Starfire III restoration

[Smeigel_12000]

Hi all,

I'm always on the lookout for interesting restoration projects but never pulled the trigger on one untill about 2 months ago I came across a '63 Starfire III on reverb, completely naked but seemingly in a good state apart from the nasty neck break.




I figured out it was worth the risk, I placed an (in my eyes) low bid with the idea he would never sell it to me for that price. Surprisingly the seller accepted my bid so 2 weeks later I was the proud owner of a real vintage Starfire III with a neck break and without any hardware. Roaming for hardware I found an old Kustom Dearmond pickup from a fellow dutchman. He also had a NOS Bigsby B6 and a set of NOS tuners. Later I found a matching Kustom Dearmond from forum member @teleharmonium .

The neckbreak has been greatly restored by my Luthier. The repair is nearly invisible and seems very stable.

All in all I finished the guitar today and it already sounds great on my home transistor amp. Still have to try it out on my Swart Atomic to hear its full potential but everything looks/sounds promising.

More pictures will follow

 

[Smeigel_12000]

Here some pictures of the neck repair.

 

[Smeigel_12000]

Electronics aren’t really my cup of tea so I had some hiccups with getting it working properly, but all is working right now.

 

[Smeigel_12000]

And here’s the end result. Not all is original 60’s stuff but it’s pretty close to original I think. I’m stil looking for a scratch plate and pickup cover but the guitar is in working condition again after a long lasting injury.

 

[LeFinPepere]

Magnifique!!She (are guitars a "she"? I say yes!!) seems loaded with SOUL ! ....And you smartly avoided the dreaded upside-down TRC stigma! Congratulations on your good job!!! Tell us about full tube sound....

 

[mushroom]

Nice work. It looks great.

 

[GGJaguar]

Well done!

 

[Stuball48]

Got to make your heart smile when you pick it up and play it.
Great undertaking and you were equal to the Starfire's challenge -- well done!!!

 

[FNG]

Awesome!

 

[teleharmonium]

It looks great and seems to be a high quality headstock repair.
I think that Starfire/Dynasonic/Bigsby combination is a certain kind of perfection; lightweight, versatile, and with that unmistakable strong attack.

 

[Teleguy61]

Nice job!

 

[jp]

Wonderful restoration! Your luthier did a bang up job on the break. I also love the look of those Kustom Dearmonds in the SFIII.

An excellent rescue!

 

[walrus]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the "evolution"!

walrus

 

[Walter Broes]

So, are you really dissappointed with how it plays and sounds, or were you planning on selling it from day one?

 

[Smeigel_12000]

That was the plan indeed. To be honest I wouldn’t be comfortable using it for gigs and I’m pretty happy with my Newark Street sf. I’m not disappointed at all in the guitar

 

[Walter Broes]

Hmm. You could have perhaps mentioned that in your parts questions and restoration threads. Kind of feels like "looking for free advice so I can make a profit" now..
Whatever, none of my business I guess.

 

[Smeigel_12000]

this guitar was never for profit purposes but rather having fun restoring an old beauty to its former glory. I have been, and still am in doubt about selling it because when do you have a chance to own such a special guitar. It’s still my decision though what I’ll do with it. I don’t really understand your issue actually. No part found here was for free. In your opinion should I pay for advise from the forum then?

 

[Walter Broes]

I don’t really understand your issue actually.

That's 100% clear

 

[tuna]

Well, I don't understand it, either. It shouldn't matter.

Recently I was checking with my local Craigslist, and with a simple mouse click there it was, a 1961 Starfire III looking back at me, complete with OE case; I "had" to have it. It's in pretty good (reasonably good) condition. The most obvious issue is with a couple of pots. A few body scratches, but nothing that warrants refinishing. I thought I'd share my find here, and, when I got around to working on it, ask for advice. Anyway, I was pretty enthused when I reactivated my LTG account; not so much now. Reading this thread in its entirety has me somewhat bummed out....

 

[Guildedagain]

Bang up job on the neck repair, looks great.

This route is probably the only way I could ever afford one of these.

Now if I could only get this song out of my head...