SF III with maple body and spruce top

GGJaguar

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On FB this morning. I've never seen one before and told the OP to contact Hans.

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walrus

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Oh, that looks really nice with a spruce top! And, of course, the sound would be very different, too. I like it!

walrus
 

chazmo

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That's very nice. Looking at the whiteness of the binding around the soundboard, I wonder if this was refinished. Forgive my ignorance, but is it abnormal for a Starfire III to have a spruce top, or is it just that they're not normally natural?
 

Default

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All Starfires that I have seen to this point have been mahogany or maple. Maybe Hans has seen a spruce top before, but I've never seen a spruce topped Starfire before. Maybe they were short a top and got one from the CA-100 stack?
 

GGJaguar

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Maybe they were short a top and got one from the CA-100 stack?

Label may be a clue. It looks like it is marked "Spruce Bl", though the label does appear to have overspray on it.

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adorshki

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Label may be a clue. It looks like it is marked "Spruce Bl", though the label does appear to have overspray on it.

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Looks like the clincher to me, and "Blonde" was the code for an unstained instrument with a maple body; as in "F50-Bl."
Might have even been a special order with that designation instead of "Spec"; they were very flexible in Hoboken and not even all the "specs" got labeled as such.
Do you have Hans' book?
There's a section where he says in the mid-'60's Guild operated more like a custom shop than a production line maker, don't have it handy right here to give the page number, but I've cited it before.
 

SFIV1967

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Here are a few more pictures from the add in Belgium: Tuners were replaced and no case anymore, comes with a softbag. The top might have been oversprayed. He asks EURO 2.300 or minimum bid starts at EURO 1.850.

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Ralf
 

parker_knoll

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Here are a few more pictures from the add in Belgium: Tuners were replaced and no case anymore, comes with a softbag. The top might have been oversprayed. He asks EURO 2.300 or minimum bid starts at EURO 1.850.

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Ralf

I think it's a bit too much money, personally.

Also I have a Duane with a spruce top so I guess I can't justify it :)
 

DThomasC

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For a typical SFIII in that condition, I'd agree that the price is high. But, the spruce top changes everything. I admit that if I were in the market for something like this, I'd be looking at DE's, but many of those are going for (asking for) a higher price than this SF, so including all data, I might consider it a reasonable price.
 
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