Newly Acquired 1963 Hoboken Starfire II

twang · Sep 20, 2010

I have bought my first Starfire. (Yes, it is fantastic and sounds great).

It's in good nick for its age, with the usual dinks and neck wear. I'll get a luthier to work on the nut & frets, but I'm keen to do other work myself.

Questions: what is the lacquer / varnish, and how should I patch it up (a few scars could be tidied up)?

Machine Heads; I'd like to replace the original Grovers with some new Sta-Tites. Good move, or is there anything better to be recommended?

Also, the face of the headstock is pealing off, and needs re-gluing: is there any specific glue that is preferred?

All opinions greatfully received.

capnjuan · Sep 20, 2010

Hi twang and congratulations on your new Starfire. The finish is nitrocellulose. Depending on how bad the finish is, there's a school of thought that says don't do anything to it but that's your decision. Welcome to LTG!

waveland · Sep 20, 2010

Hi Twang.....congrats! Any photos? It seems to me that guitars kept original have more resale value. So I think if you do upgrade it, I would keep the original parts so you can have the option of putting it back that way one day. Also, have you worked on your own guitars before? If not, you may want to trust an experienced luthier for such a vintage instrument. Good luck.

twang · Sep 20, 2010

I'd love to give you some images, but I don't know how. Advice please.

capnjuan · Sep 20, 2010

twang said:
I'd love to give you some images, but I don't know how. Advice please.

Hi Twang; we have a thread here that will take you through the process. Might take a few tries but you'll get the hang of it.

gkoelling · Sep 21, 2010

Congratulations on a great guitar! If it were mine I think all I'd do would be repair the headstock. I've never had a problem with Grovers and I wouldn't want to alter a vintage guitar. Actually, in 43 years I've only had to change tuners once and that was because the guitar fell and a tuner bent.

Enjoy it and I look forward to a few pics.

twang · Sep 21, 2010

Hopefully we should now be looking at some images.

Note: not original bigsby, and neck pickup is inverted. Bridge has worn the lacquer.

Basically, this has been tucked away for thirty years, awaiting rediscovery. However, prior to that somebody REALLY played it.

Action is set high to avoid buzz, but it sounds great.

Actually, I may well keep the grovers on, and yes, I can live with the dings, but I'd welcome any advice on what I should do to get this guitar up to scratch.

MojoTooth · Sep 21, 2010

Looks beautiful to me, i love the cherry finish where you can see the pretty woodgrain! Nice score!

AlohaJoe · Sep 21, 2010

Here's an article about the divots in the fingerboard... usually they can be successfully filled at a reasonable cost... re-gluing the headstock veneer shouldn't be a big issue either. It looks like you found a great guitar... everything I'm seeing looks to be readily repairable.
http://www.frets.com/fretspages/Luthier/Technique/Frets/FBoardDivot/fboardivot.html

twang · Sep 22, 2010

Thank you gentlemen.

I welcome any advice or comments, so keep them coming. I've bought the guitar to play, and to keep, but I'm want to make sure that it keeps its value.

Incidently; how do you put an image in the user profile (to the left of posts), and the guitar list to the bottom?

AlohaJoe · Sep 22, 2010

On the top right of any page click User Control Panel
On the left side of the next page, click Profile
Click Edit Signature to enter whatever you want and 'review or submit'.
Click Edit Avatar and do the same.

twang · Sep 22, 2010

Again, thanks: got there in the end.

bluesypicky · Sep 22, 2010

Hey Twang! Looks you got yourself a great player, and a beautiful guitar.
If you're concerned about keeping it's value, don't change anything on it! (aside from strings, and frets when needed....)

taabru45 · Sep 23, 2010

I'd sure keep that guitar pretty much as it is, clean her up, oil the fingerboard, wipe her down put some new strings, and 'see what haunts her' She sure doesn't need much to hold her own in anyones company...Steffan 8)

Walter Broes · Sep 23, 2010

Please don't touch that finish up, looks great! Waverly, Grover, and Gotoh all make quality drop-in replacement tuners for those Grovers.

afire · Sep 27, 2010

I wouldn't touch the finish either, but the peeling headstock would drive me nuts. It seems like any luthier or moderately handy person could take the tuners off, shoot some glue in there and clamp the overlay down with minimal difficulty.

Also, it looks like your bridge pickup bobbin is about to fall out of the bezel and into your guitar. I'd take it off and reglue it. They just put some glue around the bottom edges of the bobbin and stuffed them in.

Newly Acquired 1963 Hoboken Starfire II

twang

Junior Member

capnjuan

Gone But Not Forgotten

waveland

Junior Member

twang

Junior Member

capnjuan

Gone But Not Forgotten

gkoelling

twang

Junior Member

MojoTooth

Senior Member

AlohaJoe

Senior Member

twang

Junior Member

AlohaJoe

Senior Member

twang

Junior Member

bluesypicky

Enlightened Member

taabru45

Enlightened Member

Walter Broes

Enlightened Member

afire