Donated: 1989 StarForce 8000

Garthy

It's actually a StarForce USA 8000 but I omitted the "USA" from the title as to be quite frank it is misleading. It was built in Korea for the Tropical Music of Miami company, to be sold in Latin America. How it found itself in a second hand shop in Eastcote in 1994 is anyone's guess but I can tell you it has spent the last 22 years in Buckinghamshire.


Despite TMoM (under their new name) informing me via email that these were all maple, it isn't, it's a plywood body and it weighs a ton - considerably more than a swamp ash Stratocaster. I can't tell you the exact weight as our kitchen scales do not go that high.  Purely out of interest I measured the DC resistance of the unbranded pickups and they measured 8.0/8.0/8.1. It's fairly loud but the strings are even older than my underwear so I can't nor shan't comment on the tone.

The fret board is a separate piece of maple to the neck with 21 frets and a smidge of gloss, enough to stop it looking grubby but not lathered in gloopy crud either. It has a scarf joint and the neck has a nice unfinished feel to it.

It comes with a gig bag. There is a home made plywood hard case for this thing too which we 'overbuilt' to survive our school music cupboard. It is *really* heavy even on its own, I struggled with this thing with a heavy StarForce inside it as a scrawny 14 year old. If your nipper wants it to store their guitar in the school music cupboard then that is cool otherwise it'll be going to the dump as none of my other guitars fit in it.

£60 cash on collection (please, stop laughing) but I'm open to offers- try me, low ball me, I just need the space and the worst I'll say is "thank you I will give it some thought" when I actually mean "thank you but I'll wait and see if a better offer comes along then PM you back in desperation in 6 weeks time".


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Gazboy/Mobile Uploads/image.jpeg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Gazboy/Mobile Uploads/image_1.jpeg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Gazboy/Mobile Uploads/image_2.jpeg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Gazboy/Mobile Uploads/image_3.jpeg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Gazboy/Mobile Uploads/image_4.jpeg

HarrySeven

I'm pretty sure that the bodies on a lot of these were plywood - might explain the weight. Whip the trem cavity cover off - all should be revealed?

By the way, the lucky new owner can even join the Starforce owners Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/166098727488

DavusPG

Wow, I had a Starforce as my first electric guitar, if only I'd had the foresight to keep it after I replaced it with an Ibanez RG770 in 1992. I had grand ideas about stripping mine down, replacing all the hardware and electrics etc and really getting to know how guitars worked by transforming my budget entry level guitar into a ferocious shredding machine.

I got as far as taking the neck off and stripping what seemed like half an inch of paint, primer and some indestructible substance with the help of the old man's hot air gun. In my case the body was a glorious mosaic of plywood...so my naive hopes of staining it green like the EBMM EVH guitars I was lusting after at the time went out of the window....along with the guitar several years later when I moved into my first house. 

Great to see pix of them on the Facebook users group, I had no idea they made so many different models.

Garthy

HarrySeven said:

I'm pretty sure that the bodies on a lot of these were plywood - might explain the weight. Whip the trem cavity cover off - all should be revealed?

By the way, the lucky new owner can even join the Starforce owners Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/166098727488

That's a good idea Harry- I had more joy from taking the control cavity off and there as clear as day were horizontal bands of plywood beneath the paint.  I have amended the add accordingly. Thanks

Garthy

Reduced from £80 to £70 collection, happy to listen to offers as I'm too lazy to bother with Ebay.

Garthy

£60 or make me an offer before it goes to Cash Converters.

Garthy

This thing is now in a charity shop in Beaconsfield.