I picked up this '66 Starfire III off ebay last fall - here. Clearly in need of TLC, but at a good price. It was in the condition I expected, sounded great with plenty of dings and warts. The action was terrible. I figured on a fair bit of work, but I had not known of Guild's reputation for notoriously difficult neck resets. My local luthiers didn't want to touch it (plus their pandemic-fueled backlog had them booked). I continued to research options and in the meantime, cleaned her off, removed the thumb washers and played it. I liked it way too much to part it out.
A few months of searching I came across Harpeth Guitar Restoration in Nashville. Specializing in vintage neck resets and finish repair. Scott was great to communicate with, gave me a fair quote, and I sent it to him. I had seen a few youtube videos of his process which also gave me confidence in his skills. I ended up with a neck reset, nut/frets, tuners, fixed headstock veneer, and cleaned up electronics. 2 months later, I had my guitar back and it is extraordinary. All the patina, feel, sound of the old guitar, but now infinitely capable. Instead of my quirky 'character' guitar, it is a super player!
I can't recommend Scott and Harpeth enough. I have dealt with a fair number of luthiers/repair people over the years and Scott was head and shoulders above. He had a real stewardship approach, with the knowledge and skill to take on. I explained to Scott that beyond this wonderful LTG forum there wasn't much information on these neck resets. So Scott started documenting the repair process. Part one just loaded today:
As an aside, guitars can be such emotional touchstones. I was given a '65 by a friend many years ago. I was at his house and while walking back from the bathroom saw a beat up case sitting on the floor. When I opened it it was like that seen in Pulp Fiction when they open the briefcase and it is just glowing. It was my dream guitar. Broken headstock, replaced pickups, a nickel wedged in to the pickup ring to hold the pickup in place. But magic. I recorded and toured with it for years. And wrote a few songs that I believe could have only been written on this guitar. >12 years later, out of the blue he asks for the guitar back. I offer to buy it, he declines. So I gave it back. Ouch.
Flash forward a few years. I had paused playing live and music in general for a few years. But the pandemic and my growing kids' interest in music coaxed me back to playing. Then my wife was diagnosed with cancer. And our lives were turned upside down. Music became one of the most potent coping mechanisms. As did a new perspective that we need to seek out as much joy as possible now. For some reason, this time got me thinking back to the magic of that old Guild, which started this whole journey.
This is the restored guitar, just back from Harpeth! It's come a long way from the original post!
A few months of searching I came across Harpeth Guitar Restoration in Nashville. Specializing in vintage neck resets and finish repair. Scott was great to communicate with, gave me a fair quote, and I sent it to him. I had seen a few youtube videos of his process which also gave me confidence in his skills. I ended up with a neck reset, nut/frets, tuners, fixed headstock veneer, and cleaned up electronics. 2 months later, I had my guitar back and it is extraordinary. All the patina, feel, sound of the old guitar, but now infinitely capable. Instead of my quirky 'character' guitar, it is a super player!
I can't recommend Scott and Harpeth enough. I have dealt with a fair number of luthiers/repair people over the years and Scott was head and shoulders above. He had a real stewardship approach, with the knowledge and skill to take on. I explained to Scott that beyond this wonderful LTG forum there wasn't much information on these neck resets. So Scott started documenting the repair process. Part one just loaded today:
As an aside, guitars can be such emotional touchstones. I was given a '65 by a friend many years ago. I was at his house and while walking back from the bathroom saw a beat up case sitting on the floor. When I opened it it was like that seen in Pulp Fiction when they open the briefcase and it is just glowing. It was my dream guitar. Broken headstock, replaced pickups, a nickel wedged in to the pickup ring to hold the pickup in place. But magic. I recorded and toured with it for years. And wrote a few songs that I believe could have only been written on this guitar. >12 years later, out of the blue he asks for the guitar back. I offer to buy it, he declines. So I gave it back. Ouch.
Flash forward a few years. I had paused playing live and music in general for a few years. But the pandemic and my growing kids' interest in music coaxed me back to playing. Then my wife was diagnosed with cancer. And our lives were turned upside down. Music became one of the most potent coping mechanisms. As did a new perspective that we need to seek out as much joy as possible now. For some reason, this time got me thinking back to the magic of that old Guild, which started this whole journey.
This is the restored guitar, just back from Harpeth! It's come a long way from the original post!
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