Pricing and availability
We compare 600+ stores and found this item at 5 stores. Prices updated .
Store
Reviews
Price
Average Price: $2,200
High-end/Boutique
$500
$1201+
Price Tier
Budget
Standard
High-end
Price History
Based on price data from 3 merchants for "Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar". Prices shown reflect NEW condition. Tracking began Apr 2, 2026.
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Description
Strum the chords of timeless music with the Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar. This beautiful instrument harmoniously blends vintage appeal with modern functionality, designed to deliver a rich, resonant tone and stunning aesthetics. The Starfire III features a semi-hollowbody construction crafted from laminated mahogany, ensuring a warm, full-bodied sound with ample sustain even when played unplugged.
The one-piece mahogany neck adopts a vintage soft "U" shape, allowing for comfortable finger positioning and easy navigation across the rosewood fretboard. The Guild Starfire III is equipped with 20 frets, giving you a wide range of notes to explore and experiment with.
Let your fingers dance across the frets and let the Guild "Anti-Hum" Dual-Coil pickups do their magic. These pickups promise a hum-free performance, capturing the full-bodied tone of your guitar and delivering a clear, powerful output. The Guild Starfire III also features a Guild Adjusto-Matic bridge and Bigsby B60 tremolo, which not only contribute to the guitar's vintage charm but also provide remarkable tuning stability and smooth vibrato effects.
The Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar is a testament to timeless design and exceptional craftsmanship, perfect for musicians who appreciate both aesthetics and sound quality.
Key Features:
- Semi-hollowbody design crafted from laminated mahogany
- One-piece mahogany neck with soft "U" shape
- Rosewood fretboard with 20 frets
- Equipped with Guild "Anti-Hum" Dual-Coil pickups
- Features Guild Adjusto-Matic bridge and Bigsby B60 tremolo
- Grover StaTite machine heads for superior tuning stability
- Comes in a vibrant Cherry Red color
- Includes a hardshell carrying case for safe and easy transportation
Videos
Guild Guitars
Guild Starfire III Demo
Guild Starfire III Demo
Guild Guitars
Guild Starfire III
Cutaway Magazine
Guild Starfire III w/ Guild Vibrato Tailpiece Cherry Red DEMO - Manchester Music Mill
Manchester Music Mill
Guild Starfire III from 1963 presented by Vintage Guitar Oldenburg and Tobias Hoffmann
Vintage Guitar Oldenburg
Guild Starfire III vs IV Review with Audio Samples
Brooks Reid
Reviews
PROS
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Wide range of tones, from clean jazz to rock and blues
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Comfortable to play with a lightweight body
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High-quality build and stunning cherry red finish
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Comes with a durable hard case
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Excellent sound projection both unplugged and amplified
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Great value for the price, comparable to more expensive brands
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Pickups offer versatility and unique sound characteristics
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Easy intonation setup; user-friendly for adjustments
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Neck and fretboard design enhances playability
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Strong sustain and depth, especially for a hollowbody
CONS
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Pickup selector switch prone to rattling and resonance issues
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Susceptible to feedback at higher distortion levels
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Limited sustain compared to solid-body guitars
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar.
User experience
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The neck pickup is favored for its beautiful tone, while the bridge pickup is less popular among some users.
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Owners note the Starfire III’s lightweight feel, emphasizing its distinct sound compared to the ES-335, especially appreciated in jazz settings.
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Some owners practice unplugged, appreciating the Starfire III's bright and clean acoustic tone with good sustain, despite being quieter than a nylon acoustic.
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An owner from 1970 noted feedback issues and the archtop bridge sliding during aggressive strumming, leading to trading for better performance.
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Use cases and applications
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Flatwound 11s are recommended for those seeking a warm jazz tone on the Starfire III.
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Features and functionality
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The Starfire III's lightweight build doesn't compromise its solid feel, avoiding the cheapness sometimes found in other guitars.
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The middle pickup position is highlighted for its particularly nice sound, offering a gritty and beautiful tone.
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The Starfire III includes a Bigsby/Guildsby tremolo, whereas the ES-335 lacks this feature, contributing to their distinct tonal differences.
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Comparisons
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It’s noted that Guild Starfire III is akin to a Gibson ES295, offering a similar aesthetic and tonal quality.
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The Starfire III is a full hollow body, contrasting with the Epiphone ES-335 which is semi-hollow and typically has a fatter neck.
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A user compared the Starfire III to D’Angelico models, mentioning that the fixed bridge and P90s of the latter offer more versatility.
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The Starfire's Bigsby tremolo is a point of preference; some users avoid it for tuning stability, while others favor it for its unique style.
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Value and pricing
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Purchasing "USED" stamped models from Music Go Round offers nearly new guitars at a significant discount, around $700.
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4.5 out of 5
Based on 1 Review and 3 Ratings
My 1966 Guild starfire III is one of the best sounding guitars among hundreds vintage & custom shop I have played
Amazing guitar !The Guild mini humbuckers are phenomenal ! Warm and velvet , articulate and wild , She has a full hollow thin Honduras mahogany body & neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bites and screams when overdriven but oh boy .... what a sound !!! She's gonna haunt you If you find an original vintage in a good shape .... don't miss it .... A dream guitar .
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I've got a '61 with the DeArmond Dynasonic single-coils ... but despite the difference in pickups (bright and crisper ... think rockabilly instead of rock), you described her to a "t" ... a dream guitar!
Artist usage
Add artist
Used on 2019 album "Let's Rock", according to 2019 Music Radar interview.
I used a couple of guitars, but one I used a ton was a Guild Starfire III, with the mini-humbuckers. There’s a really specific time period where they were really good. It’s like from ’63 to ’67. I got one of those and I had it set-up at Gruhn’s in Nashville and it is just a horse. It is a motherfucker. It’s so good.
In this photo posted by Karl Hyde to Instagram, his Guild electric guitar can be seen. It most closely matches a Guild Starfire III, though the finish is custom and it is adorned with decals. The pickguard, dot inlays in the neck, body shape, and knob configuration match that of the Starfire III. Hyde's is perhaps an older vintage model, as a few things differ such as the pickups, Bigsby tremolo with some rust/tarnishing on it, and "reinforcement" around the pickup selector switch.
In this Vintage Guitar Magazine article, Robben Ford says this about his Guild Starfire III: "My first real good electric was a Guild Starfire III with a single sharp cutaway."
In this television performance of Sunny Afternoon Dave Davies is seen using his Guild Starfire III. The guitar is visible at the start and end of the clip. Dave is also shown playing the guitar on the cover of the Kinks’ LP The Kink Kontroversy.
At 14:26 of this video, Brendan Benson pulls out a Guild Starfire III from the "early 60s". He bought it because he's a fan of the Kinks' Dave Davies, who played a similar guitar.
In this photo you can see Norah Jones playing a Guild Starfire III from the mid 60s with Guild's HB-1 small humbuckers. The Guild logo can be clearly seen on the factory installed Bigsby. She has also been known to play an earlier Starfire (II or II, unsure) with two Dearmond 200 pickups (white bobbin Gretsch 'Dynasonics').
According to Guild's website Renaud uses a modern Starfire III besides his vintage Guilds.
At 5:00 in this NPR video, there is a clear shot of the Guild Starfire III, in cherry-red, that Ted Leo is playing.
In this profile from Premier Guitar magazine, the sidebar lists a Starfire III among Erikson's gear.
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Ethan Luck uses a Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar, as shown in his Instagram post featuring the guitar.
Album Usage
The Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar has been featured on the following albums:
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Guild Starfire III Hollowbody Guitar, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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