New Guitar! Franken-Starfire

[Mingus]

Long time ! I've been trying to keep away from gear buying lately so I haven't been active on here in a few years, but came across this guitar for sale nearby. Obviously the pictures are TERRIBLE as it's after 9pm and the owner has neon lights in the window. I'm going to go back tomorrow to take a look. But it's tagged, if i'm reading his shorthand correctly, (C) '69 - which I'm assuming means "circa 1969." The truss rod cover reads "Guild Starfire Special" and the headstock says Guild on it. Pickups seem.....wrong? (dogeared P90s?) and the pickguard isn't like any Starfire pickguard i've seen.

I haven't opened Hans's book yet to browse, but i'm thinking that maybe this is some kind of late 60s body/neck that someone gutted, new pickups, pickguard and maybe a truss rod cover from a Dearmond? I'm going to go look at it tomorrow if I can. Store owner is a really cool guy and i'm sure he'll tell me all he knows about it. (who knows, maybe he's on here!) Just trying to see if I can gather any info on it. If it's a cool player, even if it's a frankenguitar, maybe i'll pick it up!

 

[Default]

Looks like changed pickups, changed 'guard, knobs for certain, can't see what the rest might be.

 

[GAD]

Looks like a Starfire II that someone "did stuff" to.

 

[Mingus]

Looks like a Starfire II that someone "did stuff" to.

Yeah "did stuff" to. I mean...the price is an obvious tipoff too. I'm sure i'll go by tomorrow and he'll tell me all about it. I'm never going to pay real prices on a starfire, etc...and have never been super happy with my cheap Korean hollow-bodies. So maybe he can work the price a little if it plays nice. Once I had a chance to stare at it in the window, i knew there were weird things with it.

How about that truss rod cover? Did that come with a Dearmond or something?

 

[DeArmond Hammer]

How about that truss rod cover? Did that come with a Dearmond or something?

Yes, the TRC exactly matches the one on my DeArmond Starfire Special.

 

[Mingus]

Stopped by today (after they closed) and it looks like there's a top crack in it. At least it was in daylight, though, and the finish looks nice. Judging by how it follows the seam, i'm fairly certain it's not just a finish crack. It's possible it's already been cleated - so we'll see. Closer inspection, though, I'm not sure I can live with that ugly les paul style selector switch ring. Hopefully it's not hiding some damage.

I'll talk with the owner tomorrow and see what's up. It would be nice to have a player-grade vintage hollowbody if it plays nice and the pickups are interesting.

-J

 

[Mingus]

Sooooo...I bought it.

It's a bastard for sure. I'm naming her Frank....as in Frankenstein. Getting to see her up close I found more and more inconsistencies with it. The original headstock overlay is obviously missing. I'm assuming it was damaged, maybe shrunk too much, who knows. I've seen some older ones that have done some battle that look terrible. I could leave it as-is, or find a replacement. But it's fine as-is.

So here's the rundown...

• Owner believes it to be "circa 1969" based on "appointments." I have no reason to doubt his research (he's a straight up and honest guy who deals in a LOT of vintage instruments), but i would say the date could be all over the map and is irrelevant considering all of the below...
• Headstock overlay has been replaced with a wood veneer painted black with a rather nicely done white Guild logo
• Replacement Truss rod cover from a Dearmond
• Replacement Tuners - Grover
• Refinish - Older refinish (70s/80s. maybe?). I'd give it a 7/10, but the back of the neck doesn't look great (it feels fine) and you can see the seam (i originally thought it was a repaired crack). finish cracks on the top where I assume the wood seams or grain is. F Holes were not plugged, so the original label is lost. Looks like it might still be in there, so maybe one day i'll try to get the paint off it.
• Dog Ear P90s (based on below, I assume Gibson)
• Replacement knobs (gibson style)
• Gibson selector switch ring
• Weird Pickguard

Given all of those things, this is not a collector piece and it was priced accordingly. He had it advertised at $799, but he gave me a SUBSTANTIAL discount on it (knocked a few hundred off and I paid cash) - enough that if I were to sell my Ibanez AF75 that this will replace, i'd probably break even. It even came with a really nice and well fitting (newish) hardshell case. She's a great player, though, and I think it was worth it.

