Guild expands their Newark St. Collection by bringing back another classic – the Starfire V with Bigsby.
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The Newark St. Collection brought back Guild’s old electric guitar designs from the ’50 and ’60s, featuring authentic body shapes, neck profiles along with vintage style pickups to complete the look and sound as found on vintage counterparts. These guitars satisfy the demand for these rare instruments.
The new Starfire V with Bigsby features a 335-esque double cutaway body, much like the Starfire IV. It features an arched top and arched back design with the body made from laminated mahogany. Completing its semi-hollow design are two f holes and a center-block bracing. The body is wrapped in gloss polyurethane transparent cherry finish.
The guitar has a 3-piece mahogany/maple/mahogany neck carved into a vintage soft “U” profile. It is topped by a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard. The scale length of the guitar is 24.75″, while the nut width is 1.65″.
The guitar follows traditional dual humbucker configuration, with two Guild “Anti-Hum” Dual-Coil pickups. These pickups replicate the versatile tone of vintage Starfire IV and Vs, note that the sound is one of the main reasons why this old model has a cult-like following.
Other features of the guitar include a Guild adjusto-matic bridge with rosewood base, Grover Sta-Tite die-cast tuners, bone string nut, and an Opaque Plexi pickguard.
The new Starfire V with Bigsby has an MSRP of $1,699, I did a quick search for a comparable vintage model and found one from 1965 that is selling for over $4,300! The guitar will be on display at the 2014 NAMM show along with other new models from Guild. Visit Guild Guitars for more information.
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