1962 Starfire II Project Guitar Question

[squambug]

So I ran across this guitar recently and like the thought of fixing it up. The stats are:

1962 Guild Starfire II Project.
Neck is in excellent condition and the frets still have alot of life left in them.
The body has 4 extra holes drilled near the knobs but they can be filled easily.
no cracks or breaks.
refinish and some hardware and this beauty is ready to go.
Asking $400 obo.

Is this a good buy? Would it be hard to find parts and would they be expensive? Would it be a difficult project? I want an old guitar I can get to good condition (playing & looking) and didn't want to get ripped off or get in over my head.
Thanks, Ty

 

[Dirt123]

Looks like fun. I'd get it.

Parts: Originals could be expensive, Hans could tell you (& most likely sell 'em to you).

The re-finish will be a lot of work if you haven't done one before, but worth it if you have the time.

$400 sounds fair to me, but that's the kind of project I'd like to do.

 

[capnjuan]

Hi squambug and welcome: nothing direct to offer on your project but we have a BB bro who is knee-deep in a similar project - given the condition of his, yours might be less work ... Starfire Bass rehab Good luck whatever you decide. John

 

[dklsplace]

That one popped up here not long ago. Given the going rate for vintage Starfire II's & III's, that's only a project to take on if you plan on keeping the guitar yourself. You'll never get the money back out of it that you put into it with parts & labor.

I think the price is on the high side for what it is, but people have paid more for worse. I got a '64 SF II body & neck a couple years ago that I turned into a SF III. Used no original Guild parts. It's an awesome gigging guitar & I'll probably never get rid of it, but I only paid half the asking price of this one & got a beat SKB case in the deal as well.

 

[Graham]

That one popped up here not long ago. Given the going rate for vintage Starfire II's & III's, that's only a project to take on if you plan on keeping the guitar yourself. You'll never get the money back out of it that you put into it with parts & labor.

When you get the time Bossman you should post more pics of that project of your, 'cause it was a real nice job done on that. How many points for that suck up job?

 

[squambug]

Thanks so far for the replies. Keep them coming if you have any other advice. Does anyone have any pictures they could post so I could get more of an idea what it will look like?

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Here's my '67 Starfire II;

Since it has the "Mickey Mouse" pick-ups on it I'll post my '66 Starfire III with the Mini-humbuckers your guitar would require;

Just subtract the Guildsby and the aluminum bridge from the Starfire III.

(Sorry about the different picture sizes but I'm too lazy today to fix it!)

 

[Graham]

(Sorry about the different picture sizes but I'm too lazy today to fix it!)

But I'm slippin' without the Guild logo huh? :wink:

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

 

[count_scrofula]

I don'tthink it should have mini buckers like grot said...seems to me early SF's like that usually had dearmonds, i know mine did...it screamed like some animal in heat (in a good way!)

 

[gilded]

What I'm wondering is whether it really a '62?

Those pickup holes look like the mini-bucker cutouts on my Duane Eddy guitar. If that guitar had the mini-buckers it would be at earliest a '63 model, right fellas?

There are people here who could tell you definitively, though it would be easier to tell with better pics.

Let's see, how much would the parts cost? Original DeArmonds would be $600 for a pair, original mini-buckers would be $300-500 with surrounds. Tuners $100, Guild Bigsby $300, Bigsby bridge $50, Pickguard would be hard to find, but say $150-200. Then you have to think of a finish. Unless you're doing it, a pro would charge $500-1000, plus a case would be $150-300. Once you were done, you'd have way more than it was worth in it, in that you can buy a clean one for $1600-2000.

If you just wanted to fix it up with generic parts, it would be a lot less money, but you'd still be in it at a heavy price unless you did the finish yourself......

Good luck!