Looking for Starfire VI 1977 Stereo Wiring Diagram

[Gargoyle1949]

Please Help

I have a Guild Starfire VI STEREO Ser # 157785. Several years ago the input jack started shorting out. I needed it for a job quickly and the repair shop didn't have a stereo jack so they installed a regular 1/4" jack. I would like to now have the stereo jack put back in. My local Guild Dealer asked me to track down the wiring diagram for the original stereo jack.

Is it possible for you to send either the diagram or point me toward the original owners manual if there ever was one and it included a wiring diagram? I bought this in the mid 70's.

Thanks

Mike

Facebook - Mike.gallo.32
Email - atlantisfire@comcast.net

 

[SFIV1967]

Welcome to LTG! Your Starfire VI is from year 1977.

From the May 1977 price list:





As far as I understand the bridge pickup is going to the tip and the neck pickup to the center ring and one common ground. Have a read here regarding the two cable options:

How does the "stereo" work in a Guild Starfire?

An eBay seller and I are totally confused about the "stereo" upgrade feature on a Starfire IV (4). Most I've seen have been tampered with and rewired to mono. The question is, why? As I understand it, the stereo jack is compatible with a mono guitar cord and you get both pickups and a blend...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

 

[chazmo]

Good luck, and welcome aboard, Mike. Not much chatter here on the stereo wiring. Cap'n Juan's link to the Rickenbacker cabling seems to be broken in that old thread that Ralf linked to above.

Anyway, I hope we get more responses from some of the stereo guitar owners. @GAD , @The Guilds of Grot do you have any more info for @Gargoyle1949 to chew on?

 

[Gargoyle1949]

Welcome to LTG! Your Starfire VI is from year 1977.

From the May 1977 price list:





As far as I understand the bridge pickup is going to the tip and the neck pickup to the center ring and one common ground. Have a read here regarding the two cable options:

How does the "stereo" work in a Guild Starfire?

An eBay seller and I are totally confused about the "stereo" upgrade feature on a Starfire IV (4). Most I've seen have been tampered with and rewired to mono. The question is, why? As I understand it, the stereo jack is compatible with a mono guitar cord and you get both pickups and a blend...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

Thank you very much for replying. I'll bounce this off the luthier.

 

[GAD]

I had a stereo Starfire and thought I had pics of the innards, but I do not.

I recall that one pickup is wired to left and one is wired to right and I seem to recall that if you use a regular mono cable it works as you'd expect which would mean that the left/right is wired to ring and sleeve and the ground to tip but that's got it's own problems.

Note that all the wires in a vintage Starfire are grey so they'd need to be traced anyway. Honestly I found the stereo wiring to be gimmicky and not at all useful so I'd just wire it however you want. I had much better results splitting a normal signal into stereo after it left the guitar since having the neck pickup on one side and the bridge pickup on the other isn't really a sought-after thing.

@hansmoust probably knows how they're wired.

 

[SFIV1967]

Cap'n Juan's link to the Rickenbacker cabling seems to be broken in that old thread that Ralf linked to above.

Drawing 19502 is this one now:

https://www.rickenbacker-guitars.de/fileadmin/_rickenbacker/Images/Produkte/620/Details/schematic_RN620_6212.pdf

Ralf

 

[Default]

I' m actually wiring up a stereo 335 copy after posting this. My solution is to insert a single pole, double throw, switch between the volume control of the bridge pickup & the pickup selector switch. One position of the sp-dt switch sends the signal to the ring of the stereo jack ( for the stereo out ). The second position sends the bridge pup signal to the stock pickup selector switch.
I'm wiring up a Chibson, so it doesn't matter, but if you want to go in this direction for your Guild, I would buy a replacement potentiometer with a push/pull switch attached. That would be the least invasive method. Just make sure you would get the pot with fine (24) splines.

 

[GAD]

My ‘70s stereo Starfire had a double stack master volume pot so the entire signal from pickup to jack was distinct for each pickup.

 

[Default]

Is there a separate mono jack?

 

[GAD]

Is there a separate mono jack?

No.

My memory is that the two pickups combined with a mono cable that that would mean that ground had to be in the tip. Signal wise this isn’t an issue since it’s AC but since a guitar also uses amp ground for shielding I feel like my memory may be flawed.

If my memory is flawed and sleeve is still ground then a special stereo-to-mono cable or adapter would be needed to use both pickups in a normal amp.

 

[Nuuska]

Quick thinking - just assuming. At least it works if done this way.

As GAD says - the tip could be common - makes sense - and if ground is separated - as it should be on any guitar - there's no problem.

PUP signal wires go via pots to tip and ring + tip and ground - thus stero-mono compatibility is solved.

Grounding of strings and pot shields and pup-shields is connected to output-jack ground. - Just keep signal separated from ground untill output jack.

 

[Default]

Another stereo wiring scheme.

 

[Gargoyle1949]

No.

My memory is that the two pickups combined with a mono cable that that would mean that ground had to be in the tip. Signal wise this isn’t an issue since it’s AC but since a guitar also uses amp ground for shielding I feel like my memory may be flawed.

If my memory is flawed and sleeve is still ground then a special stereo-to-mono cable or adapter would be needed to use both pickups in a normal amp.

My dad and I both bought our Starfire VI at the same time at the factory itself. They were both special orders. They must have offered my dad the optional STEREO wiring but I don't ever recall any mention of having to use anything other than a standard cable. I'd really like to just have the guitar returned to it's original wired condition for the purpose of authenticity if possible.

 

[Default]

I find it surprising that the guitar shop didn't bother to get a stereo jack to replace the bad one. It's not like they were/are difficult to get.

 

[GAD]

Pic of my '70s Strfire MV pot that I couldn't get out:

I tried to sell that guitar for $1200 in 2009 and no one here wanted it. Sure was pretty:

 

[Default]

Just for giggles, I looked through my guitar electronics book that I bought way back in the day. It had schematics for Gibson stereos and gretch stereo guitars and all of them were basically just wired to a stereo jack. I couldn't see any attempt there to make it usable for a mono cable.

 

[GAD]

Just for giggles, I looked through my guitar electronics book that I bought way back in the day. It had schematics for Gibson stereos and gretch stereo guitars and all of them were basically just wired to a stereo jack. I couldn't see any attempt there to make it usable for a mono cable.

Man, I hope I didn’t make that part up. It’s been a good 15 years since I had that guitar.

 

[Default]

Guild might have put more effort into it than they did.

I know my Astro Jet sounds much better without the built in treble booster. Sixties electronics, shudder.