Guild Starfire III Bigsby Issue

[Secondhand Dan]

I have a bit of an ethical dilemma here that I need help sorting out. I just purchased this beautiful 1965 Guild Starfire III off a fellow member here on TGP. The guitar looks and plays great, the only problem is that the bigsby is set maybe an eighth of an inch towards the top part of the guitar, throwing the strings ever so slightly towars the bass side of the neck and misaligning the strings with the pole pieces at the bridge. It doesn't noticeably cause a volume drop or have a negative effect on playability, but I could almost definitely fix it easily by drilling new bigsby holes and mounting it slightly over to the right of its current position. My concern is that I will be altering a 50 year old guitar that is in rather remarkably pristine condition.

What are your opinions, move the bigsby or no? The bigsby tailpiece will probably even cover the old holes once I adjust it, so its purely an ethical issue: to keep stock or to drill new holes.

[ddeand]

Nice looking Starfire! I've had a couple of those and have done extensive restoration on one of them, and I know how a couple little things can throw stuff off. First, I have a few questions.

• Is the entire Bigsby tailpiece (where it is screwed into the tail of the guitar) off-center?
• Have you taken the Bigsby off to see if it is attached in the original screwholes? And are any of the screwholes stripped?
• Does any of the tailpiece look like it might be warped, bent, or sloppy at the hinges?

And here are some things I would try:

• First, I would loosen everything (strings and Bigsby) and try to align everything so the strings sit above the pickup poles. Sometimes, gluing a strip of 400 grit sandpaper to the underside of the bridge will help keep the floating bridge in place.
• If the Bigsby unit is off kilter, I would try to straighten it out - gently.
• If everything is tight and secure, and if the Bigsby is still a bit off, I would place a shim under one of the tailpiece screws in order to "tilt" the Bigsby a bit more in the direction you wish. Unless the Bigsby tailpiece was installed incorrectly in 1965, I would definitely not drill any holes in the guitar. You may have to run a string from the head to the tail to see if the tailpiece is centered, and if it is, you should be able to make some adjustments to get things squared up.

Good luck! I love those guitars!

Dean

[GA20T]

Precisely what ddeand said. She's a beauty.

[Secondhand Dan]

I will answer in line here, so I will try to make my answers red. Advanced coding haha.

Originally Posted by ddeand

Nice looking Starfire! I've had a couple of those and have done extensive restoration on one of them, and I know how a couple little things can throw stuff off. First, I have a few questions.

• Is the entire Bigsby tailpiece (where it is screwed into the tail of the guitar) off-center? There is a line in the binding on both the top and the bottom at the middle of the guitar (not a real split, it just shows where the binding was attached due to the aging) and the entire tail piece is lined up about an either of an inch over to the bass side of that split
• Have you taken the Bigsby off to see if it is attached in the original screwholes? And are any of the screwholes stripped? I have not done this yet, and it will be my next order of business. I will take pictures and post here when I get a chance to perform the procedure carefully as to not mess anything up.
• Does any of the tailpiece look like it might be warped, bent, or sloppy at the hinges? The bottom hinge (at the edge of the guitar) seems to have about a centimeter gap on one end of the joint and not at the other, but doesn't seem to be anything particularly warped or sloppy.

And here are some things I would try:

• First, I would loosen everything (strings and Bigsby) and try to align everything so the strings sit above the pickup poles. Sometimes, gluing a strip of 400 grit sandpaper to the underside of the bridge will help keep the floating bridge in place. I will try loosening everything, but when i tried to adjust the bridge with the bigsby screws tightened, it was clear that the string angle would be too great for the bridge to stay in place without serious mechanical influence (read: screws) to stay in place
• If the Bigsby unit is off kilter, I would try to straighten it out - gently. I dont think much on the bigsby is going to be straightened
• If everything is tight and secure, and if the Bigsby is still a bit off, I would place a shim under one of the tailpiece screws in order to "tilt" the Bigsby a bit more in the direction you wish. Unless the Bigsby tailpiece was installed incorrectly in 1965, I would definitely not drill any holes in the guitar. You may have to run a string from the head to the tail to see if the tailpiece is centered, and if it is, you should be able to make some adjustments to get things squared up. I would really rather not screw any holes, so I definitely appreciate all this advice and it will go a long way towards me solving this problem. I will try to take a picture with the string along the center when i get a chance to show you the correct line up. I will try this shim option/ check for original holes before I make any further decisions.

Good luck! I love those guitars!

Dean

Thanks a lot for your help, Dean, and I will be sure to update you as to how it goes.

[Secondhand Dan]

Hey guys, back with an update.

I removed the bigsby to check and see if the mounting holes are original, and as you can see, they were.



I tried the quick fix here, just to see if it would work. I put about an eighth of an inch of a wood shim from home depot under the treble side of the bigsby mount.

Much to my surprise and delight, it totally fixed the problem!



So, now I can stop being obsessive over the small symmetry issue and enjoy the beautiful guitar. Hooray!

[aaronblues]

That's awesome, congrats on the easy fix. I've been wanting a Bigsby Guild forever now.... glad to hear yours worked out. I'm gonna vote No on your poll now

cheers

[dougk]

To bad you fixed it. I would have traded just about anything I have for it

[Boogie92801]

On my second SFIII. Killer guitars that would suprise many in a blind test. Convincing jazz, rock, and country tones abound.

I am glad yours is in order now.

[otaypanky]

Looks great. I had one back in '65 and I'd love to find another