Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Guild Guitars Releases the Starfire II ST, OM-240E, D-12, and More

The new models include five new arched-back acoustics, Starfires, and more.

Starfire VI

For decades, Guild Starfire models have been some of Guild’s most beloved, iconic semi-hollow and hollow guitars, with their undeniably retro vibe and unique Guild sound. This year, Guild has chosen to reintroduce the Starfire VI, a beautifully appointed semi- hollow based on the Newark St. Collection’s best-selling Starfire V. Featuring Guild’s iconic double-cutaway Starfire body shape, the VI has stunning AAA flamed maple top, back, and sides, and a solid centerblock. Dual LB-1 Little Bucker pickups, replicas of Guild’s 1960s smaller size humbucking pickups, offer a range of tones well-suited for a variety of playing styles and genres. The Starfire VI has a three-piece maple/walnut/maple neck and a bound rosewood fingerboard inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone V-blocks. It also features a pinned Tune-o-Matic bridge with rosewood base, rosewood bridge, and comes adorned with gold hardware, 5 ply black and ivory purfling, deluxe f-hole and body binding, and a Guild Vibrato Tailpiece. It’s available in a high gloss blonde finish, and includes a hardshell case. Guild’s most deluxe Starfire on the market, the VI has the vintage look, tone, and feel that you can only get from a Guild Starfire.


$1499 street

Analog modulation guided by a digital brain willing to get weird.

Fun, fluid operation. Capable of vintage-thick textures at heavier gain settings. High headroom for accommodating other effects.

MIDI required to access more than one preset—which you’ll probably long for, given the breadth of voices.

$369

Kernom Elipse

kernom.com

4.5
4.5
4
4

If you love modulation—and lots of it—you can eat up a lot of pedalboard space fast. Modulation effects can be super-idiosyncratic and specialized, which leads to keeping many around, particularly if you favor the analog domain. TheKernom Elipse multi-modulator is pretty big and, at a glance, might not seem the best solution for real estate scarcity. Yet the Elipse is only about 1 1/4" wider than two standard-sized Boss pedals side by side. And by combining an analog signal path with digital control, it makes impressive, efficient use of its size—stuffing fine-sounding harmonic tremolo, phaser, rotary-style, chorus, vibrato, flanger, and Uni-Vibe-style effects into a single hefty enclosure. Many of the effects can also be blended and morphed into one another using a rotary control aptly called “mood.” The Elipse, most certainly, has many of those.

Read MoreShow less

Unleash your inner metal icon with the Jackson Lee Malia LM-87, a high-performance shred-ready axe designed in collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon guitarist Lee Malia. Featuring custom Jackson signature pickups, a fast D-profile neck, and a TOM-style bridge for rock-solid stability, this signature model is a must-have for commanding metal tone and smooth playability.

Read MoreShow less

The Tone King Imperial Preamp Pedal delivers legendary vintage American tube tone with modern control. Featuring two channels mirroring '50s tweed and '60s blackface tones, built-in zero watt poweramp, stereo convolution spring reverb and tremolo, and low-latency impulse response technology. MIDI programmable with up to 128 presets for instant recall.

Read MoreShow less

With a bit of downtime back in Nashville, co-shredders-in-chief Megan and Rebecca Lovell joined Shred With Shifty to deconstruct their face-melting leads on “Summertime Sunset,” off of their 2022 record Blood Harmony.

Read MoreShow less