![]() The Starfire III is a great '60s rock and roll guitar from the end of the "Beat Boom" era, and is well-suited to jazzier stylings as well. This mid-1967 example is little changed from earlier 1960s models except for the Japanese-made machines Guild began using in 1966. The Starfire III is a fully hollow thinline body guitar with a cherry finish, triple-bound top and back, and equipped with Guild's 1960s Humbucking pickups and a Guild-logo Bigsby vibrato. This particular example remains original with no repairs or alterations and is in very nice shape overall. ![]() This 1967 Guild Starfire III was the highest-ranked single-cutaway, fully hollow guitar in the very popular Starfire line. This Guild Starfire III Thinline is in good working condition and given its light weight is comfortable and fun to play.Ī non-original black hard shell case is included.Guild Starfire III Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967), made in Hoboken, NJ, serial # EK-2445, cherry lacquer finish, Laminated mahogany body, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case. A Gibson-style output jack plate has been added to the side. This was done very cleanly, and could almost look factory – if Guild had ever done this. Here, a cavity was routed into the back and an access panel installed. This is a thinline electric hollow body guitar, and the ‘electric’ part of that always poses some challenges for wiring installation, maintenance and repair. The pickups are the original Guild humbuckers, slightly smaller than full-sized Gibson humbuckers but slightly larger than Gibson mini-humbuckers, as were found on many Epiphone models built by Gibson. The original bridge would have been an compensated aluminum model supplied with the Bigsby tailpiece, and in its place is a rosewood-based Tune-O-Matic style adjustable bridge. The original pickguard is gone, and the tuners are period-correct Grover Sta-Tites. It has been re-fretted and there is lots of fret available for years of use. During that, the neck may have been removed. ![]() The neck was nicely refinished some time ago, almost certainly as part of a headstock crack repair. This essentially makes it a Starfire II, but the label does read Starfire III. ![]() This particular example has had a bit of work done to it over the years, and likely originally had a Bigsby which has been removed and replaced with the Guild Harp tailpiece. ![]() The body is shaped Mahogany Laminate, with a solid Mahogany neck and, typical of the period, a bound Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard. Here we are looking at a Guild Starfire III Thinline in cherry red, built during 1964 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Guild production in Corona ended in 2005, and resumed - without the Starfire - in Tacoma, Washington. However, in 2001 the Westerly plant was closed and production moved to the Fender facility in Corona, California. In 1997, under management by Fender, production resumed in Westerly. The Starfire III Thinline was built from 1960 to 1974 in Hoboken, New Jersey and Westerly, Rhode Island. It was available with either maple or mahogany laminate body. The Guild Starfire III Thinline first appeared in 1960, as a single-cutaway, thin but fully hollow archtop, with a Bigsby tailpiece – the Starfire II was the same guitar but with the Guild harp tailpiece. ![]()
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