'98 Starfire III rescue guitar

[wdboland]

Hi All,

Kind of new here.

A bit of a background story. I was searching ebay for some pickups. The search yielded a couple of SD1's so I went to the listing. What I found was a listing from one of those sellers that pieces out guitars. This is not a rant about them, that has already been covered here. What I found was nearly all of the part to a '98 Starfire III. After four or five hours of walking around with this WTF feeling I bought everything without really thinking about it! Between that and a couple of parts I had laying around. I have most of the parts to put it back together. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure the Guildsby tailpiece, and the volume/tone knobs.

So, if anyone has a line on some NOS parts that would complete this rescue I would like to hear about them. Short of that I can only see a couple of reasonable options:

1. Buy the current components that are used on the Newark St model, or

2. Use the Newark St volume/tone knobs (continue to look for the NOS 1-10 tabled knobs), and buy a bigsby. I believe the B6 is what was used on this guitar in the late 50's early 60's. But, I really don't want to drill any holes.

BTW, will the current Newark St Guildsby just drop on without drilling holes?

Suggestions, comments, any help is welcomed.

Thanks for reading.

[fronobulax]

Someone who knows what they are talking about will be by to correct me, but my recollection is that the NS knobs are for metric sized shafts so they don't fit that well on the older instruments. Some NS Bigsbys are drop ins for some vintage models but some aren't. So someone who remembers the specific needs to comment.

[GAD]

Frono is correct - the NS knobs won't work. Not sure about the Guildsby.

[txbumper57]

The Guildsby is different as well. The American made versions like what came on the SF-III originally are cast aluminum and standard specs while the Newark Street models are machined Aluminum and metric specs. If you search a little bit you can find the American made versions on Ebay or Reverb in Chrome or Natural Aluminum finish for between $150-$200. I have a few extra NOS American made versions in Chrome and Gold but I am really not looking to sell them as I am holding on to them for later possible projects. Best of Luck!

TX

[wdboland]

Hi All,

Please excuse the delay I think my post are still being monitored.

Thanks for the information, I never thought about one era being US measurements, and the current one being metric. Look like I have some searching to do.

Thanks again

[Walter Broes]

Frono is correct - the NS knobs won't work. Not sure about the Guildsby.

Actually, they do. 99.9 of the Asian guitars out there have metric sized switch, pots and jack. The NS guitars don't. The parts are asian-made alright, but the knobs fit US split shaft pots, and the pot and switch holes in my NS X175 fit CTS pots and switchcraft switch. I was surprised too!

[parker_knoll]

Actually, they do. 99.9 of the Asian guitars out there have metric sized switch, pots and jack. The NS guitars don't. The parts are asian-made alright, but the knobs fit US split shaft pots, and the pot and switch holes in my NS X175 fit CTS pots and switchcraft switch. I was surprised too!

Also, you can always just change the pots out for metric pots if you can't find US pots, although luckily not required in this case.

[parker_knoll]

Hi All,

Kind of new here.

A bit of a background story. I was searching ebay for some pickups. The search yielded a couple of SD1's so I went to the listing. What I found was a listing from one of those sellers that pieces out guitars. This is not a rant about them, that has already been covered here. What I found was nearly all of the part to a '98 Starfire III. After four or five hours of walking around with this WTF feeling I bought everything without really thinking about it! Between that and a couple of parts I had laying around. I have most of the parts to put it back together. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure the Guildsby tailpiece, and the volume/tone knobs.

So, if anyone has a line on some NOS parts that would complete this rescue I would like to hear about them. Short of that I can only see a couple of reasonable options:

1. Buy the current components that are used on the Newark St model, or

2. Use the Newark St volume/tone knobs (continue to look for the NOS 1-10 tabled knobs), and buy a bigsby. I believe the B6 is what was used on this guitar in the late 50's early 60's. But, I really don't want to drill any holes.

BTW, will the current Newark St Guildsby just drop on without drilling holes?

Suggestions, comments, any help is welcomed.

Thanks for reading.

Hi Wayne

I reparted a dismantled 1966 Duane Eddy. I still have it and it plays great. I got all the parts except the pickguard as so many people were bidding on it, but I got one just this year so now she's complete.

Toby

[The Guilds of Grot]

Hi Wayne

I reparted a dismantled 1966 Duane Eddy. I still have it and it plays great. I got all the parts except the pickguard as so many people were bidding on it, but I got one just this year so now she's complete.

Toby

Have we seen photos of this rescue? You know how it goes, no photos, never happened?

[GAD]

Actually, they do. 99.9 of the Asian guitars out there have metric sized switch, pots and jack. The NS guitars don't. The parts are asian-made alright, but the knobs fit US split shaft pots, and the pot and switch holes in my NS X175 fit CTS pots and switchcraft switch. I was surprised too!

Allow me to say, "holy crap!"

I just attempted to swap the knobs between my NS M75 Goldtop and my Westerly Bluesbird Goldtop. And they fit! I'm off to buy a pile of NS knobs. I can't believe I never tried this before. I think I just fell into the trap of believing the warnings on the Guild website.