New Member - 1966 Guild Starfire XII - Pickguard Question

[caliban335]

I'm a new member and thought I'd post a photo of my Starfire 12 string. It is incomparable. One of the previous owners chose to remove the pickguard and I've been unable to find a replacement. If anyone has a suggestion on where to look I'd be grateful. Here's a photo.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[john_kidder]

Isn't that a lovely guitar!!

 

[kakerlak]

Nice SF-XII, no great idea on finding a replacement. You know, if they hadn't made those pickgaurds sit so close to the high E string there wouldn't be so many missing ones. (I seriously consider removing mine, but I don't want to put scratches in the top of the guitar from playing w/o one)

Here's mine and what the pickguard would look like. Best suggestion is to scour e-Bay and misc. online guitar stores used parts inventories.

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Chris; killer guitar! Good luck with the PG. CJ

 

[kakerlak]

Since there's another SF-XII owner out there, I thought I'd throw this out and see what I get:

The most disappointing thing for me about the SF-XII is the fact that GUild never bothered to make a 12 string tailpiece. The only way I've found to string it is to stick both strings in at once and try to keep the one you're mounting and stringing 2nd from falling out while you do the first one. It can be a real pain to get both ball ends in there side by side!

Have you come up w/ any clever way around this? (cause I sure haven't!)

 

[caliban335]

Thanks for all the compliments and good wishes. I've been looking for a pickguard on eBay & guess I'll just keep at that for now.

kakerlack, your decision to keep the pickguard in place is a wise one. Here's what happens when you remove it.

I have not found an easy way to change strings. It's a labor of love. Last time I took the Starfire in for a setup the tech asked me if I wanted to keep it a 12 string. He's a really good guy, but I think he was tired that day.

 

[fab467]

Hey there Chris - Beautiful guitar!

Same goes for yours kakerlak!

Bet they sound as good as they look

 

[knavel]

Since there's another SF-XII owner out there, I thought I'd throw this out and see what I get:

The most disappointing thing for me about the SF-XII is the fact that GUild never bothered to make a 12 string tailpiece. The only way I've found to string it is to stick both strings in at once and try to keep the one you're mounting and stringing 2nd from falling out while you do the first one. It can be a real pain to get both ball ends in there side by side!

Have you come up w/ any clever way around this? (cause I sure haven't!)

I recognize this is a 2+ year old thread, but I think Guild did make a 12 string tailpiece. I got one mounted on a Gretsch that someone converted to a 12 string in the 60s.

 

[jthrel]

Very curious - My SF XII has an early 1969 serial number but has the frustrating 6-string tailpiece. I wonder if the later 69 models or the 1970-73 models had this tailpiece? If so, I suspect there are very few 12-string Starfire tailpieces out there. Is it possible that yours was a 1-off custom made?

My time-of-ownership with my SF XII is short so I don't have extensive string changing experience with the 6-string tailpiece - but the Pyramid strings (PG 310/12) http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PG12.htm have thread wound around the string near the ball making it MUCH easier to hold two strings in place while I try to get the post winding started (at least a lot easier than my string-changing parties with unwrapped string ends). The Pyramid flat wounds also sound GREAT.

More to the point of this thread..... There is an eBay seller currently (Nov. 2011) making replacement pickguards for the SF XII.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GUILD-STARF...456?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item56438b2340. Can't vouch for the quality but the picture looks good.

Al

 

[guildman63]

I'm a new member and thought I'd post a photo of my Starfire 12 string. It is incomparable. One of the previous owners chose to remove the pickguard and I've been unable to find a replacement. If anyone has a suggestion on where to look I'd be grateful.

Chris

Chris,

Welcome, and sweet guitar! As for the pickguard, you should check with Hans Moust, author of The Guild Guitar Book, and seller of vintage Guild parts. He is a member out here and his email can be found by clicking on the Members tab at the top of this page. Hans may have a 12-string tailpiece as well. Good luck!

Dave

 

[dapmdave]

Welcome to LTG. That's a really sweet SF-XII you have there.

Good luck finding the tailpiece.

Dave

 

[fronobulax]

I recognize this is a 2+ year old thread,

I hope knavel wasn't the only one...


:mrgreen:

 

[dapmdave]

I recognize this is a 2+ year old thread,

I hope knavel wasn't the only one...


:mrgreen:

Oops. :roll:

 

[knavel]

Is it possible that yours was a 1-off custom made?
More to the point of this thread..... There is an eBay seller currently (Nov. 2011) making replacement pickguards for the SF XII.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GUILD-STARF...456?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item56438b2340. Can't vouch for the quality but the picture looks good.
Al

Hi Al,

1) I wouldn't know about the/a guitar that went with my 12 slot tailpiece--it came on a 1960 Gretsch 6119 (this is later the "Tennessean" but from 1958-61 it was a single pick-up red painted version of a 6120). Someone had drilled 6 extra holes in the headstock and added (I presume) banjo tuners.

