New Guitar! Franken-Starfire

[Mingus]

Vibrato Tailpiece Fully Hollowbody Newark St. Models - Starfire III, CE-100D, X-175B - Aluminum | Guild Guitars

Replacement Guild Vibrato Tailpiece for hollowbody Newark St. models. Compatible with Starfire III, CE-100D and X-175B Polished aluminum. Item #: 009-6289-100 If you’re looking for a part to fit a guitar that was made prior to 2014, please click here.

shop.guildguitars.com

Anybody use those on a vintage model? They say their parts are not for pre 2014 models, but a b3 style is just a b3 bigsby, right?

 

[SFIV1967]

Well, it's definitely not a second half 60ies guitar but looks like a 1959-1962 guitar. Most probably T-100D I'd say.
Any kind of block has to be small as it had to go through the pickup hole.
You can only find more if you look into the pickup holes and see what the pickup hole size is and which mounting holes are there.

Here's an example what it probably was:

NGD (Almost) 1959 T-100DP

I will soon be the owner of a 1959 Guild T-100DP in sunburst with two Franz pickups! I somewhat impulsively bought this on Ebay last night and am very excited to get my hands on it soon. I've always wanted a single coil Guild and I am realizing that I prefer the feel of vintage Guilds over the...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

 

[Mingus]

Well, it's definitely not a second half 60ies guitar but looks like a 1959-1962 guitar. Most probably T-100D I'd say.
Any kind of block has to be small as it had to go through the pickup hole.
You can only find more if you look into the pickup holes and see what the pickup hole size is and which mounting holes are there.

Here's an example what it probably was:

NGD (Almost) 1959 T-100DP

I will soon be the owner of a 1959 Guild T-100DP in sunburst with two Franz pickups! I somewhat impulsively bought this on Ebay last night and am very excited to get my hands on it soon. I've always wanted a single coil Guild and I am realizing that I prefer the feel of vintage Guilds over the...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

Thanks, Ralf - i'll look more when i'm ready to fix some things. The selector switch has a loose connection, so i'll need to pull out a pickup to fix that, probably. I also gently tried to remove the selector ring - and it looks like it's pretty solid on there. Hopefully it's just stuck to the finish and i can gently cut around it and replace. Hoping to eventually replace (in addition to any electronics that need to be done) the selector ring, knobs and pickguard.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Shakeylee]

is there any possibility that rather than a center block, you're seeing a top brace?

 

[Westerly Wood]

I think it is awesome looking! Nice score. And for under $800, I would think that is a steal...?

 

[chazmo]

Congrats on your new (old) Starfire!

 

[rbrcbr]

Nice score. Definitely early 60s Starfire with the lack of back binding - I've got a '62 that looks about the same. I'll mention one thing that is bothering me that hasn't been mentioned - not only was the headstock veneer replaced, it almost looks like the shape of the headstock is wrong. Looks like it was sanded down/reshaped to be closer to a Gibson style headstock - the proportions are off if you compare it to a typical early 60s guild. The "open book" on a traditional early 60s Starfire has a steeper transition between the bumps of the headstock where they meet in the center. The ends also look like either they broke off or were sanded down. The positioning of the logo is too close to the top of the headstock which also makes me think it was shortened a bit, unless it was just placed really poorly. Another thing - the inlay on the veneer should have been pearloid and the little crown should have been black outlined with pearloid. The only other thing I can think, if the owner mentioned that it was a 69, is that it's a '69 T-100 that had the mid/late 60s style headstock reshaped to look more like an early 60s/Gibson style headstock.

My '62 Starfire III

vs

the one you just got

 

[hansmoust]

I believe that we might be looking at a guitar that once had the neck broken after which a complete new piece of wood was grafted on the neck part that was still attached to the body; so the end part of the neck including the headstock was most likely made from scratch.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[SFIV1967]

Ah! Now that you say it:



Ralf

 

[Mingus]

Yeah....that's all a possibility. It's actually not even an inlay on the headstock. It's the opposite, in fact. Like someone carved it in. It's raised!

We had thought about the neck being broken, but if it was, the repair was super clean.

 

[Smiert Spionam]

I believe that we might be looking at a guitar that once had the neck broken after which a complete new piece of wood was grafted on the neck part that was still attached to the body; so the end part of the neck including the headstock was most likely made from scratch.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

That was my first thought, too -- the headstock and upper neck are built from scratch, or salvaged from another guitar.

Surprised that a reputable dealer wouldn't state this up front, since it's pretty obvious. For the price, though, if it plays and sounds good, maybe it's still worth it.

 

[Mingus]

Surprised that a reputable dealer wouldn't state this up front, since it's pretty obvious.

Like I said, he was upfront about all of it and the price reflected it. He said that the headstock veneer was replaced with wood at some point in its life, long before he ever got it. We both weren't sure about the neck and whether it was a break or just the scarf joint. He was leaning towards the scarf joint as it was a SUPER clean repair. Given the refinish on the whole guitar, it was pretty tough to tell what was what.

It feels great, plays great and the pickups sound clean but crunchy. I suspect the pickups (and all the electronics) might be from an early 90s Gibson....but i'll have a better idea when I take it apart to check. I have to pull the neck pickup anyway to fix the selector switch. At the end of the day, I paid way less than I would have paid for a used import and I have a cool new hollowbody to play!

 

[wizwardo]

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!

For Minute, the reflection of your phone on the back of the neck made me think I was looking at a super long scarf joint! ......
Wait.... that is a scarf joint??
For the price, it sounds like you didn't go wrong. It's definitely a conversation piece and that alone is priceless!

 

[Smiert Spionam]

Seems odd that a dealer would land on break or scarf joint -- Guild never made necks that way, so it's definitely part of the repair job. But the price was right and you had the info, so it looks like it's worked out. It's hard not to love an old warhorse like this.

 

[Mingus]

Picked up an old guildsby for CHEAP, and put it on today as well as .011s. (it had 9.5s on it) The shop I bought it at is going to give me a deal on a refret and new nut to make it awesome. The Luthier there already refretted my DV52 and made a bone nut and saddle....excellent work!

Still want to replace the pickguard....but this has turned out to be a great guitar. Great deal on it from the get go (as-is) and a great deal on the refret is going to put it right around the price range of getting a 90s westerly that probably needs fret work anyway. And this has way more mojo!

 

[Jared macneill]

Picked up an old guildsby for CHEAP, and put it on today as well as .011s. (it had 9.5s on it) The shop I bought it at is going to give me a deal on a refret and new nut to make it awesome. The Luthier there already refretted my DV52 and made a bone nut and saddle....excellent work!

Still want to replace the pickguard....but this has turned out to be a great guitar. Great deal on it from the get go (as-is) and a great deal on the refret is going to put it right around the price range of getting a 90s westerly that probably needs fret work anyway. And this has way more mojo!

Looks good

 

[freddyfingers]

This is a great story!