1966 Starfire III Review

GAD

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Time for a break from all the modern and pointy Guilds with a throw-back this Hoboken classic, the 1966 Starfire III.

Review: http://www.gad.net/Blog/2019/03/13/1966-guild-starfire-iii/

Guild-1966-StarfireIII-TopFull-NE.jpg
 
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fronobulax

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All of the pots are 500k Ω except for the tone put on the neck pickup which is 200k Ω. Note that that is not a type – the pot is 200k, and not 250k.

Actually, they held tune fairly well in the short term, o I guess that’s a plus, but that was mostly because they were almost impossible to turn.

Nice review. Too bad about the tuners :)

Possible errors bolded in the quote.
 

adorshki

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Possible errors bolded in the quote.
Only because I'm getting more and more fed up with 'em every day, those look like classic auto-correct f--ups, for which he has my sympathy, especially since they don't always hi-lite for review.
Opting for a more common word than what the writer has typed without drawing it to their attention is inexcusable.
Sometimes it even appears to be an auto-complete like Google searches.
It's even here on this forum and I haven't figured out how to turn it off.
OK rant over.
(Thanks GAD)
 

GAD

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I don't use autocorrect - ever. Those are all on me.

People find these reviews sometimes by forum searches, and it kind of makes everyone look obnoxious when people see nothing but corrections in a thread. I always welcome the corrections, but please PM them.
 
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GGJaguar

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Great review! SFII/IIIs from all eras are my favorite and I concur with a lot of your conclusions. Looking forward to your upcoming NS SFIII review, too.
 

stig

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That is absolutely gorgeous. My flagship and all time favorite guitar is a 68 SFII, that I added a Guildsby to, kind of making it a SFIII. Just one of the best sounding, playing and feeling guitars I've ever laid my hands on. Smells good, too.
 

gilded

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Very nice review, GAD. Appreciate the hard work and beautiful pics.

One of my favorite guitars was a '66 SFIII I had several years ago, so I'm very happy hearing your '66 in the ODS100 and Stray Cat settings. You sure get a great sound with your rig!

My neck was 1 11/16th" at the nut, too. Did not know about the 200K potentiometer.

thanks, gilded
 

shihan

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Very interesting and informative review. I’m looking forward to the companion pieces of other era SF III’s.
 

FNG

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Where does one find Mexican Coca Cola? Besides Mexico...lol

I gots the Nyquil and rum, and I want a new guitar but need a good story for the wifey poo.

As always, great read.!
 

Quantum Strummer

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"The pickups are original equipment and measure 6.54k Ω at the bridge and 6.53k Ω at the neck…"

This is right in line with most of the '60s Starfires with anti-hums I've had the pleasure of playing & also spec'ing over the years. Thinking about it, I doubt I've come across many SF-IIIs with original tuners. Lotsa "Grover-ing" going on. :)

-Dave-
 

GAD

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Where does one find Mexican Coca Cola? Besides Mexico...lol

I gots the Nyquil and rum, and I want a new guitar but need a good story for the wifey poo.

As always, great read.!

They sell it all over the place around here: Mexican_Coke
 

dbirchett

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Great review. Looking forward to the shootout. (Or is that now the kiss of death that moves it to the back of the to-do list) :highly_amused:
 
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It took me a looooong time to find my '61 SF III ... it's got the original tuners (butterbean Grovers) and DeArmond Dynasonics ... and I would never dream of getting rid of her ... so much so that I bought a Custom Shop M-70 with the updates DeArmonds to go along with her
 
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