1967 Guild Starfire IV restoration (Pics)
- Thread starter Fixit
- Start date
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Yes! It's in pieces, so perfect time for leveling out the fret board and re-freting ! Great work! I love to watch it!
Fixit
Member
Thanks, guys!
Well have been working on the bridge some. Wasen't really that bad, but some of the saddle adjustment screws were pretty rusty and didn't want to move very well. So pulled it apart, cleaned it up and it's ready to go.
Also, the Guild tailpiece showed up today and it's about as good as it get's for being used.
So without further ado! Here's a few more pics. Gotta love that BRW bridge!
And the tailpiece, with the bridge put back together.
More later.
Well have been working on the bridge some. Wasen't really that bad, but some of the saddle adjustment screws were pretty rusty and didn't want to move very well. So pulled it apart, cleaned it up and it's ready to go.
Also, the Guild tailpiece showed up today and it's about as good as it get's for being used.
So without further ado! Here's a few more pics. Gotta love that BRW bridge!
And the tailpiece, with the bridge put back together.
More later.
Fixit
Member
Here's one after one coat of clear, many more to go.
And one of the headstock.
And one of the headstock.
bluesypicky
Enlightened Member
48 hours since the last update..... It's getting unbearable! :lol:
Fixit
Member
Hello all,
Not much hapening with the SF body still waiting for a few supplys to arrive. Have been busy however with the wiring harness and cleaning up the pickups. The pots, switch and jack had the usual 44 years worth of oxidation and grime on them and needed a good cleaning. Amazingly everything still worked so didn't need to change any parts or redo any solder joints, so all still original. The pickups didn't need much either they are in great shape. Just cleaned up the terminals and polished them up a bit.
By the way! If we have any experts on the tone caps Guild used back then, I don't recognize them? If anyone knows anything about them
the information would be interesting. I have no intention of changing them, love the way this guitar sounds just the way it is. Just curious.
I will be starting the fret work, probably tomorrow. Yes I agree too, going to go all the way.
So here are a few pics of the harness and the pickups, along with some close-ups of the tone caps.
Not much hapening with the SF body still waiting for a few supplys to arrive. Have been busy however with the wiring harness and cleaning up the pickups. The pots, switch and jack had the usual 44 years worth of oxidation and grime on them and needed a good cleaning. Amazingly everything still worked so didn't need to change any parts or redo any solder joints, so all still original. The pickups didn't need much either they are in great shape. Just cleaned up the terminals and polished them up a bit.
By the way! If we have any experts on the tone caps Guild used back then, I don't recognize them? If anyone knows anything about them
the information would be interesting. I have no intention of changing them, love the way this guitar sounds just the way it is. Just curious.
I will be starting the fret work, probably tomorrow. Yes I agree too, going to go all the way.
So here are a few pics of the harness and the pickups, along with some close-ups of the tone caps.
bluesypicky
Enlightened Member
Ahhhhh.... Thanks for the fix Tom! Now I can go to sleep after seeing these HB1's resting while their host is getting restored.
Good luck with the re-fretting...
Good luck with the re-fretting...
Fixit
Member
Ok here we go again, been working on the fretboard, old frets removed and fretboard leveled and re-crowned at a 12 inch radius. I got a real nice surprize turns out the fretboard is a very nice piece of BRW just like the bridge. Got to love that!
The new tuning machines showed up today as well. For those who didn't already know it Grover is making Sta-Tite's again. Look just like the old one, form fit and function same but with higher gear ratio and nylon bushings for smooth operation. I thing I am going to give them a try since this SF had them originally, can always switch to Rotomatics later if needed.
I believe the mustard colored tone cap is a Mullard make. I found some pics online that look just like it and were claiming they were Mullards and a film type cap. not sure yet about the red one.
How about a few pictures?
These are the Sta-tite tuners.
A shot of the neck before removing the old frets.
And a different angle.
Frets removed, before leveling.
Looking good!
And one more.
And a little tease! Begining to be able to imagine what it's going to look like.
Well that's it for tonight. Rest of supplies arrive tomorrow, so back to work on the finish
along with re-fretting. Good night!
