Are Guild's affordable Starfire I models the best-looking sub-$600 semi-hollows yet?

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Classic single and double-cut designs boast new finishes, vibrato tailpiece options, coil-splitting and more

Guild has unveiled the new Starfire I electric guitar range, which updates the model’s classy Double Cut and Single Cut body shapes with new designs and colors - and ludicrously affordable price points.

The Starfire I SC is based on the Starfire II and III single-cut body shape, and features a two-inch-thick hollow body with an added bridge block to increase bridge stability and improved resonance.

Specs include an arched maple top, maple back and sides and 24 3/4-inch scale length. The guitar is available in Antique Sunburst, with a Guild vibrato tailpiece with roller tension bar version offered in Seafoam Green and Snowcrest White.

The Starfire I DC, meanwhile, expands on the double-cut body shape of the Starfire IV, V and VI, and boasts a semi-hollow body with a mahogany center block.

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Starfire I SC in Snowcrest White(Image credit: Guild Guitars)

Features include an arched mahogany top and mahogany back and sides (maple on the Pelham Blue model), a 24 3/4-inch scale length and an 18th fret neck to body joint. The guitar is available in Cherry Red, with a Guild vibrato tailpiece with roller tension bar version offered in Pelham Blue.

All SC and DC models feature tune-o-matic bridges, Guild Vintage 18 open back tuners with 18:1 ratios, 12-inch radius rosewood fretboards and thin "U" neck profiles.

The guitars are loaded with Guild HB-2 Alnico II humbuckers, with three-way toggle switches with dedicated volume and tone controls and push-pull coil splitting for each pickup.

The oh-so-appealing prices for the models are as follows:

  • Starfire I DC Cherry – $499/£459
  • Starfire I DC GVT Pelham Blue – $599/£549
  • Starfire I SC Antique Burst – $499/£459 
  • Starfire I SC GVT Seafoam Green – $599/£549
  • Starfire I SC GVT Snowcrest White – $599/£549

For more information, head to Guild Guitars.

Richard Bienstock
Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.