I'm already considering some "upgrades" such as removing that ugly selector ring (hoping there are no marks in the finish under it) and putting vintage correct knobs back on it. Also might go for a bigsby on it, although i'm not sure exactly which to get or if i can find one that's not super glossy (chromed). I think i'll live with the pickguard for awhile and probably not do anything about putting a correct headstock veneer on it. Other than the bigsby, that's all cosmetic, so it can wait!

 

[GAD]

If it plays well I bet it sounds amazing with P90s! The tuners are an improvement, too. For that price, who cares about the finish! Really the only thing I don't like for that price is the pickguard.

Congrats! How's it play and sound?

 

[walrus]

Exactly! For that price, if it plays well then you got a good deal!

Since you don't know the date, I assume no serial number on the back of the headstock? Was it sanded down?

walrus

 

[ClaytonS15]

Very cool for the price you paid! I’d wager that guitar started life as a T-100 or T-100D since it has no back binding and the older more “Gibsonish” headstock. Enjoy it and play the hell out of it!

 

[shihan]

I think you done Good. P90’s rule. I’ll bet it sounds great. Congratulations!

 

[Shakeylee]

Congratulations on a find!

 

[Walter Broes]

I think that guitar is probably an early 60's SFI. The lack of back binding and the headstock shape put it in the early 60's, and the knob and lead pickup locations make me suspect it started life as a single pickup guitar.

 

[GGJaguar]

Cool player guitar!

 

[Jared macneill]

Cool congrats

 

[Mingus]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, it's a player. And the P90s sound great through my champ!

Exactly! For that price, if it plays well then you got a good deal!

Since you don't know the date, I assume no serial number on the back of the headstock? Was it sanded down?

walrus

No serial number I can find....don't think the back was sanded down, but the front laminate was definitely replaced. The label inside seems to be at least partially there, but got painted over.

Very cool for the price you paid! I’d wager that guitar started life as a T-100 or T-100D since it has no back binding and the older more “Gibsonish” headstock. Enjoy it and play the hell out of it!

I'll have to check out the T100

I think that guitar is probably an early 60's SFI. The lack of back binding and the headstock shape put it in the early 60's, and the knob and lead pickup locations make me suspect it started life as a single pickup guitar.

He thinks it was a Starfire 3 from '69. But, again, no way to tell for sure. I thought the same with the pickup. Also think it may have not originally had a pickguard.

 

[Mingus]

So it looks like there's a block down the center, so that would make it a Starfire vs a T100....at least for the body, right?

 

[GAD]

FrankenFire

 

[jp]

So it looks like there's a block down the center, so that would make it a Starfire vs a T100....at least for the body, right?

Hmmm. . . neither the Starfires (I-III) or the T-100Ds had center blocks and were fully hollow. The Dearmond Starfire Specials, however, did have full center blocks and are heavy guitars.

Is it a large center block that makes the guitar super heavy like Dearmonds? Is the block substantial, or does it look like something that could be installed through a pickup hole or f-hole? Dearmonds also have a different headstock shape and binding on both the front and back of the body.

This is becoming quite the puzzler!

 

[Mingus]

Hmmm. . . neither the Starfires (I-III) or the T-100Ds had center blocks and were fully hollow. The Dearmond Starfire Specials, however, did have full center blocks and are heavy guitars.

Is it a large center block that makes the guitar super heavy like Dearmonds? Is the block substantial, or does it look like something that could be installed through a pickup hole or f-hole? Dearmonds also have a different headstock shape and binding on both the front and back of the body.

This is becoming quite the puzzler!

It's definitely not heavy at all. It's one of the things that drew me to it. I don't know if it could be installed through the f hole, but I don't think it's substantial at all. It's light enough that I had to shine lights in the guitar to see it as I thought it was fully hollow previously!