1970 Guild Starfire rehab

[dnic]

If you remember the Martin side crack repair, this comes from the same customer.

Guild Starfire's were very popular with some well know players from the 60s / 70s. Jack Cassidy from the Airplane and Phil Lesh from the Dead, to name two.

This particualr bass has two extra non stock pups and holes added as well as lots of pot holes. ( potentiometer holes ) I believe someone added the complete varitone system from the Gibson or Epi From the same time period.

The 60s SFs had single coils made by Hagstrom at the bridge then moved to the neck, in 70 they changed to a humbucker and lost some serious mojo.

My client whats to install a pair of Darkstar single coils that very closely match the Hagstrom's. We are also going with an active system and I'll give you more info on that later.

I wish I had taken some pictures before I did a thing to this bass but I all ready had all the guts out and the lacquer striped before I thought about it.

We had a long talk about refinishing this bass because of it's age and possible value but with all the holes and at least 4 different sets of tuners in it's life time we thought what the heck strip it.


All that was inside the f hole, notice the pup cavity's don't go through, the green tape shows where the extra pot holes are.

The extra pickup holes where pretty rough. The neck was the only stock pup on this guitar. I used the scrap from the access hole I cut in the back to grain match the plugs for the holes.

I lucked out because my plug cutter and counter sink were a press fit. I was able to go easy with the counter sink and not have any tear out.

Plugs in and sanded and a look at the access hole. That will get a brass cover. You will see more brass later on.

This is proving to be a very fun project.

d

[donovan]

Wow what a cool guitar! Now, did I read wrong, did you say this was a bass?

I've been thinking about a semi-hollow for my next project so I might see how yours turns out in terms of ease to refinish and then I might buy one used or go with a from-scratch project!

Thanks for sharing Dane! I'm excited to see how this turns out man!

[Deleted]

That is a cool project! What does the owner do wreck them and bring them to you?

[dnic]

Yep Don, it's a bass. This guy has at least 4 of these Starfires. Eddie, once this one is finished he want's to go through his collection and clean things up. Loose binding, delaminated peg head veneer. Stuff like that, no major overhauls just arrest whatever age has started and hold it in check.

d

[Deleted]

Wow, Dane, sound like a lot of cool work ahead of you. Wish I could find someone that needed some guitar work done.
My stuff is hit and miss. I am thinking of looking into a business license, because the house I live in is in a commercial zone. But I'll have to see how much the license will be. I could then put up a sign, to see if I can get some guitar fixing jobs. I also live on a real busy street.

[niels]

I think it will be a good business Eddie!!! Especially when you live in a busy street if you plant a board in your frontyard lots of people will see it and you will have plenty of work.
Someday I will buy a semi-hollow too I really like them.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I'm going to look in to it.

I am going to build a semi-hollow body guitar for my next build. If I can ever get a job! LOL!
But I am still thinking of starting it. I have the neck blank, and the wood for the body. I guess I could get started on it. Hummm...

[dnic]

Eddie, where the government is concerned I find it better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I have a friend who has a very large gun collection and is very knowledgeable where guns are concerned. He has had a gun shop in years past in the city. So he jumps through all the hoops that the county has and is almost approved after a very long time then they tell him he has to have handicap access and rest rooms before he can have the shop. His building doesn't even have a rest room and on one end there is a roll up door so he has access just not at the main door. All his his business would have been by appointment so he could even meet people off site if necessary. Maybe it's better in FLA. I say DON'T ASK.

d

[Deleted]

Humm... You might have something there. I had a print shop in CA and the heck they put me though to open my doors. The insurance alone was a lot! Then the taxes.
I would be doing the work in my home. The house is built about 3 feet above ground. There is no way I could get a wheel chair in the house the way it is. The doors are two narrow. Oh well, it was a thought.

[niels]

There is probably a way to avoid those rules But it would be very cool if you had your own comercial guitar shop!

[irishrover]

dane you know me im gonna pick someones work apart because thats how i am on my self. i must say d**n fine job! you have progressed well grasshopper lol

dane i had to go thru all that crap when i was going thru the paces to open the studio. its on the second level of my shop and there was no way in hell i was gonna spend $30-40k to put in a elevator. in the end i withdrew my request and went on without the counties aproval.

[dnic]

Gracias, Mr. Miaggi, ( rover ). In a weird way that's still a mixed metaphor.

I did some work on the bass this evening But I'll post pics later. Made a couple throw away router templates. One to clean up the hole where the middle pup was ravaged in years ago and one to inlay some ebony to hide the damage. Cliff at Shark inlay is on tap to do some inlay in the ebony. Should look pretty cool when it's done. The little pup hole at the bridge just gets enlarged for the new pup.

d

[Deleted]

Dane, when you buy wood do you have a resale number you use?
I was asked a one of the lumber yards if I had one. So I guess they charge more if you don't.
One reason I was wanting to look into what we were talking about before.

I can's wait to see this bass, it is a cool looking guitar! (Bass) Is a bass a guitar? HA!

[dnic]

The resale # is about sales tax. And it may vary from state to state. In Ca. if you are making a product and you sell it you are supposed to charge the sales tax. If your product is sold wholesale to a retailer they have to charge the sales tax. Also in Ca. there is no sales tax on labor although I think Arnold is trying to change that.

So with a resale # you might get your material for less money but then you get to collect taxes for the government and do their book keeping as well. And if the numbers don't jibe guess who gets to pay. The Government is so fun.

d

[Deleted]

Yes I know when I had my print shop in CA the tax game was...well, for lack of other words a game.
When I had that business I had had to have a CPA to help figure it all for me.
I just didn't know if you got a discount because you have a resale number. It has been a long time I had one.

Back on your thread... We need pictures you know input!!!! HE! HE!