SOLD Guild Starfire V 1969

Timeline88

I've decided to sell my recently acquired Guild Starfire V from 1969. I bought this on a bit of an impulse because they don't come up for sale often and I'd been chasing one ever since playing one that a friend of mine bought while he was on tour in the US. It's a brilliant guitar, plays great across the neck, has bags of vintage appeal and sounds great plugged in.

I'm loathe to admit it but my taste has changed; I'd always thought a great semi-acoustic was my go-to guitar but these days its my Jazzmaster and Les Paul Special that get picked up most and so it seems daft having so much money tied up in a guitar that gets used occasionally.

The Guild Starfire V was pretty much top of the range for Guild, featuring a Guild-branded Bigsby, block inlays, and a master volume circuit. They did offer a VI with some fancier inlays and binding etc. so you could argue the Starfire V is equivalent to a ES345. 

Things to note:
- The pick guard is long gone
- The bridge has been changed from a compensated Bigsby aluminium bridge to an old Gibson ABR1 which works perfectly well with the 'Guildsby' tailpiece
- Non-original HSC. Has a brand new TGI ES-style hardcase which fits perfectly.
- Switch tip is a plastic replacement

Good stuff:
- No binding shrinkage or headstock veneer shrinkage
- Factory Grover's are holding tune brilliantly
- Nice low action with no buzzing or dead spots
- Guild 'mini humbuckers' sound amazing - 1969 was the year they changed from these to the full-size HB1 pickups, so one of the last guitars out of the door to feature these pups
- Electrics and master volume circuit are in good order. Bit of crackle on the neck tone pot but not enough to be a cause of irritation or worry.
- Frets are in good condition. I can't tell whether it's had a refret in its lifetime but if it has it was probably a while ago. No pitting to the fretboard either and all of the inlays are in good condition.

Asking for £2,300 via PayPal Gift or bank transfer please. It's listed on Reverb at a higher value to offset fees etc.

I would much prefer to have the buyer collect but I'm based in Gateshead, North East and I appreciate that is out in the sticks for a lot of people. If collection isn't an option, let me know and we can talk shipping. I have sent a few guitars via UPS now with no bother and for a guitar of this value, I'd expect that to be £50-70 fully insured, next-day.

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="GyHOt8F"><a href="https://imgur.com/GyHOt8F">View post on imgur.com</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://imgur.com/a/ygVuSmP

Timeline88

Bump - not really after trades but open to sensible offers

three_little_birds

These 60s Hoboken Guilds are fantastic guitars.  I own a couple and would chose one over any modern Gibson semi, and I've owned quite a few of those as well. The mahogany version with the mini hums has such a unique smokey tone.

The switch tip isn't the original by the way.

Timeline88

three_little_birds said:

These 60s Hoboken Guilds are fantastic guitars.  I own a couple and would chose one over any modern Gibson semi, and I've owned quite a few of those as well. The mahogany version with the mini hums has such a unique smokey tone.

The switch tip isn't the original by the way.

Yeah, they’re really great instruments and to find a Gibson of similar standards, vintage or new, would cost a fortune more. Plus, they’ve got their own thing going on.

I forgot to put the switch tip on there but I’d put it on my Reverb listing. I’m trying to find a replacement but those little metal ones are hard to come by! 

Timeline88

Bump