Jet star

[basmansam]

I think the dot lines up with the harmonic.

 

[fronobulax]

2. Perhaps, when they made all the bodies, they put a small hole there, as a place marker for a second pickup.

Was there ever a 2 PU JetStar? The D'Armond yes, but the vintage, 60's?

 

[ukulelelab]

Finally managed to get a pair of ebony thumbrests. It really does complete the look and it's easier to play too. Had to get them custom made because the Newark St ones simply do not fit (check out the difference in the last pic)

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Well done!

 

[ukulelelab]

I have a bit of a mystery here. I got those '66 Guild thumbrests on ebay (I say '66 because seller is also listing a 'mickey mouse' pickup and 4-in-line Van Ghent tuners I presume from the same bass)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-GUILD-...-BASS-PARTS-/331611370755?hash=item4d3593f503
but they don't fit my '65 Jetstar.
Dimensions (mm) are: 67 (L) x 10 (W). Distance between the two screw holes centers is 53mm

Did Guild use slightly larger ones on '65 Jetstar basses?
They clearly don't fit:

 

[mavuser]

Hard to say. There was definitely some variation/inconsistencies in Guilds over the years. Maybe the pictures in this thread will help you?

http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?186138-1966-Jet-Star

 

[ukulelelab]

Hard to say. There was definitely some variation/inconsistencies in Guilds over the years. Maybe the pictures in this thread will help you?

http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?186138-1966-Jet-Star

It did thanks. If you look at the body cutaways on the '66 they join the neck at the 5th fret, whereas on my '65 they join at the 4th fret. Also bridge position is different (further back on the '66). Pickup edge on the neck side seems to be more or less in the same position on both basses so overall there is slightly less room between the neck and pickup on the '66 than on the '65. Would that justify a change to smaller thumbrests? Not sure really. Perhaps early ones were unconventional and then in '66 they simply decided to put the same, smaller thumbrests on both Starfire and Jetstar basses to cut down costs. Who knows..
Oh well my custom-made ones are back on

 

[mavuser]

Nice work investigating Uke. I'll add my opinion that the thumb rest variation is independent of the changes between 65 and 66 that you noted. I say they used what they had when they had it, experimented at will and sold anything that worked/functioned without flaw.I've noticed many differences in my 1965 and 1966 Jetstar 6-string guitars. Nut width, contours on the body, thickness of body, species of wood, neck thickness, fretboard radius...the headstock and tuners on those guitars differ as well (same as the basses from 65-66). Overall they are completely different beasts.

 

[fronobulax]

Nice work. I have found that the thumb and finger rests are often the first thing that suggests a vintage Starfire II is actually a post-factory conversion from a Starfire I but the possibility that the hole spacing varies between years and/or models never occurred to me.

 

[caferacer]

Hi, great find!! before you put it back together (or after....(lol!) would it be possible for you to draw arround the body as I would like to build one Here in France it's impossible to find one for a reasonable price! Thanks!

 

[matsickma]

Are the scales the same on the '65 and '66? I might suspect a 30" inch scale on one and a 33" or 34" on the other.

It's interesting the '66 has more frets on the body. In 66/67 Guild shifted the neck on guitars to have less frets on the body. Doing opposite for the bass is suprising.

M

 

[mellowgerman]

Are the scales the same on the '65 and '66? I might suspect a 30" inch scale on one and a 33" or 34" on the other.

It's interesting the '66 has more frets on the body. In 66/67 Guild shifted the neck on guitars to have less frets on the body. Doing opposite for the bass is suprising.

M

i suspect the same short scale length. my guess would be that shifting the bridge and neck back farther was an attempt to improve strap balance