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Re: Starforce?

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Posted by Dave (from: ) on July 20, 2004 at 13:01:13:

In Reply to: Re: Starforce? posted by Bex on February 04, 2004 at 10:29:31:

Research:

Here's the only online reference I have been able to find on Starforce guitars:
http://store.bluebookinc.com/downloads/BrowseCategory.asp?Product=electricguitar&Heading=908

"Instruments previously produced in Korea. Initially exported by Tropical Music of Miami, Florida prior to their purchase of the Dean company.

The Starforce company was started in 1988. These medium quality solid body guitars feature designs
based on the original Stratocaster, as well as the superstrat. With the introduction of models such
as the 8007 with its more original body design, and several bass guitar models, Starforce seeks to
expand its market niche, but apparantly isn´t producing any guitars at this moment, (Source: Tony
Bacon, The Ultimate Guitar Book )."

I discovered that Tropical Music of Miami is now Tropical Music Export Enterprises, Inc.
(www.tropicalmusic.com) and still located in Miami. I talked at length with their manager who told
me that to the best of his knowledge there were four models produced; the 8000, 8002, 8004 and 8007. All of which (that he could remember) had solid maple bodies and necks. The company only serves Central America, South America, the Caribbean, & the B.W.I. so these guitars were never directly sold in the U.S.. He says that Tropical music has not had a contract with Starforce for quite a few years and that they would not have any records from that far back.

My Starforce:

I own a Starforce 8002 (Marked 8002BZ) that I bought brand new in Hobart, Tasmania for $1,200au (about $480us at the time) in 1994. It has a maple neck and body with a 24 fret rosewood fingerboard. It is painted with a wide (abt 1 1/4"ea stripe) wavey zebra striped design with mother of pearl (pearloid?) detailed inlays in the shape of Saturn for the dots. Originally, the pickups were Skuv Chevz (no idea about that company) EMG style with one bridge humbuker and one single coil neck. The trem is a Fender style with a locking nut and machine heads simply had a large "P" on the backing. I still have the original 2 year warranty card but that is all of the paperwork that came with the guitar new. I also own a Jackson DK2ES and a Musicman Bass, however,
even after sitting in showrooms playing PRS, Ibanez, Gibson, etc... I have never found a guitar that can even come close to matching the fast action and sustain on my Starforce. The Starforce is still my #1 guitar for metal style music.

Things to watch out for:

Over the years the hardware started falling apart. I can't figure out why somebody would make
such a nice guitar and put such crappy hardware on it. The machine heads lasted about 8 years before the pegs came loose and rendered the guitar unusable. I replaced them with a nice set of
Grovers($80). The Fender style trem is chrome plate on the top, but cheap pot metal on the bottom. I just noticed last year that the bottom of the trem was severly cracked all over, almost spider webbed. I replaced the trem with an original Fender trem($70) along with a new locking nut. The input jack started creating an annoying hum and buzz so I replaced that also last year ($5). Earlier this year (the guitar is now 10 years old), the neck pickup quit working so I recently replaced both the neck and bridge pickups with an EMG H4 / S4 combination ($211 whew!). Two small cracks have appeared on the body on either side of the neck mount. I removed the neck and discovered that it was just the finish that was cracking, not the wood. To my suprise, I noticed chisel and routing marks which indicate that the guitar was hand made (at least that portion of it).
All in all I have over $840 invested in this guitar. $480 for the original purchase and $366 in repairs. I believe that it is well worth it because it plays and sounds much better than any $2,000+ guitar that I've held and still looks exactly the same as when it was new, plus it is very unique. If you own a Starforce, I highly reccommend replacing all of the hardware and most of the electronics with quality parts. You'll be very happy with the results.

Follow Ups:

STARFORCE 8002 Joanna Howard 20:30:33 8/08/04 (0)
Re: Starforce? Joanna Howard 19:49:38 8/08/04 (0)

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: Research: : Here's the only online reference I have been able to find on Starforce guitars: : http://store.bluebookinc.com/downloads/BrowseCategory.asp?Product=electricguitar&Heading=908 : "Instruments previously produced in Korea. Initially exported by Tropical Music of Miami, Florida prior to their purchase of the Dean company. : : The Starforce company was started in 1988. These medium quality solid body guitars feature designs : based on the original Stratocaster, as well as the superstrat. With the introduction of models such : as the 8007 with its more original body design, and several bass guitar models, Starforce seeks to : expand its market niche, but apparantly isn´t producing any guitars at this moment, (Source: Tony : Bacon, The Ultimate Guitar Book )." : I discovered that Tropical Music of Miami is now Tropical Music Export Enterprises, Inc. : (www.tropicalmusic.com) and still located in Miami. I talked at length with their manager who told : me that to the best of his knowledge there were four models produced; the 8000, 8002, 8004 and 8007. All of which (that he could remember) had solid maple bodies and necks. The company only serves Central America, South America, the Caribbean, & the B.W.I. so these guitars were never directly sold in the U.S.. He says that Tropical music has not had a contract with Starforce for quite a few years and that they would not have any records from that far back. : My Starforce: : I own a Starforce 8002 (Marked 8002BZ) that I bought brand new in Hobart, Tasmania for $1,200au (about $480us at the time) in 1994. It has a maple neck and body with a 24 fret rosewood fingerboard. It is painted with a wide (abt 1 1/4"ea stripe) wavey zebra striped design with mother of pearl (pearloid?) detailed inlays in the shape of Saturn for the dots. Originally, the pickups were Skuv Chevz (no idea about that company) EMG style with one bridge humbuker and one single coil neck. The trem is a Fender style with a locking nut and machine heads simply had a large "P" on the backing. I still have the original 2 year warranty card but that is all of the paperwork that came with the guitar new. I also own a Jackson DK2ES and a Musicman Bass, however, : even after sitting in showrooms playing PRS, Ibanez, Gibson, etc... I have never found a guitar that can even come close to matching the fast action and sustain on my Starforce. The Starforce is still my #1 guitar for metal style music. : Things to watch out for: : Over the years the hardware started falling apart. I can't figure out why somebody would make : such a nice guitar and put such crappy hardware on it. The machine heads lasted about 8 years before the pegs came loose and rendered the guitar unusable. I replaced them with a nice set of : Grovers($80). The Fender style trem is chrome plate on the top, but cheap pot metal on the bottom. I just noticed last year that the bottom of the trem was severly cracked all over, almost spider webbed. I replaced the trem with an original Fender trem($70) along with a new locking nut. The input jack started creating an annoying hum and buzz so I replaced that also last year ($5). Earlier this year (the guitar is now 10 years old), the neck pickup quit working so I recently replaced both the neck and bridge pickups with an EMG H4 / S4 combination ($211 whew!). Two small cracks have appeared on the body on either side of the neck mount. I removed the neck and discovered that it was just the finish that was cracking, not the wood. To my suprise, I noticed chisel and routing marks which indicate that the guitar was hand made (at least that portion of it). : All in all I have over $840 invested in this guitar. $480 for the original purchase and $366 in repairs. I believe that it is well worth it because it plays and sounds much better than any $2,000+ guitar that I've held and still looks exactly the same as when it was new, plus it is very unique. If you own a Starforce, I highly reccommend replacing all of the hardware and most of the electronics with quality parts. You'll be very happy with the results. : :

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