Guild Guitars – The Jet-Star and Starfire Bass
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Guild guitars began as a small workshop located in Manhattan, grew quickly, relocated a few times and eventually wound up as a subsidiary of Fender. During this journey they made a number of unique electric guitars and basses.
Brief History
Alfred Dronge founded Guild in 1952 and originally made acoustic and archtop electric guitars. As the company grew they had to find larger quarters and in 1956 moved to Hoboken, NJ. In 1960 Guild went public and in 1966 they were purchased by Avnet, Inc.
Within a year after the Avnet acquisition, production started shifting to a large facility in Westerly, RI but the corporate offices remained headquartered in New Jersey. Dronge commuted from New Jersey to Rhode Island by private plane, a practice that would end his life in 1972 when his plane crashed while traveling to Westerly.
They remained in Rhode Island making fine quality guitars even though ownership changed hands a few more times during this period. Fender acquired Guild guitars in 1995 and in 2001 operations were moved to their factory in Corona, California. In 2004 they were moved again this time to Tacoma, Washington and in 2008 they relocated to New Hartford, Connecticut.
1966 Jet-Star Bass
1975 JS II Bass
Bass Time
The first Guild bass debuted in 1964 with the Jet-Star. It featured a 30½ scale, rosewood fingerboard, separate tone and volume controls and an oddly shaped double-cut mahogany solid body.
Its body has been described as a “Hershey bar left too long in the Sun”.
It also came with a single Hagstrom pickup and 2+2 headstock until 1966 when it became a 4 in-line headstock with a “Mickey Mouse” pickup (named that for its small size).
In 1970, Guild guitars replaced the Jet-Star with the JS1 and JSII bass. These Jet-Star descendants were built to compete with Gibson’s EB-0 and EB-3 basses by imitating their design. They came with one or two pickups and 30” scale length although they were also offered in a 34” scale length starting in 1972. Production of the JS bass line would end by 1977.
1966 Starfire Bass
Without a doubt their most popular bass would make the scene in 1965 and was called the Starfire. It was fashioned after their Starfire IV electric guitar which was released just a few years earlier. It was a 30½ short-scale bass with a semi-hollow double-cutaway maple or mahogany body and a single coil Hagstrom pickup. A two pickup version called the Starfire II Bass was added in 1967.
The Starfire was a highly respected bass in the 60s and gained in prominence as it was the bass of choice for the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Jefferson Aiplane’s Jack Casady. In fact, the Starfire basses belonging to these two artists have great historical significance.
Before any Alembic bass guitars were ever made Alembic acted as consultants working on improving the quality of sound for live performances and in recording studios. These improvements included using their own low-impedance pickups and onboard pre-amps on Lesh’s and Casady’s Starfire basses. This marked the beginning of true active electronics and a great new sound in music.
Even without active electronics artists liked the playability of the Starfire bass along with the great sound produced by the Hagstrom pickups. Oddly enough, Guild guitars replaced the Hagstrom’s with humbucking pickups in 1970 which didn’t provide the same desirable sound quality. Interest began to fade in the Starfire Bass and it would be discontinued in 1975, the Starfire II Bass lasted until 1978.
Collectibility
In excellent condition, the Jet-Star Bass with the single Hagstrom pickup (1964-1965) can run anywhere from $1,900 – $2,300. The 1966 through 1970 models (Mickey Mouse pickup) will set you back $1,200 – $1,500.
The Starfire Bass in excellent condition will cost you about the same. All years 1965-1975 should be in the $1,700 – $2,100 range.
The Starfire II Bass in the same condition runs about $1,800 – $2,200 for the years 1964-1969. The 1970-1977 model years go for slightly less $1,700 – $2,000.
The Starfire is highly underrated which is evidenced by its relatively low current value. It was arguably one of the best sounding semi-hollow basses of all-time and was made at a time when Guild guitars were built to high-quality standards.
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