1961 Guild Starfire I Vintage Hollowbody Guitar Cherry Red w/ DeArmond DynaSonic, Bigsby & Case

Up for sale, a 1961 Guild Starfire I in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case. This vintage USA-made Guild was crafted at the company’s Hoboken, NJ factory, loaded with the original DeArmond Dynasonic “white face” single coil pickup and 100% original save for an era-correct Guild-branded Bigsby and corresponding floating aluminum bridge.

Featherweight at 5lbs 13oz, the fully-hollow thinline mahogany body is paired with a Honduran mahogany neck and bound Brazilian rosewood fretboard, yielding a rich natural acoustic quality. Detailed, bold and bell-like in the trebles, the DeArmond Dynasonic is very responsive to picking dynamics, offering a woody, percussive bark when digging in and a punchy, potent bass register. The Tone control has an extremely wide sweep, sweetening and smoothing the sound without losing definition when dialing it back. This Starfire I has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 11-49 roundwound strings, low action, and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

• Wood: Honduran mahogany
• Shape: Medium C, measuring .860” 1st fret, .905” 9th fret
• Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood, dot inlays
• Frets: Slender, leveled/crowned, faint wear favoring the plain strings on 1-3
• Scale Length: 24 3/4”
• Nut: 1 11/16”, bone
• Headstock: Open book shape, Chesterfield inlay
• Tuners: Grover Sta-Tite open-gear
• Serialization: Five-digit stamp dates to 1961

Body Specs:

• Wood: Mahogany
• Pickups: DeArmond Dynasonic
• Controls: Volume, Tone
• Hardware: Floating Bigsby aluminum bridge with compensated saddle, Guild-branded Bigsby vibrato
• Plastics: One-ply black plexi pickguard with Guild star graphic, reflector cap knobs

The gloss Cherry Red nitro lacquer finish exhibits subtle vertical checking, and cosmetic wear includes an area of buckle wear central to the back, a few small finish chips along the body perimeter, and some minor nicks and finish scratches. The nitro gloss on the neck profile is smooth and inviting to the palm, with a few shallow marks along the profile length.

The original Guild-branded hardshell case is included. The case features a smooth burgundy exterior, Guild metal badge, functional latches and the original handle.