- Joined
- Jul 30, 2007
- Messages
- 13,853
- Reaction score
- 3,345
- Location
- Philly, or thereabouts
- Guild Total
- 11
Let me preface this by noting that I said I would never buy a non-American built Guild.
OK, it's not the first time that I was wrong.
I had the saturday off, so I drove over to Eighth Street Music in lovely Pennsauken, New Jersey, ostensibly to try out one of the X175s that they had on their website. Unfortunately for me, all they had was a Newark Street SFIV in the unopened box.
First impression is that Guild nailed the look and feel of a classic 1968 Hoboken Starfire. It is an extremely pretty guitar, with the transparent red finish setting off the mahogany grain nicely. It has the three line chesterfield on the headstock and nice retro touches like the indicator brads and the "go to 9" volume and tone knobs. (Why don't they go to ten? Because you wouldn't be able to handle it!) It has the classic harp tailpiece and the binding is aged for a vintage look. The nut is white, which sticks out a little, but it isn't glaring.
Case is a TKL 2310/BL, for those who are interested.
The neck is slim and tapers into the flat heel. It has a poly finish and it's not as slick as my older guitars, but I think it will improve with use. It isn't as grabby as some of the DeArmonds were. What impressed me was the resonance of this guitar. The top is in line with the thickness of the 1968 SFIII that I own, although the Newark St Starfire IV has a center block. It feels lively. It also weighs quite a bit less that my Westerly reissue SFIV.
The problematic Hagstrom Bridge bridge of the original was replaced with a tune-o-matic, which allows the owner a greater range of adjustment to intonation. The break angle is much improved over the typical vintage Starfire, which often needs the bridge ground down to maintain a low action.
The harp tailpiece seems to be cast, not two pieces welded together like the originals, but I won't know for sure till I throw some Ernie Balls on later tonight. The mini-buckers sounded good in the store, but I am not a big Blues Deluxe fan, so I'll get a better feel through the Ampeg later on.
Summery?
It's a really, really nice guitar. I'm not sure that this will be the equal of a 45 year old Hoboken, but, for the price, you are sitting pretty damned close.
OK, it's not the first time that I was wrong.
I had the saturday off, so I drove over to Eighth Street Music in lovely Pennsauken, New Jersey, ostensibly to try out one of the X175s that they had on their website. Unfortunately for me, all they had was a Newark Street SFIV in the unopened box.
First impression is that Guild nailed the look and feel of a classic 1968 Hoboken Starfire. It is an extremely pretty guitar, with the transparent red finish setting off the mahogany grain nicely. It has the three line chesterfield on the headstock and nice retro touches like the indicator brads and the "go to 9" volume and tone knobs. (Why don't they go to ten? Because you wouldn't be able to handle it!) It has the classic harp tailpiece and the binding is aged for a vintage look. The nut is white, which sticks out a little, but it isn't glaring.
Case is a TKL 2310/BL, for those who are interested.
The neck is slim and tapers into the flat heel. It has a poly finish and it's not as slick as my older guitars, but I think it will improve with use. It isn't as grabby as some of the DeArmonds were. What impressed me was the resonance of this guitar. The top is in line with the thickness of the 1968 SFIII that I own, although the Newark St Starfire IV has a center block. It feels lively. It also weighs quite a bit less that my Westerly reissue SFIV.
The problematic Hagstrom Bridge bridge of the original was replaced with a tune-o-matic, which allows the owner a greater range of adjustment to intonation. The break angle is much improved over the typical vintage Starfire, which often needs the bridge ground down to maintain a low action.
The harp tailpiece seems to be cast, not two pieces welded together like the originals, but I won't know for sure till I throw some Ernie Balls on later tonight. The mini-buckers sounded good in the store, but I am not a big Blues Deluxe fan, so I'll get a better feel through the Ampeg later on.
Summery?
It's a really, really nice guitar. I'm not sure that this will be the equal of a 45 year old Hoboken, but, for the price, you are sitting pretty damned close.