The new tuning machines showed up today as well. For those who didn't already know it Grover is making Sta-Tite's again. Look just like the old one, form fit and function same but with higher gear ratio and nylon bushings for smooth operation. I thing I am going to give them a try since this SF had them originally, can always switch to Rotomatics later if needed.
I believe the mustard colored tone cap is a Mullard make. I found some pics online that look just like it and were claiming they were Mullards and a film type cap. not sure yet about the red one.
How about a few pictures?
These are the Sta-tite tuners.
A shot of the neck before removing the old frets.
And a different angle.
Frets removed, before leveling.
Looking good!
And one more.
And a little tease! Begining to be able to imagine what it's going to look like.
Well that's it for tonight. Rest of supplies arrive tomorrow, so back to work on the finish
along with re-fretting. Good night!
Hi Tom:
This one is a WIMA; one of the first companies to use metalized polypropylene film as a dielectric in capacitors. In the '70s and '80s, because high cost and perceived performance, they were widely used in high-end stereo. Still considered one of the leading mfrs of close tolerance, industrial-grade components.
This one is a Mullard 'mustard cap' in the parlance from the legendary UK company known for its tubes especially those traceable to the Blackburn works. More pics of Mullard caps Here. There are several Mullard YouTube videos from the 1950s showing 'valve' manufacturing operations at Blackburn.
Since both caps are going to be similar in value, not sure why they used one of each but it's a fact that obsession knows no limits; they might have A/B'd them and concluded that one sounded better in one position than the other not matter how implausible that might seem.
If we got into the LTG Way-Back machine and time-traveled back to when the guitar was made, it wouldn't have been possible to buy better grade capacitors than what's in your guitar.
This one is a WIMA; one of the first companies to use metalized polypropylene film as a dielectric in capacitors. In the '70s and '80s, because high cost and perceived performance, they were widely used in high-end stereo. Still considered one of the leading mfrs of close tolerance, industrial-grade components.
This one is a Mullard 'mustard cap' in the parlance from the legendary UK company known for its tubes especially those traceable to the Blackburn works. More pics of Mullard caps Here. There are several Mullard YouTube videos from the 1950s showing 'valve' manufacturing operations at Blackburn.
Since both caps are going to be similar in value, not sure why they used one of each but it's a fact that obsession knows no limits; they might have A/B'd them and concluded that one sounded better in one position than the other not matter how implausible that might seem.
If we got into the LTG Way-Back machine and time-traveled back to when the guitar was made, it wouldn't have been possible to buy better grade capacitors than what's in your guitar.
bluesypicky
Enlightened Member
Drool bibs reload please! :shock:
Stunning already....
Stunning already....
Fixit
Member
Thanks Capn, for the info on the caps. The Mullard Mustard on the neck p/u is a .047uf. and the one on the bridge p/u side is a .01uf.
Fixit
Fixit
Fixit
Member
Hello everyone,
Been a little busy with family and my son visiting so haven't gotten a lot further on the SF. I did get a few of the things needed for the project, one was some amber tinted lacquer that I needed to tame that stark white binding. I think next is going to be getting some frets installed on the neck. Here are a couple of pics that you can see the difference in the binding.
That's it for now, may post a few more later today.
Been a little busy with family and my son visiting so haven't gotten a lot further on the SF. I did get a few of the things needed for the project, one was some amber tinted lacquer that I needed to tame that stark white binding. I think next is going to be getting some frets installed on the neck. Here are a couple of pics that you can see the difference in the binding.
That's it for now, may post a few more later today.
Fixit
Member
Didn't get to the fret work today, but did get some more finish work accomplished. I am also doing a neck re-set and re-freting a D-25 1987
You can see part of the neck in these pics of the SF headstock.
More later.
You can see part of the neck in these pics of the SF headstock.
More later.
Fixit
Member
Hello all,
Finally got back to working on the SF, it now has frets again. Still some dressing to be done, then back to the finish work.
Here's what we have so far.
Getting closer!
All 22 of them.
Back to work, stay tuned more later.
Finally got back to working on the SF, it now has frets again. Still some dressing to be done, then back to the finish work.
Here's what we have so far.
Getting closer!
All 22 of them.
Back to work, stay tuned more later.