1960s starfire electronics

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I have 2 starfires that i got from gc, 1 a 1963 III with a changed tailpiece. It is fixed. The other a 1966 IV. The control layouts are different. On the 63 the 2 knobs closest to the pickups are the volume controls and the other 2 are tone. On the 66 the 2 knobs closest to the neck are volume and the other 2 are tone. Is this correct? Also how do you tell if the pups are original? Thanks
 

GAD

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Welcome!

If you can post pics we can tell you if the pickups are original.

As for the knobs, I'd say that's not right. On the '66 SFIII that I had they knobs were how you'd expect them.
 

AcornHouse

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Yes, they must have changed. On my ‘60 Starfire II, the volume knobs are both near the pickups. Hans may know when they changed. (Ok, almost surely knows.)
 

GAD

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Yes, they must have changed. On my ‘60 Starfire II, the volume knobs are both near the pickups. Hans may know when they changed. (Ok, almost surely knows.)

That's very interesting.
 

Walter Broes

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Yes, they must have changed. On my ‘60 Starfire II, the volume knobs are both near the pickups. Hans may know when they changed. (Ok, almost surely knows.)

No idea when that changed, my Guilds are between '60 and '63 and have the volume controls on top, closest to the pickups.
 

GAD

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You know, thinking more about it, it kind of makes sense to have the volume knobs in the same orientation as the pickups.
 

rbrcbr

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Sounds like someone finally picked up that stripped '63! I was so close to grabbing it a number of times to refin and restore but decided to pass on it. Hope it treats you well!

My '62 SFIII has the volume knobs as the two nearest to the center of the guitar/bigsby, not the two that are near the edge of the guitar. That sort of reads weird, I hope you get what I mean.
 

Quantum Strummer

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My '62 SFIII has the volume knobs as the two nearest to the center of the guitar/bigsby, not the two that are near the edge of the guitar. That sort of reads weird, I hope you get what I mean.

8^) That's how Rickenbacker has always done it. Throws me off for a bit each time I play one.

-Dave-
 

dbirchett

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From the looks of things, it would appear that your intonation on your D string would be off.

ZSCq2V6r.jpg
 
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From the looks of things, it would appear that your intonation on your D string would be off.

ZSCq2V6r.jpg

Thanks. Im legally blind so don't notice things like this. The action is high on this one but once i decided which 1 i wanted i was going to have a luthier go through it.
 

SFIV1967

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If anyone has any comments I'd love to hear them.
Congrats on getting two vintage Guilds! On the 63 I'd say the wiring internal is not original anymore, the black wires don't look stock to me.
The Starfire IV seems to have original wires inside. Pickguard obviously missing. Switch knob not original anymore.
Pickups are original as far as I can see.
Ralf
 
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Congrats on getting two vintage Guilds! On the 63 I'd say the wiring internal is not original anymore, the black wires don't look stock to me.
The Starfire IV seems to have original wires inside. Pickguard obviously missing. Switch knob not original anymore.
Pickups are original as far as I can see.
Ralf

Thanks. I'm only keeping 1. The IV is what I'm thinking. It has a little more sparkle, as is to be expected. However the action is a good .25 in at the 12th fret. A little confusing as i don't see a way to adjust bridge height and the block should keep it from needing a neck reset.

Anybody know of any replacement tuners that don't require drilling?
 

SFIV1967

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A little confusing as i don't see a way to adjust bridge height.
It looks like it is already all the way down. The rosewood base is already thin, so I would not shave it further. The two thumb wheels are also what they are. So you could carefully file a little bit from the underside of the metal bridge left and right, there is still a bit of material you can take away. Or you take a bit away from the six individual saddle pieces on the bottom of them and inside the U to set them a bit lower (as long as the twelve screws bite). It's all not much what you can take away but might help to set the action at the 12th fret a bit lower.
Ralf
 
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It looks like it is already all the way down. The rosewood base is already thin, so I would not shave it further. The two thumb wheels are also what they are. So you could carefully file a little bit from the underside of the metal bridge left and right, there is still a bit of material you can take away. Or you take a bit away from the six individual saddle pieces on the bottom of them and inside the U to set them a bit lower (as long as the twelve screws bite). It's all not much what you can take away but might help to set the action at the 12th fret a bit lower.
Ralf


How does it get this high to begin with? Does the neck need to be reset?
 

swiveltung

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Aren't "the two closest to the pickups" and "the two closest to the neck" the same knobs? At any rate I know what you're asking!
 
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Aren't "the two closest to the pickups" and "the two closest to the neck" the same knobs? At any rate I know what you're asking!

Yeah, i forgot to type pickup. Neck pickup.

I'm keeping the 66. Luthier says frets are in awesome shape. He can get the action where he wants it by removing the disks and is confident the neck won't move in the near future.
 
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