that is an awesome Grateful Dead at Nassau Coli poster!
“We call that position on a Starfire I the "sweet spot"”
Thanks much for the info, fronobulax.
When I was modifying my Newark Street SF1 I noticed that the “sweet spot” pickup placement on the NS looked slightly closer towards the neck than the 60’s SF1 sweet spot (which looked slightly more towards the bridge). I based this on their position relative to the neck end of the F hole. Photos below (NS first, then a ‘66). With the two pickup configuration the difference is more noticeable.
My ‘67 SF1 has the bisonic in the neck position and sounds great, but I tend to favor the neck pickup with any configuration.
Yes, I found it on an old post during an internet search for a good photo of a ‘66 Starfire…nice bass!There's my old '66! (on the right) Great bass.
I always like to remind my deadhead friends the gd opened for the Airplane.
Hi guys, here's my '66 SF1 bass. The serial number is BA 544.
As you can see, the top of the bridge tailpiece is flat across, the saddles are made of plastic and, finally, the pickup is in the 'sweet spot',
To me, 'sweet spot' means that the Bisonic pickup, working with a 30" scale-length fingerboard, is located precisely where Fender mounts a P-Bass pickup to a 34" scale-length finger-board instrument.
Mine was covered in white Krylon spray when I bought it. The neck had been cracked at some point, so my Repair Dude pulled the Krylon off and re-glued the back of the head-stock (glue is visible in pic 1993.jpg.).
Here's some advice. Don't sell it, 'cause they're usually great instruments. I owned a very clean mid-late '60s SF2 bass for about 30 minutes and traded it off because the baritone switch (aka 'suck switch'), ruined the clean sounds that the earlier instruments had. So proceed slowly with your axe, because they are truly great sounding!!
Hey, I have a question for my SF bass friends. Look at photo # 9 in this thread. Remind me why there is a small transformer in the pickup cavity! I kinda remember it, but that was a while ago....
A JeffAir tribute band ! Far out !! Rock on ! I'd love to play that stuff as I played along with the records for years. I love Baxter's.So true the adhesive holding the pickup to the frame dried out. My tech fixed with 4 drops of a construction type adhesive that was suggested from a tech at Guild. Pretty clean looking underneath, and 1 magnet. I had the chance to A/B this bass with a 70 SF2 and I must say I have no regret in getting the SF1. Maybe I got lucky. My SF1 with flats was so much clearer and rounder than anything I could get out of all the controls on the SF2 with rounds. Happy camper. Will get the test with my Jefferson Airplane band - Reverend Jefferson at the Turning Point in Piermont NY on Oct 16. Thanks again for all the info.
They really extended themselves on Baxter's. I saw them perform several times (first time in '68) and they were never well-rehearsed or just didn't want to be. "A sound looking for a band" (Casady's quote I believe) really does fit. Balin was always just screaming in concert. I always felt like they were trying to figure out what each of their roles were in the band. But at times that looseness was so powerful especially with Casady's sonic bass propelling the band. Pointed Little Head is a great example of how tight they could be when they worked as a unit. I read Grace's and Jorma's autobiographies. Full of good laughs. Typical band stuff. All those early Frisco bands were so full of musical creativity and willingness always to improvise as policy. Just great stuff."Baxters" was their pinnacle, IMHO.
Volunteers cemented my relationship with the band. I remember when it came out and listening to and analyzing "the new album" was what my crowd did. Blows Against the Empire, while not strictly an Airplane album also gets played a lot these days. I realize my reaction to the Airplane was colored by a teenaged crush on Grace Slick. Half a century later when I return to the catalog and not just the emotional touchstones, the driving force is to listen to or figure out what Jack Casady did and how."Baxters" was their pinnacle, IMHO.