Hello all..

Im considering buying a Gretsch Country Gent (Chet Atkins current reissue, w/double cutaway and painted f holes). I’ve also been looking at old Guild Starfires (paticularly the Starfire 3), which seem to be able to be got for around the same price (maybe even a little less).

Unfortunately I can’t really try them side by side as nowhere here has the Guild!

Has anyone played both, and if so, could you please list the pros and cons, and what the main differences in these 2 guitars are?

Thanks very much!

Welcome aboard openthedoor! good luck on your quest, I hope you choose the Gretsch :)

Very different guitars. The Starfire 3 is a true hollow body with humbuckers. A country Gent has the faux f-holes and filtertrons. I have a 6120 with trestle bracing and filtertrons and a reissue Starfire 3 (a very accurate reissue IMHO) and they are substantially different guitars. Both well made, but simply different. It is a difficult "either/or" you are proposing.

Note that some of the early Starfire IIIs have single coil pickups rather than the mini humbuckers featured on later Starfires. I really love my 66 Starfire V. There is some undefinable magic about that guitar. It is a great all-rounder and is my go to guitar even though I have a Falcon, a Jet and a 6120 which pose some very stiff competition. The Gretsch and Guild have very different sounds but you can't go wrong with either choice.

Hello, yes I'm sure they are different guitars, but what I'm asking is what are the distinctive features of each? Where does one excel where the other fails? What are each best for?
Thanks.

You are asking which tastes better, oranges or apples.

My 6120 has more of a twang factor than the Starfire III. The Starfire III has a great middle position sound that is real similar in voicing to a 335. In the '60s I had a Starfire 2 with single coils that was only OK. Thin sound, but great playability.

If you need to crank it up, you'll be concerned with the hollow body. Both are really nicely made but as Kenny suggests, they are apples and oranges.

please everyone, i am not simply asking 'WHICH IS BETTER?'.

I am asking what are the pro's and cons of each model? Where does one succeed where the other fails?

That ^ is not like asking what is better, apples or oranges. It is asking what are the pros and cons of apples, and the pros and cons oranges.

I guess the problem is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I love the slim 60's neck on my Starfire while others may prefer the baseball bat necks of other guitars.

I would say that my Gretsches are more of a classic 50's rock sound whereas my Guild is more of a 60's sound. Both sound really great with fuzz although I prefer the Gretsch with fuzz. I think the Guild sounds better with overdrive. The ebony fingerboard on the Gretsch gives a brighter sound than the Guild's rosewood. Both play like a dream. I can get and avoid feedback as needed with both the trestle braced and chambered Gretsches and with the semi-hollow Guild (the IV, V, and VI have a center block). Do you prefer Buffalo Springfield or the Beatles. If you prefer the former go with the Gretsch, the later go with the Guild. Oh wait sometimes Steven Stills played a hollow body Guild in the Springfield. The point is that until you get the guitar in your hands and play it, anything we say is just blah, blah, blah.

I guess the problem is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I love the slim 60's neck on my Starfire while others may prefer the baseball bat necks of other guitars.

I would say that my Gretsches are more of a classic 50's rock sound whereas my Guild is more of a 60's sound. Both sound really great with fuzz although I prefer the Gretsch with fuzz. I think the Guild sounds better with overdrive. The ebony fingerboard on the Gretsch gives a brighter sound than the Guild's rosewood. Both play like a dream. I can get and avoid feedback as needed with both the trestle braced and chambered Gretsches and with the semi-hollow Guild (the IV, V, and VI have a center block). Do you prefer Buffalo Springfield or the Beatles. If you prefer the former go with the Gretsch, the later go with the Guild. Oh wait sometimes Steven Stills played a hollow body Guild in the Springfield. The point is that until you get the guitar in your hands and play it, anything we say is just blah, blah, blah.

I meant Rubber Soul / Revolver era Beatles. Oh dang John played a Gretsch 6120 on some Revolver cuts. See what I mean?

Also remember that some Starfires have a different body wood based on the color believe it or not. I think most of the red one's are mahogany while the green and blonde ones are maple. Can't remember where I read this.