With Soundgarden, guitarist Kim Thayil helped outline the grunge motion. His uncommon weapon of alternative was the Guild S-100 Polara, a solidbody usually unfairly in comparison with the Gibson SG. Soundgarden could have disbanded years in the past, however Guild has nonetheless seen match to honor Thayil with a signature-model Polara influenced by his unique ’70s S-100s.

Made in Indonesia, the Polara Kim Thayil has all-mahogany building, a big vintage-style headstock, and HB-I Guild humbuckers that use Alnico II magnets and are wired with a part swap that brightens tone within the center place when each pickups are mixed. Its set neck sports activities a shallow-D profile that facilitates quick motion, a rosewood fretboard with pearloid inlays, and Grover Rotomatic tuners per Thayil’s request.

A 3-way toggle, Tune-O-Matic bridge, and compensated tailpiece are customary, together with a truss cowl engraved with “King Animal” and control-access plate with “Badmotorfinger.”

Supplied solely in gloss black with gold {hardware}, the Thayil is an aesthetic bundle. However make no mistake, it’s additionally a severe hard-rock machine. Guild’s full-size HB-1 pickups ship robust treble and midrange response with pronounced, articulate lows that, when plugged right into a ’66 Ampeg Reverberocket, by no means received woolly when fuzz or overdrive was added. The neck pickup was preferrred for bluesy leads and chord work, whereas the bridge sizzled with any added fuzz or overdrive, as one would count on. Tone cleaned up properly when rolling off the Quantity knob, with no lack of highs. Partaking the part swap produced a definite out-of-phase tone that was very good.

Strapped on, the Polara Thayil is superbly balanced and reveals not one of the neck dive that plagues related guitars. Weighing simply over eight kilos, it’s neither featherweight nor boat anchor, and most spectacular is its means to accommodate the tunings favored by Soundgarden and scores of different grunge bands – Drop D and Drop C produce nice response with wonderful stability.

The Polara Kim Thayil deserves consideration from any hard-rock participant searching for a break from the same-old. Maybe now, the unique will acquire the respect it has been denied for therefore a few years.

This text initially appeared in VG’s October 2023 subject. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.