The Starfire II, much like the ES-225, was a completely hollow body guitar. The Guild Starfire II and Starfire III bore a similar body shape to this instrument with its thin body, single Florentine cutaway, and twin pickups. The Gibson company had first offered the ES-225 guitar in 1955. These guitars hit the scene as early as 1960 and consisted of five guitars and two bass guitars. In fact one of the most iconic group of guitars produced by Guild was the Starfire series. Guitarists Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia and bassist Phil Lesh, all of the Grateful Dead had their Guild Starfire guitars and basses modified by the Alembic company as did bass player Jack Cassady of Jefferson Airplane. These included the Thunderbird series, the S-100 Polara, and the Starfire series. It was during the 1960вЂ™s that Guild produced their finest electric guitars. The body on this guitar was solid beginning around 1971. At this time the body was routed instead of being hollow and the pickups were replaced with humbuckers.Д«y 1970 the designation changed to the M-75 and hardward was downgraded from gold-plated to chrome plated. This model was produced through 1963, but was revived in 1967 with the name BluesBird. It looked like a slightly smaller version of the George Barnes model. The pickups on this guitar looked like P-90 soap bar models, but were made by the Franz company of Astoria New York and were of a lower output. In fact Guild fouder Al Dronge was not looking to copy the Les Paul, as his attention was bent towards Jazz guitarists and their needs. Although it had no f-holes, it was a hollowbody guitar with a spruce top. The M-75 Aristocrat may have looked like a Les Paul, but it was far from that guitar. It was during this era that Guild created some of their classic electric models such as the X-175 and the M-75 Aristocrat. A signature hollow-body guitar designed for Duane Eddy became a rockabilly classic.

Both of these models were in high demand among studio performers. Another jazz giant, George Barnes, helped develop another signature guitar. In fact Johnny Smith worked with the factory to develop a signature guitar which became the Artist Award. Especially popular was the amazing Guild F5212 that sounded like a canon.Д«ecause of Al DrongeвЂ™s ties with the New York Jazz scene, where he played guitar at clubs during his younger days, he was able to get a lot of input from players like Johnny Smith, Son Armone, Carl Kress, and Barry Galbraith on the needs of a jazz player for an electric guitar. The men were fortunate to hire seasoned people to run the operation such as Bob Bromberg, who was the plant manager, Carlo Greco, who was an exceptional luthier, Gilbert Diaz, who was in charge of final assembly, and Fred Augusto, a finishing specialist.Дuring the вЂњFolk EraвЂќ of the 1960вЂ™s the company thrived due to its acoustic guitar production and reputation. A year after forming the company Mann departed leaving Al Dronge in charge.Д«y 1956 the company set up shop in Manhattan, but soon moved to Hoboken, New Jersey due to expansion. So in 1952 the company was founded with Mann as president and Dronge as vice-president and former Epiphone employees were hired. George Mann saw the potential in hiring these out-of-work craftsmen.ДЄnother friend of both men, Gene Detgen, suggested the name вЂњGuildвЂќ. To put a halt this the Stathopoli Brothers left their manufacturing facility in New York City and set up shop in Philadelphia leaving many craftsmen without work. Around this time period the company was facing upheavals by employees who wanted to unionize. Mann was in management with Epiphone Guitars. In 1952 his friend George Mann suggested they team up as partners in a guitar business. He then amassed a fortune by importing accordions and distributing them in the early 1950вЂ™s when the accordion was a very popular musical instrument.

This was in the mid-1930вЂ™s and Dronge successfully ran it until 1948. He eventually opened a music store in the same part of town back he grew up in. He was an accomplished banjo player and guitarist. The Guild Guitar Company was founded in 1952 by Avram вЂњAlfredвЂќ Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with theВ EpiphoneВ Guitar Company.Дronge immigrated with his family to the United States in 1916 and grew up in Manhattan, near the Music Row district, around West 48th street.

Guild guitar