over onto blue paint on the top of the headstock Finish flaws on the back of the body eg. fisheye, crease in the paint Blue overspray on fret board at the first fret and on the binding where the… read more body attaches to the neck.

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Good and Not So Good

Set up was pretty good (high e needs to be lowered). Finish is done well with only a few minor blemishes (which is to be expected given the price). Overall, feel of the guitar is really solid. My primary disappointment has been with the electronics (specifically the pots). The tone pots work in a very limited capacity. It's most noticeable on the bridge pick-up (where I tend… read more to want to roll off a bit of the highs). There is no noticeable difference when adjusting the tone from 10-2, then it immediately goes into "muffled" territory. In other words, the tone stays the same (from 10-2) and then immediately drops off (preventing more minor tweaking of your sound). This is the same with the neck pickup, but it is less noticeable. Factoring in the work to make those types of improvements moves the guitar cost into a new price tier (especially without a bag or case included).

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Starfire 1DC Walnut

sounds good. feels good. looks good. Beautiful fretwork. Great fit and finish. Wide sonic footprint with the coil taps. A great value and very versatile. I needed something more appropriate for the wine n' cheese gigs and this fills the bill. Try one and see if it suits you. I hemmed n' hawed, then bit the bullet and bought it...no regrets.

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Great Guitar

After decades of being off the stage and playing with old gear for friends and family, I bought a new guitar to start playing in a band again. Bought a Guild Starfire I DC and love it. Feels good, sounds great. Excellent guitar! James

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Guild at its best

I just purchased the Starfire 1 cherry last week and it is worth at least 4x their selling price. Fit , finish and playability are top notch. Love the push pull volume knobs, i can get many different sounds from it. if you were to have only one guitar this is the one..

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A must have.

As a long time guitarist I've gone through a lot of guitars of varying price and quality. This is a contender that punches way above its weight class. Superb quality. Fit and finish. The neck is so buttery smooth its out of this world. The tone and sustain is pure elegance and beauty. Goes from gut punch to romantic getaway in a flick of the switch. This is a worthy inclusion to… read more anyone's live or studio playing.

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Owned for 3 weeks

I purchased this guitar around 3 weeks ago from sweetwater, and am very happy with my purchase. The set up was great, the guitar sounds phenomenal, and plays excellently. The only issue I have found is an occasional buzz on the bridge on the high and low E strings, but it is not consistent nor detrimental.

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