« Still a Great Guitar Holding a Lot of Memories »

I bought my Cherry Red Guild Starfire lll back in 1965 when it was brand new for $250 which included a hard shell case. I picked it because it looked like Johnny River's Gibson that he played on Shindig and at the Whisky-A-Go Go and I couldn't afford the Gibson. I still play it at gigs. The finish has held up well but some of the binding is starting to pull away from the wood where the pick guard bracket is mounted to the body. It stays in tune as well as any other guitar I own, maybe better. Other than installing a tune-o-matic bridge with roller saddles on the aluminum base, for better intonation, the guitar is completely original. It has the sway bar made by Bigsby but branded as a Guild like they all do, which is why I went to the roller bridge. The original kept breaking strings. What I really like about this sway bar is that it is always reliable and the guitar will not go out of tune through use or if a string breaks. I cannot say that about any of my Fender tremolo bars. I play rock, blues and country through a Fender Blues Deluxe Amp and this guitar does it all well. It really shines as a blues guitar. The sound is stellar. The only con I've noticed with it is if you stand too close to the amp it will feed back a lot since it is a hollow body. In the 60's though this was a plus given the type of playing that was going on. It does lead and rhythm well as you can take it from a full body sound to country twang very easily. The electronics are still original and perform well and the neck is still perfect on it. It plays as well as the day I bought it and I've played it from New England to Guam. All in all I couldn't have bought a better guitar at any price, and I don't think a Gibson would have performed any better. Sorry Johnny. I think its great to be able to see my 15 year old self in photos playing the same guitar I'm still playing at 70 years old. I don't know if the new ones are any better or worse but I do know that this one is still a great guitar and holds a lot of memories.