Guild Starfire IV 1981 - bridge too high?

[tomassplatch]

Hello,
I have been reading this forum for months and I finally decided to make a jump: register and buy a US-made Starfire IV. I am in Europe and I am currently looking into a 1981 Starfire IV. The seller is very nice and sent me a lot of photos (see on the link below):

Guild Starfire IV 1981

27 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

The guitar looks fine to me, but I have two doubts:
- I have never seen a bridge this high on a Starfire guitare, but the seller tells there was no neck reset.
- according to the seller, the guitar is rather heavy, around 5 kgs (11 lbs), which seems heavy.

Should I worry about these things? Are there any other things to pay attention to on the photos? I will have to buy the guitar unseen, but as I read here, Starfires are very consistent.

Thank you so much!

 

[GGJaguar]

Welcome to LTG! Overall it looks like a very nice guitar. There's a little fret wear, but it's pretty light given the age of the guitar. The bridge is a little higher than I'd expect, but I wouldn't worry about it. On a fully hollow archtop, it could be an indication that the top is sinking. The SF-IV has a center block so the top can't sink by design. Of course, that center block can also add weight and the SF-IVs from the late 1970s and early 1980s can be especially heavy. 5 kilos is a lot and would be a huge deterrent for me, but if you play while seated it becomes less of an issue. I'd say the bigger question is how it plays and sounds. Good luck with your hunt!

 

[tomassplatch]

Thank you so much for your reply, the seller says 4,5kg finally, but still pretty heavy. This does not bother me too much, because I play sitting down. From what I read there is not necessarily a correlation between weight and the sound (in terms lighter=better sounding). Here is the video of the guitar, it is difficult to tell of course from the video, but to me sounds like a Stargire:

 

[mavuser]

I have a 1984 SF-4 and the bridge on mine is quite high as well (same bridge as yours, but mine has a Guildsby tailpiece). It is set up very well with 11's, but the action is maybe a touch high at the higher frets. However, that is exactly how I got it- it has never had a set up in my possesion. It plays fine and sounds absolutley wonderful. It is a little heavy but not too bad. heavy Starfires are not so bad because it seems, to me at least, the weight distribution is very balanced. a Guild M-75 solid body from the 1970's has all of the weight concentrared in one place, or that's how it feels. those are real boat anchors.

 

[tomassplatch]

Wow, I just learned that the neck on this guitar is very narrow: 39mm / 1 9/16". Is this normal ? Wow, I cannot imagine this being confortable

 

[mavuser]

mine is 1+ 5/8," that is how I prefer them

 

[shihan]

That nut width is common for many Guilds. You might want to look for a later model SF, ’96 on up. They have a wider nut.