Cordoba Music Group will be exhibiting Guild branded guitars at NAMM for the first time this year, and part of their display will be Guild Starfire Guitars in black finish.
Related Feature:
Fender Sells Guild Brand to Cordoba
According to the company, this is the first time in decades that the Guild Starfire III, Starfire IV or Starfire V are available in black finish. This release is meant to satisfy one of the most common requests that they’ve been getting from fans and customers.
It is quite sad that the once great brand that competed with Martin Guitars in the ’60s, ended up being tossed around by bigger guitar companies. I guess this is still better compared to their entire line ending. After being acquired by Fender in 1995, and sold to Cordoba just last year, it is reassuring to see new releases.
When the news that Fender was selling the Guild brand to Cordoba, I thought that the future for this instrument line was bleak, much like how the Hamer brand ended. Thankfully, it looks like Cordoba intends to keep its promise to grow the American brand. They have continued production and are now coming up with new releases. At the upcoming 2015 NAMM Show, Guild branded guitars are going to sit in Cordoba’s booth for the first time.
The Starfire line were rare and popular alternatives to Gibson’s hollow and semi-hollow body electrics, modern day artists like John Mayer have put one to good use and many are still impressed. Unfortunately, finish options for the current production model is limited, specifically, the Black Starfire models were only made available for a short period of time, and as a result they have become rare and were sought after. So Cordoba has commissioned Guild to make these new black finish Starfire models, adding to their Newark St. Collection, a line of guitars inspired by vintage ’50s and ’60s design. Guitarists can now own true black finish Guild Starfires without having to look for rare vintage models.
The Starfire III is the a true full hollow instrument that resembles classic jazz boxes. It has a single Florentine cutaway and a Guild vibrato tailpiece, and comes with a thinner body profile than the usual archtops. The Starfire IV is a double cutaway semi-hollow guitar, popularly used by Buddy Guy in the 60s, and more recently, played by indie artist Feist. The Starfire V is the premium version of the IV, also a semi-hollow guitar with a double cutaway but with more embellishments like block inlays, additional master volume knob, and it also comes equipped with a Guild vibrato tailpiece.
All three of these guitars are built with mahogany tops, backs, and sides, have a comfortable extra thin body depth, and are bundled with a hardshell case. Cordoba equipped the guitars with Guild’s Anti-Hum dual-coil neck and bridge pickups, these are reproductions of the original ’60s pickups found on vintage Guild Starfires.
The press release concludes by saying, “The Starfire III, IV, and V remain the heart of the Newark St. Collection, offering Guild’s classic vibe and vintage tone.“
Cordoba provided the street price for the three new releases, with the Starfire III Black at $1099.99, the Starfire IV Black also at $1099.99, and the Starfire V Black at $1199.99. Visit Guild Guitars for more information and the complete specifications.
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