After a 20-plus year hiatus, the Starfire III was re-introduced in 1997 by FMIC, the new owner of Guild Guitars since 1995.  It is not an exact reissue of the 1960s Starfire.  The new and old bodies appear to be very similar, yet they are not identical. The “reissue” body has a rounder bottom, deeper cutaway, and narrower upper bout and waist. Body length, lower bout width and top thickness remained unchanged. Initially, the new Starfire III was offered with a laminated mahogany or laminated maple body, but the mahogany option was dropped by 2001. The body also received a bit of gingerbread with a 5-ply bound top and back. Finish options included natural and sunburst for maple bodies, and the traditional Starfire transparent red and black for mahogany bodies though the finish was now polyurethane rather than nitrocellulose lacquer. Instead of using their tried-and-true HB-1 pickup, Guild opted to use Seymour Duncan SD-1 humbuckers which are nearly identical to the specifications of the Duncan SH-1 '59 pickup. The guitar shown here is a less common mahogany example made during the first year of production for the new Starfire III.

Body: Hollow; laminated 1-piece mahogany top, back, and sides; 5-ply bound top and back

Finish: Transparent Red, polyurethane

Neck: 1-piece mahogany, set-in; black plastic headstock overlay with pearloid logo and Chesterfield inlay

Fingerboard: Indian rosewood, single bound; pearloid dot markers

Number of Frets: 20

Pickguard: Black backed Lucite

Bridge: Bigsby aluminum on aluminum base with Guild/Bigsby tailpiece

Nut: Plastic

Tuners: Grover Rotomatic, sealed, chrome

Pickups: Two, Seymour Duncan SD-1 humbucking with adjustable polepieces

Controls: Tone and volume controls for each pickup, 3-way pickup selector

Scale Length: 24 3/4 inches

Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

Body Width at Lower Bout: 16 1/4 inches

Body Depth: 2 inches

Weight: 6.8 lb.