I got this on e-bay for a song. Some kid had apparently 'refinished' it by hand, leaving what might best be described as a chocolate mess. Ryan Gadow of High Strung Music in Durham did a superb job of stripping and refinishing it to its natural blonde state. Just like the Tele, the neck is shaved and unfinished. I swapped out the original Guild pickups and replaced them with a couple of Humbuckers from a mid-60s Les Paul. Ironically, I had ruined my own mid-60s Starfire when I was a kid by scalloping the neck myself, so I suppose there is something about a circle being closed here.