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About This Listing
Up for sale, a 1980 Guild Starfire IV model SF4 in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case and factory documentation. Not to be confused with recent Starfire iterations, this is a genuine vintage USA-made Guild, produced at the Westerly, RI factory, loaded with the original pair of HB-1 humbuckers.
Featuring a semi-hollow maple body, maple neck, and bound rosewood fingerboard, this Guild has a bright, bold natural acoustic bark. The HB-1 humbuckers delivering a powerful range of tones with excellent definition and warmth. These pickups have a distinctive note attack and immediacy, with a sparkling treble register and taut, woody wound strings, offering a hair more punch and fullness than the '60s Guild AntiHum humbuckers with a slightly smaller form factor. This Starfire has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 11-49 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.
Neck Specs:
-Wood: Two-piece maple -Shape: Chunky C, full shoulders, measuring .905” 1st fret, .970” 12th fret -Fretboard: Bound rosewood, block inlay -Frets: Medium jumbo, leveled and crowned (no wear) -Scale Length: 24 3/4” -Nut: 1 5/8" -Headstock: Chesterfield, Guild inlay -Tuners: Guild-branded, Schaller-made -Serialization: “Made in USA” stamp, serial on back of headstock translates to ‘80 production
Body Specs:
-Wood: Maple -Pickups: HB-1 humbucker x2, 6.9k ohms -Controls: Volume x2, Tone x2, Master Volume (on cutaway), Three-way pickup selector -Hardware: Roller bridge, “G” harp tailpiece -Plastics: Reflector cap knobs, four-ply pickguard
The gloss Sunburst nitro lacquer finish exhibits limited checking, and cosmetic wear includes some minor finish chipping along the binding and F hole edges, light buckle rash on the back, and a handful of small dings on the body as a whole, largely relegated to the back. The neck profile exhibits a couple shallow marks and some finish loss on the treble side of the carve behind frets 9-11.
The original black tolex hardshell case is included, along with the factory documentation (matching serial).
The Starfire IV was part of Guild's efforts to break into the electric guitar market in the early '60s. Initially, the Starfire IV was the lower-end counterpart to the Starfire V. When the Starfire V was discontinued in 1973, however, the Starfire IV took on some of its higher-end features including block inlays and a master volume knob. While these semi-hollowbodies are considered fine instruments and were adopted by some players at the time, they are of far less interest to collectors than their Gibson equivalents such as the ES-335.
Years of Production: 1963 - 1987, 1993 - 2005
Body Style: Double cutaway semi-hollowbody
Wood Composition: Laminated Maple or Mahogany body, three-piece Maple/Mahogany neck, Rosewood fingerboard
Design Elements: Two humbucker pickups, chrome-plated hardware, Adjustomatic bridge, four control knobs and master volume knob
Notable Starfire Players: Buddy Guy, Lightening Hopkins, Jerry Garcia
