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So, did you want a 1961 or a 1965? These were both sold to me as Starfire III models, but the 1961 appears to have been born a Starfire II and was probably transitioned to a III by a dealer. @hansmoust pointed out to me that the label's "III" has a mix of blue and black inks:

I have one that I rarely play. I'll DM you.

Congratulations! What a find. Those beveled DeArmonds look special and sound special. I need to get that guitar show on my calendar for next year.

Paul Simon playing what looks like an F-30R in 1975:

Beautiful Starfires! I have a weakness for those guitars, too. And I say, if you have more instruments than you can play simultaneously, you have a collection.

Welcome, Billy! Congrats on having this big old beauty! What do you know about it? Have you had it a long time?

Thanks, and if you saw my original reply it said 1-5/8" but I measured more carefully and it's 1-11/16" if that makes a difference to you. I was thrown off by the taper at the top of the nut. 1-11/16" is the same width as a current Starfire.

The T-100 Slim Jim was a CE-100 with a body depth of 2" instead of 3". The Starfire was basically just a red Slim Jim. Hans's book says the Slim Jim was introduced in 1958 and the Starfire in 1960. There were Slim Jims with Franz pickups, but as far as I know the earliest Starfires had DeArmond...

I've been wanting a sunburst CE-100 Capri for years, so when I recently had two opportunities to get one, I got two. I met up with @mavuser on Thursday and assumed stewardship of his 1958 CE-100D, s/n 7081. It reportedly had just one owner before him, and it came with a batch of vintage case...

I just completed my set of 1997 Starfires in Transparent Red. For Starfire newcomers, the II and III are both hollow, the III having a vibrato tailpiece. The IV has a thinner, semi-hollow body. From a distance, they just look red, but up close, the mahogany grain shows through. I'm so...

Jeff, I would talk to FedEx about that bill. If they did not receive the correct paperwork from the shipper, ask how to appeal for a refund. A few months ago, I ordered a US-made guitar from a Japanese dealer. During transit, DHL sent a notice that I was being billed by US customs, but I...

The LB-1 on the original Surfliner is not wired for splitting.

I think the 5-way blade switch is more convenient than 3 toggles, but my favorite sound on my Surfliner is from the neck/bridge pickup combination. If the Surfliner Deluxe uses the middle position for the middle pickup, I might just need to rewire it. I don't mess with Mr. In-Between.

Beautiful guitar! Please don't replace the pickups. You can find plenty of other guitars with traditional humbuckers, but the M75 with Gold Tones is a unique instrument and destined to be a cult classic!

In case you haven't gotten enough new Surfliners this week, Sweetwater has these Surfliner Deluxe models available for pre-order: Evergreen Metallic, Rose Quartz Metallic, and Black Metallic. Upgrades from the original Surfliner include the vibrato tailpiece, 5-way pickup switch, bound...

I love my Corona X-150! Yours looks handsome in black, including the pickup, but I'd look for plain black knobs without numbers.

I'm a fan of Ampeg guitar amps, but I think Ampeg had already discontinued its guitar amps when Yamaha bought the business five years ago. From what I've seen, Yamaha has been a good steward of the Ampeg brand. Product quality is high, and the new product line introduced since Yamaha's...

The US has government agencies to provide exact answers to such indeterminate questions.

When I got the Newtone Archtop strings, I chose a heavier gauge than usual, I think 12s, so they weren't slinky, but my impression was that they were more flexible than the flatwound 12s I had previously had on that guitar.