Kerouac
weird musical dildo
Guild Starfire III 1965
For sale is my 1965 Guild Starfire III made in Hoboken, NJ (serial number serial number is 407xx).
I acquired this guitar in a trade and, at the time, knew little about it other than the neck was comfortable and I like the sound of it. When I first attempted to figure out when the guitar was made using guild website, I discovered ambiguous information. Fortunately, I registered with a Guild forum (Let's Talk Guild) whose members were extremely knowledgeable on Guild guitars. Multiple members, including one who wrote a book on Guild guitars, confirmed that the guitar was made in 1965. You can view the forum thread here: http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?148221-My-Old-Starfire
In the end, I never bonded with the body shape and I have gas.
So, below is a list of the good and bad things about the guitar. To summarize: this is not a collector's piece. You might consider it a project guitar. It plays and sounds great but could use some work and replacement parts if you were interested in restoring it to a more historically accurate state. With some work, the guitar would likely sound and play even better too. Don't buy this guitar if you are looking for a pristine or perfect instrument. Only buy this guitar if you can embrace its imperfections or would like to spend the time and money restoring it.
The good:
- the guitar sounds great
- comfortable, easy playing neck (which is straight)
- structurally solid
- nice wood grain
- the pickups are from the proper time period
- the pickup switch looks to be from the proper time period
- truss rod cover looks original
- tuners are smooth and work great
- many non-original parts (i.e. tuners, bridge, bigsby style trem, wiring, knobs, and strap buttons) and the pickguard is missing
- some fret wear on the first couple frets for the first few strings
- the fret board shows some wear (though not uncomfortable or distracting while playing)
- back of the neck has some finish imperfections (slight chips and small dents)
- slight buckle rash on the back of the body
- likely has been over-sprayed or refinished
- the original bridge and pickguard holes have been filled
- the top sheet on the headstock has some separation in the corners
- some scratches and chips in the headstock top sheet
- some vibrations when loudly strumming chords (playing acoustic); I do not hear them when playing plugged in
- the bridge does not properly fit the bridge posts and lists towards the pickups; recommend replacing with a Schaller Roller Bridge (e.g. StewMac item # 1266)
- some light scratches in the finish
- some discoloration on the binding; there is a small spot on the back of the guitar where the binding slightly separated
- the case is not snug
