Never go into a guitar shop with money. 
Or do. Life is short.
I visited my local (two) favorite guitar shops yesterday planning to look at a G&L Tribute Fallout (which I did, and which is lovely, and which I will have soon enough) and thought I was safe just looking at that one guitar. I have my semi-hollow needs covered by an Epiphone Sheraton II Pro, I don't need another semi-hollow. And that Sheraton beat out a Gretsch G5622 (Electromatic)... primarily due to the neck dive of the Gretsch. But anyway. I don't need another guitar. I don't. I certainly don't need that Guild Starfire I SC that plays really nice and sounds like a dream. Definitely not.
So anyway, I bought it. Photos attached.
This guitar solves a lot of my niggling issues with the Epiphone and the Gretsch. It is MUCH lighter than my Sheraton and is nearly perfectly balanced on a strap -- far less shoulder fatigue here. The neck is more stable than my Sheraton, and thus it stays in tune longer. The functional "guitar" parts of the guitar feel better made... it resonates like an acoustic and has better sustain. It's got some projection to it, even when unplugged.
Sound-wise this falls somewhere between the mellow vibe of a Sheraton and the spanky brightness of a Gretsch. Unfortunately it doesn't do the thick PAF thing the Sheraton does despite having humbuckers, but I'm not disappointed in the sound. It's clean as a whistle, articulate and chimey without being ice-picky, very pristine and forward. Reedy but not thin or edgy. I imagine rolling off the tone controls could get some warmth to simulate that dark Sheraton neck pup. Guild has a really good demo video up on Youtube featuring RJ Ronquillo on this guitar and its double-cut cousin if you are curious.
So here's the first complaint - the tone pots. Apparently they use linear instead of audio taper, so they do nothing until they're nearly off. That's an easy and cheap fix (for me, since I can solder), but it makes me wonder who keeps authorizing linear taper tone pots? Honestly. It's not even a cost saving, it's just bad design. I have linear tone pots in so many guitars and they are all useless.
The second complaint is that, on my instrument, the fit and finish is not great. It is probably average for a $400-$500 guitar. It is not up to Sheraton/Electromatic standards. That said, those guitars cost more, so they ought to be finished better, I suppose. Anyway, I took a needle file to some rough edges inside the F-holes, oiled the fretboard, put some 10s on (comes with 11s!), and touched up some roughness on the binding along the neck. The frets themselves were finished properly, and everything else I noticed being off is just cosmetic.
The single-coil splits are a nifty feature, and using both pups in middle position with the neck in single coil sounds different and good. But I don't see myself using the single coil feature as a stand-alone sound.
By far the best thing about this guitar is the playability and the unique sound. So I'm willing to overlook a few small issues - it is snappy, it feels more solid while playing than the Sheraton despite being much lighter, and is gig-able on a strap (the lack of which killed the Gretsch for me). What's not to like?
Or do. Life is short.I visited my local (two) favorite guitar shops yesterday planning to look at a G&L Tribute Fallout (which I did, and which is lovely, and which I will have soon enough) and thought I was safe just looking at that one guitar. I have my semi-hollow needs covered by an Epiphone Sheraton II Pro, I don't need another semi-hollow. And that Sheraton beat out a Gretsch G5622 (Electromatic)... primarily due to the neck dive of the Gretsch. But anyway. I don't need another guitar. I don't. I certainly don't need that Guild Starfire I SC that plays really nice and sounds like a dream. Definitely not.
So anyway, I bought it. Photos attached.
This guitar solves a lot of my niggling issues with the Epiphone and the Gretsch. It is MUCH lighter than my Sheraton and is nearly perfectly balanced on a strap -- far less shoulder fatigue here. The neck is more stable than my Sheraton, and thus it stays in tune longer. The functional "guitar" parts of the guitar feel better made... it resonates like an acoustic and has better sustain. It's got some projection to it, even when unplugged.
Sound-wise this falls somewhere between the mellow vibe of a Sheraton and the spanky brightness of a Gretsch. Unfortunately it doesn't do the thick PAF thing the Sheraton does despite having humbuckers, but I'm not disappointed in the sound. It's clean as a whistle, articulate and chimey without being ice-picky, very pristine and forward. Reedy but not thin or edgy. I imagine rolling off the tone controls could get some warmth to simulate that dark Sheraton neck pup. Guild has a really good demo video up on Youtube featuring RJ Ronquillo on this guitar and its double-cut cousin if you are curious.
So here's the first complaint - the tone pots. Apparently they use linear instead of audio taper, so they do nothing until they're nearly off. That's an easy and cheap fix (for me, since I can solder), but it makes me wonder who keeps authorizing linear taper tone pots? Honestly. It's not even a cost saving, it's just bad design. I have linear tone pots in so many guitars and they are all useless.
The second complaint is that, on my instrument, the fit and finish is not great. It is probably average for a $400-$500 guitar. It is not up to Sheraton/Electromatic standards. That said, those guitars cost more, so they ought to be finished better, I suppose. Anyway, I took a needle file to some rough edges inside the F-holes, oiled the fretboard, put some 10s on (comes with 11s!), and touched up some roughness on the binding along the neck. The frets themselves were finished properly, and everything else I noticed being off is just cosmetic.
The single-coil splits are a nifty feature, and using both pups in middle position with the neck in single coil sounds different and good. But I don't see myself using the single coil feature as a stand-alone sound.
By far the best thing about this guitar is the playability and the unique sound. So I'm willing to overlook a few small issues - it is snappy, it feels more solid while playing than the Sheraton despite being much lighter, and is gig-able on a strap (the lack of which killed the Gretsch for me). What's not to like?
