Guild Starfire I SC Semi-Hollow - Snowcrest White Review

New customer

Just bought a Guild Starfire1 and a gator case. I am very pleased with my purchases and love the customer service. The Starfire is top quality and better than I expected. I highly recommend this guitar.

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A superb value

Having ordered an Epiphone some 6 months earlier and growing impatient, a quick search of Sweetwater's inventory for a hollow or semi-hollow with a bigsby at or under $1000 led me to the Starfire I range from Guild. Knowing that the brand was a legacy maker from the 60's that had been in and out of production, changed ownership several times, and that they were currently under the… read more Cordoba umbrella, I had no idea what to expect. I pulled the trigger on this white Starefire I SC preferring the single cut to it's double cut sister (mostly to differentiate it from my army of Casinos) half expecting to dislike and return it. I received the guitar in the dead of July, and did nothing more than tune it, admire it's looks, and let it sit for two weeks to settle before judging it. Once it had stretched in, a quick truss adjustment was needed and the action was lowered a bit... and that was it. Intonation is spot on. Fit and finish is excellent. Nut is cut well, it holds tuning much better than my Les Paul or my Gretsch 6119 '62. The neck is very comfortable, Gibson 60's slim taper -esque. Frets are slim, fretboard was very dry (some Music Nomad Oil took care of that) but the edges are rolled well and not a sharp fret end anywhere. The Guildsby is a fun addition, OEM bigsby knock off, but it is smooth and returns the strings to their correct pitch. The HB2 pickups are their own thing, kind of if a TV Jones Hilo'tron and a Gibson PAF had a baby. Low output, but some bite, very mid rangy. Probably not a guitar for aggressive rock, or metal, but excellent for jazz, blues, indie, country, or anything where jangle is appreciated. The split feature I am sure will be a huge plus for many players, I've never been much of a fan though... I have a strat... but it is very versatile. The only critique, and it is minor, is the jack. Crackles and occasionally cuts out in the neck position. If used professionally this will need to be replaced. Other than that, I cannot complain about anything on this guitar. It sounds wonderful acoustically, is a great couch guitar, very comfortable, and a joy to play. I am quite impressed!

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Amazing semi-hollow

It feels above average, sounds above average, and is a great value for this quality of semi-hollow guitar. I wanted a semi-hollow with a tremolo so there aren't all that many options that fall into the "affordable" category. In the single cut the only color options are white and green, neither is especially desirable to me. I chose the white because green while perfect for an offset… read more solid body "surf" guitar just seemed wrong on a rockabilly instrument. I'd love to see it in red, walnut or even natural blonde. The sounds that come out of this thing are beautiful. I play it through a small 5 watt tube amp and it just sounds awesome. The coil split option is what really pushed me over the line for this particular guitar. You can nurse just about any kind of tone you want out of this thing. I'm not a jazz player but I'd bet a good jazz player would love this. all in all, Guild hit a home run with these Starfire I guitars.

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