mavuser
Enlightened Member
Thank you very much Hans.
NBD 1967 Sunburst Starfire II
- Thread starter wisconsindead
- Start date
Thank you very much Hans.
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,730
- Reaction score
- 8,862
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
Recall that Guild serial numbers were assigned to the neck when the neck was completed. So it makes perfect sense that a neck was stamped in 1970 but the bass was not finished until 1971. Also recall that there was no effort on Guild's part to use necks in any kind of order and, unless my memory is shot, there are examples of guitars that date to one period by serial number and another by construction and features which has been explained by using the necks out of serial number order and over a period of years.
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Wasn't it "THE superstructure"? Means after neck and body were joined? But otherwise you are correct I think.
Ralf
hansmoust
Enlightened Member
O.K. I'll try once again!
Guild guitars were made in batches of 6, 12 or 24 etc. From a manufacturing standpoint it was easier to make them in batches because of the change of tooling necessary to produce the different models. When the superstructures were completed they were serial numbered, which took place in the 'finishing' dept. After that the finish was applied and the guitars were hung to dry. After sufficient drying they would be buffed and placed in racks, where they would stay till an order came in. Obviously, if they started production they already had orders, but not always for the complete batch. Only the guitars they had orders for (plus the guitars that could be put in inventory because they were ordered on a regular basis) would be taken to 'final assembly', where the superstructure would get all the necessary parts to become a musical instrument and where it would be set up. Now the order in which they were taken from the racks was random, so it was possible for a higher serial number to come through 'final assembly' before a lower number. A lower serial number could stay on the racks for a very long time while a later serial number would already be hanging on a dealer's wall. I have several instruments in my collection that have serial numbers of which I know they were applied in a specific year; I also know that some of the hardware on these instruments was introduced years later, which shows that these instruments stayed on the racks for a very long time before they came through 'final assembly'. This usually happened with instruments that were not very popular during a specific period or with instruments that were already discontinued.
So the serial number on a guitar doesn't automatically tell you when a guitar was completed and in some cases this explains some of the quirky stuff you might come across.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
Guild guitars were made in batches of 6, 12 or 24 etc. From a manufacturing standpoint it was easier to make them in batches because of the change of tooling necessary to produce the different models. When the superstructures were completed they were serial numbered, which took place in the 'finishing' dept. After that the finish was applied and the guitars were hung to dry. After sufficient drying they would be buffed and placed in racks, where they would stay till an order came in. Obviously, if they started production they already had orders, but not always for the complete batch. Only the guitars they had orders for (plus the guitars that could be put in inventory because they were ordered on a regular basis) would be taken to 'final assembly', where the superstructure would get all the necessary parts to become a musical instrument and where it would be set up. Now the order in which they were taken from the racks was random, so it was possible for a higher serial number to come through 'final assembly' before a lower number. A lower serial number could stay on the racks for a very long time while a later serial number would already be hanging on a dealer's wall. I have several instruments in my collection that have serial numbers of which I know they were applied in a specific year; I also know that some of the hardware on these instruments was introduced years later, which shows that these instruments stayed on the racks for a very long time before they came through 'final assembly'. This usually happened with instruments that were not very popular during a specific period or with instruments that were already discontinued.
So the serial number on a guitar doesn't automatically tell you when a guitar was completed and in some cases this explains some of the quirky stuff you might come across.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
I am since few days the lucky owner of a beautiful Starfire bass serial BA 149x. She is single neck pickup with suck switch. I understand that is highly recommended to remove the suck switch. I have enough soldering skills, but I have some concerns regarding extracting pots and wires through the f holes and restoring after removal. Is it a difficult process and do I need any special tool?
Thanks for your advice
Thanks for your advice
Last edited:
mavuser
Enlightened Member
does yours have the straight bridge or the harp bridge? thanks.
(sorry I can't help with the suck switch!)
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,730
- Reaction score
- 8,862
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
Dunno. I'd wait for twocorgis or someone with better search-fu to come along and provide a link to the pictures from his SF II switchobotomy. That might help you get an idea of what was involved and whether your skill set is up to it. I do recall that removing the pickup was part of the process.
Straight or curved bridge?
At one point I asserted that somewhere between BA-145x and BA-147x Guild added both the harp bridge and the suck switch and they were always together. mavuser has found an exception to that rule. I suppress the evidence
but I note that all the samples I have between BA-147x and BA-152x are SF II's. So it may be that the harp bridge was used on all of the Sf II's with suck switch but the SF I's used the straight bridge until the stock was exhausted.
This is my BA-149x as well with harp bridge
Last edited:
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,730
- Reaction score
- 8,862
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
Geeze. You two need to PM each other and see which 149x came first
Of course knowing how Guild did things, there is no guarantee that serial numbers correspond to chronology but given that instruments were processed in groups of 8 I wonder of these sunbursts went through production together.
Of course knowing how Guild did things, there is no guarantee that serial numbers correspond to chronology but given that instruments were processed in groups of 8 I wonder of these sunbursts went through production together.
mavuser
Enlightened Member
the one i posted with the straight bridge has the higher serial #.
iirc, mgod has posted that he also has a suck switch SF bass with the straight bridge. I dont know if it's a I or a II, and I don't know the serial #.
iirc, mgod has posted that he also has a suck switch SF bass with the straight bridge. I dont know if it's a I or a II, and I don't know the serial #.
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
- Joined
- May 3, 2007
- Messages
- 24,730
- Reaction score
- 8,862
- Location
- Central Virginia, USA
- Guild Total
- 5
my lousy search-fu and lousy memory.
I wonder if it is front row, third from the right? It is possible the straight/suck did not make this picture which is Fred's and Dan's basses back when Dark Stars were in production.
I have no problems in telling mine: 8. It means that yours is 9.
mavuser
Enlightened Member
you are correct that the bass i posted is BA-1499, however, I am not the owner of that particular instrument.
Frankly I can only be happy that some good soul brought this bass to Italy. I am very satisfied of this lady!