The guy I bought it off a couple of months ago of said he bought it around 30 years ago in a pawnshop. So by that point it had been "restored" (someone filled in the 6 extra holes and then painted black on top--thankfully they left the "Gretsch" logo).

At some point this tailpiece will be for sale on Ebay because it--along with the late 50s/early 60s amp footswitch and some early 80s tuners--is all the Guild stuff I have for electrics.

2) On pickguards, there's a guy on the Gretsch forum who has a reputation for making excellent Gretsch reproductions. Perhaps he does/ would do Guild as well. Here is some info:

http://gretschpages.com/forum/electroma ... 002/page1/

That said, the Guild one from Ebay did look good--actually it looks like it's been used.

 

[kakerlak]

Knavel,
Regarding 12-slot harp tailpiece: my best guess is yours is a regular 6-slot unit that's had 6 extra slots cut/filed into it (you could probably tell us better as to whether or not 6 of the slots look cruder/wider/narrower/irregularly spaced/unplated/tool marks/etc. compared to the other 6).

I say this b/c I know of two early '70s SF-XIIs that still have the 6 slot tailpieces and I suspect they're both pretty close to the end of the model's run.

I think Guild must have figured the model was low-production enough from the get-go to not bother with re-tooling the tailpiece (and I really doubt they'd tool up to do so in the mid '70s when they were shipping probably a handful a year, tops.)

 

[Default]

Is it possible that yours was a 1-off custom made?
More to the point of this thread..... There is an eBay seller currently (Nov. 2011) making replacement pickguards for the SF XII.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GUILD-STARF...456?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item56438b2340. Can't vouch for the quality but the picture looks good.
Al

Hi Al,

1) I wouldn't know about the/a guitar that went with my 12 slot tailpiece--it came on a 1960 Gretsch 6119 (this is later the "Tennessean" but from 1958-61 it was a single pick-up red painted version of a 6120). Someone had drilled 6 extra holes in the headstock and added (I presume) banjo tuners.

The guy I bought it off a couple of months ago of said he bought it around 30 years ago in a pawnshop. So by that point it had been "restored" (someone filled in the 6 extra holes and then painted black on top--thankfully they left the "Gretsch" logo).

At some point this tailpiece will be for sale on Ebay because it--along with the late 50s/early 60s amp footswitch and some early 80s tuners--is all the Guild stuff I have for electrics.

2) On pickguards, there's a guy on the Gretsch forum who has a reputation for making excellent Gretsch reproductions. Perhaps he does/ would do Guild as well. Here is some info:

http://gretschpages.com/forum/electroma ... 002/page1/

That said, the Guild one from Ebay did look good--actually it looks like it's been used.

Paul Setzer does good work, from what I hear. Never used him though.

 

[Default]

Have you tried putting a toothpick through both ballends when restringing each pair? That should be able to keep both in place while restringing.

 

[knavel]

Knavel,
Regarding 12-slot harp tailpiece: my best guess is yours is a regular 6-slot unit that's had 6 extra slots cut/filed into it (you could probably tell us better as to whether or not 6 of the slots look cruder/wider/narrower/irregularly spaced/unplated/tool marks/etc. compared to the other 6).

I say this b/c I know of two early '70s SF-XIIs that still have the 6 slot tailpieces and I suspect they're both pretty close to the end of the model's run.

I think Guild must have figured the model was low-production enough from the get-go to not bother with re-tooling the tailpiece (and I really doubt they'd tool up to do so in the mid '70s when they were shipping probably a handful a year, tops.)

It does not appear to have been cut. The chrome plating can be seen on the inside of the teeth, indicating it was welded on and then the entire unit chrome plated. The big gaps are 2mm exact. The small ones are 1mm. An all in one tailpiece.

 

[jthrel]

Nice pics of the tailpiece slots. The soldering, the variation in slot spacing and the angles of the slot floors imply this is a nicely done, hand-made set of slots added to a Guild tailpiece. Very interesting piece of hardware. I'm sure this tailpiece is easier to string up after a wee nip of the spirits. :wink:

Al

 

[knavel]

Nice pics of the tailpiece slots. The soldering, the variation in slot spacing and the angles of the slot floors imply this is a nicely done, hand-made set of slots added to a Guild tailpiece. Very interesting piece of hardware. Al

There has been no soldering done to this; it's been spot welded. I don't like to say "there is no way" but this is about as close as I can get to that sentiment--it's highly improbable that this work could have been done aftermarket and not wavered in the cut, show no rust and have chrome in the new slots as well.

Please read and consider this:
http://www.vtxoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260739

I've started a topic on this with more background on how I got this tailpiece and people can decide whatever they wish.