So, uh, tell me about this '66 SFIII

jp

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Ooh. That's a stunner! Walter's right - one rarely sees 60s Starfires that clean. The Bigsby almost looks too chrome-y to be original, but I could be wrong.
 

Zelja

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Looks super sweet to me! Bonus of a 1 11/16" neck. They are out there from this era. Congrats GAD & enjoy!!
 

Bernie

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(...) Still, I'll now have a Hoboken, Corona, and Newark Street Starfire III to compare. Might need to get a Westerly to complete the set. (...)
Looking forward to watching some more pics, and reading a full comparative review of the three guitars...
Hope you can make it to a Westerly model too...Then you can sell back the one(s) you like the least maybe.:laughing:
Bernie
 

GAD

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Looking forward to watching some more pics, and reading a full comparative review of the three guitars...
Hope you can make it to a Westerly model too...Then you can sell back the one(s) you like the least maybe.:laughing:
Bernie

That's always what I tell myself and the next thing you know I have 40+ guitars. :laughing:

At this point I feel like I need to find a Westerly so I can line 'em all up. I had a beautiful '97 or '98 some years ago. I'd love to get another. That was my first Guild with SD1s. It was also my first thinline hollow-body and I vividly remember being floored at how light it was the first time I picked it up. Met a guy at a NJ train station to buy it.

_B0Z9923-CropAlt_800.jpg


_B0Z9995-Crop-800.jpg
 

Bernie

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Thanks GAD...The one above is Newark Street, and the one underneath would be Corona's, i would bet from their bridges then ? I wonder how different they would sound from this only difference...
But the pickups may be quite different too...
 

GAD

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Thanks GAD...The one above is Newark Street, and the one underneath would be Corona's, i would bet from their bridges then ? I wonder how different they would sound from this only difference...
But the pickups may be quite different too...

Those pics are both of the same guitar. The difference is in the lighting and the fact that the pickguard is removed in the second pic. The NS SFIIIs have LB1 "mini hums" in them.
 

GAD

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Bernie

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Well the pickups seemed of a different colour to me, and I would have thought that the bridges were of a different material (the pickguard got me to think there was two different guitars then - though I had a doubt)...
So which one is this one, still the 66 Hoboken made ? It does look in great condition for a guitar that old...After all drinking rum ain't that bad : shame it takes a flu to have some...:laughing:
 
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If you were floored by how light the Westerly Starfire was, you ought to be careful when you unbox the 66. My 68 is the lightest electric I own.
 

GAD

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Well, it arrived today, and after three hours of acclimation time I took it out of the case.

Immediate impressions:

The case sucks. It gives me flashbacks to the days of chipboard cases and I don't like it. It's in good condition, though.

The tuners **suck**.

I dare say it's legit. It's SO clean except for the odd lacker marks. Given the spiderwebs and massive dust-bunnnies living inside the body, it's easily 50+ years old and it's in great shape. Using the borescope it certainly looks like the pickups and electronics are all original. It plays great and the Guildsby is smooth as silk. Only issue I see is that the bridge is sitting funny, but I'll know more about that when I take it all apart.

Pics later today.
 

Quantum Strummer

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Those tuners remind me visually of the junky ones Gibson used on SG Jrs. after they went to the big pickguard.

-Dave-
 

GAD

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The tuners in question (from the ad):

s-l1600.jpg


They look just like the ones in Hans' book on Page 41, though the ones in the book have covers and these don't. They feel terrible, they look terrible, they're stiff as hell and the pegs are tiny so you can't get any purchase on them. I may try to lube them, but so far the tuners are the only thing I like better on the NS guitar and that's saying something because I really dislike the NS tuners.
 

SFIV1967

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The tuners in question.
Those are the Japanese made tuners and the same like on my 1967 Starfire IV. Also without covers. Yes they are stiff as hell and need loads of lube to get them going (I use Tri-Flow or Finish Line Dry Teflon Bike Lube). Good thing, since they are stiff they stay in tune. And I used an Ernie Ball Power Peg Pro String Winder to drive each one maybe 50 times around with lube.
Ralf
 

walrus

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I had those on a previous owned '60's T-100D if I remember correctly. And yes, they sucked.

walrus
 
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