NGD - 1970 Starfire IV with DeArmonds

[GGJaguar]

It is a one piece ring with the bridge ring being taller and angled to line up with the strings. The underside is beveled out to make room for the pickup flange. Rubber tubing was used on mine to allow for height adjustment like a tele bridge pickup.

Clever!

 

[Walter Broes]

Super cool guitar

 

[BradHK]

Ok, last post before completion. One item I knew I had to do something with was the broken pickguard. Somebody tightened the screw too much and broke the tip off. I thought I had one in my parts box but none matched exactly. However, I have a few of those NOS guards from the 1960’s that have no pickup routes and no black paint. I copied the routes in the original guard and now I have a non broken guard. Here are the before, middle and final result. The black looks slightly off in the last photo but in person they look the same. I will save the broken original with the guitar. Now time to put it all together!

 

[GGJaguar]

Great job on that scratch plate!

 

[BradHK]

Completely finished and now all I have to do is play it and enjoy! In addition to the items noted above I installed an original bridge and base and put back on the original tone and volume knobs. A newer set of knobs were installed as the old ones looked really and one had lost the silver insert. The originals were in the case and I cleaned them up and installed a silver insert from a newer knob. Now the originals are back on the guitar and they look pretty good! I had to do another setup with the new bridge and I shaped the nut a little as the string slots were cut pretty deep. Plays great! I also stumbled upon an original Guild case that would have been original to this guitar and it arrived today!

Here is the finished guitar

 

[GGJaguar]

Such an uncommon version of that model. Enjoy!

 

[HeyMikey]

That looks really nice Brad. I bet it sounds great with those pickups.

 

[Shakeylee]

I bet it sounds absolutely amazing

 

[twocorgis]

This really warms my heart Brad, and I'm so happy that you gave this very special guitar the love it deserved. The OHSC just seals the deal!

 

[mavuser]

incredible work, Brad. and that is a nice case you stumbled upon! the stars (fire) aligned on this one! definitely in the right hands.

 

[jp]

Ok, last post before completion. One item I knew I had to do something with was the broken pickguard. Somebody tightened the screw too much and broke the tip off. I thought I had one in my parts box but none matched exactly. However, I have a few of those NOS guards from the 1960’s that have no pickup routes and no black paint. I copied the routes in the original guard and now I have a non broken guard. Here are the before, middle and final result. The black looks slightly off in the last photo but in person they look the same. I will save the broken original with the guitar. Now time to put it all together!

Nice job, Brad. Did you use a trim router to rout this?

 

[BradHK]

incredible work, Brad. and that is a nice case you stumbled upon! the stars (fire) aligned on this one! definitely in the right hands.

Thanks! The stars definitely aligned with that case. I just happened to see a post on Gbase with no photos or description. I had him send photos and ended up getting it for $250 shipped to my door. It is in amazing condition!

 

[BradHK]

Nice job, Brad. Did you use a trim router to rout this?

Thanks! I use a small diameter flush cutting router bit. You can double tape the pickups together and use the old pickguard as a guide. The router bit has a bushing that runs on the edge of the old pickup like a template guide. However, the cut edge on the plexiglass is not perfect after using this bit so I hand finish to smooth out the edge.

 

[jp]

Ah. I figured. I don't have a router, but I have a Rotozip I can use. It's not as stable, so I need to be careful. I also have an unpainted blank to use to make a guard for my '68 Capri.

I'm also not sure if I should incorporate the little cutout to adjust pickup height like you've incorporated on yours. It's sure convenient, but I don't know if that was original to my guitar. Does anybody know?

@hansmoust I wonder if Hans can speak to this:
Were the little height adjustment cutouts only on the pickguards in the early 70s with the newer script Guild logo, or did they first appear on the stairstep pickguards with the "star" logo? I know I've seen "star" logo stairstep pgs with the cutout, but it's hard to know if these are repros or not.

 

[BradHK]

Were the little height adjustment cutouts only on the pickguards in the early 70s with the newer script Guild logo, or did they first appear on the stairstep pickguards with the "star" logo?

Based upon the guitars I own, the cutout for the height adjustment screws started around 1967. However, knowing Guild I am sure examples can be found that don’t follow these dates. Here are some examples of 1967 Guilds I own with cutouts in the pickguard (I believe all of the pickguards are original):



here is my 1967 on the left with only one cutout and a 1970 on the right with two



here is a 1966 I have without the cutouts

 

[jp]

Good to know. Thanks for taking the time to gather evidence and post pics from your gorgeous assemblage of Guilds. I'm going with the little cutouts.