Guild is celebrating 70 years as a company with two really nice signature models for Soundgarden riff master Kim Thayil. The models are the flagship USA Artist Edition S-100 Polara Kim Thayil as well as the Polara Kim Thayil, with the former costing $6,999 and the latter running a cooler $899.
“We’ve been talking about doing this together for many years and are excited to finally bring these guitars to life,” said Guild President, Jonathan Thomas. “It’s hard to look at a Polara and not think of Kim, his influence in music, and long connection to his Guilds.”
The USA Artist Edition is a limited run of 30 featuring aged old-growth Honduran Mahogany body and neck, Guild’s 70’s era enlarged headstock with slim neck shape, bound Indian Rosewood fingerboard with Mother of Pearl block inlays, Grover Original Rotomatics tuners, and custom Guild USA HB-1 Humbuckers hand wound by master pickup maker Jason Lollar. The USA Artist Edition also includes a reproduction Guild/Mueller style bridge and compensated stopbar tailpiece, phase switch, Soundgarden “King Animal” truss rod cover, “Badmotorfinger” back cover hand-signed by Kim Thayil, and a white nitrocellulose gloss finish.
The Polara Kim Thayil features a Mahogany body and set neck with Guild’s ’70s large headstock with Chesterfield Inlay, HB-1 Humbuckers, a bound Rosewood fingerboard with Pearloid block inlays, a Tune-o-Matic bridge, Guild compensated stopbar tailpiece, and gold hardware. Check ’em both out below and get ’em here.
