1999 Westerly Starfire III Pickup Question

[rcboals]

Who built the humbuckers for Guild on my 1999 Starfire III? They sure sound good.

 

[Qvart]

Who built the humbuckers for Guild on my 1999 Starfire III? They sure sound good.

Probably Fender. You could pull 'em and look at the underside.

 

[rcboals]

They don't say anything on them.

 

[Qvart]

They don't say anything on them.

Pretty sure Fender was making them by '99 - called "SD-1"s I think. Never tried them myself. How are they?

EDIT:

Yep, did some quick searching. SD-1's were made by Fender. As much as I hang around here you'd think I would know more about that. But then again I focus on the old HB-1's a lot. The only Guild I have with something other than HB-1's is my '96 S-100 which has Seymour Duncans.

 

[rcboals]

They sound really good to me in a good Gibson sort of way. They are different than my 77 X500 humbuckers which I think have more clarity to them.

 

[Qvart]

They sound really good to me in a good Gibson sort of way. They are different than my 77 X500 humbuckers which I think have more clarity to them.

I've wondered how the SD-1's compare to the HB-1's. Heck, maybe we've discussed it around here, but I'll be damned if I remember. Par for the course!

Well, I don't know what you like to play with that big jazzbox, but I dig the HB-1's 'cause I cut nearly all the treble and most of the mids for a grumbling stonerrock sound, often tuned down a whole step, and they're great for that.

Click my signature below if you like. Three out of four Guilds with HB's, and I'm tempted to mod the '96 with some vintage p'ups.

 

[GAD]

Do they look like this:

Hans would know more, but I'm pretty sure these are Fender HB1s - not SD1s. The SD1s look more like a "normal" humbucker stuffed into a Guild cover if memory serves.. I swear I have a pic but I can't find it.

FWIW, I'm not a fan of the pickups I've pictured. They're OK, but after playing very nice vintage Guilds and custom wound modern PAF-replicas (WCR), these sounded dull to me.

 

[Qvart]

Do they look like this: Hans would know more, but I'm pretty sure these are Fender HB1s - not SD1s.

Okay, I'm lost again. Guild made (rather, "had them made," I guess) HB-1's until.....well, whenever. Fender started winding the p'ups for them at some point. Were they called HB-1's when Fender made them?

Also, I seem to remember danerectal saying the Fender-made ones had three mounting holes on each side (like in GAD's pic). So that's a tip-off.

 

[Qvart]

They don't say anything on them.

Of course I was operating under the assumption that the pickups you're talking about are original. I think we're going to need pics!

 

[Qvart]

Guild made (rather, "had them made," I guess) HB-1's until.....well, whenever. Fender started winding...

Okay, here's a quote from workedinwesterly from another thread (talking about Starfires):

"the 96 model should have seymour duncan pickups, stuffed into an HB-1 looking cover. if you take the pickups out it should verify that ( providing an expert didn't get to them before you). I'm not sure what fender put into the models they build in corona out of westerly parts. Near the the end of westerlys run, fender was not only producing the HB-1 covers but had begun producing the actual pickups as well...the were awful. The final insult was that they used them on westerly guilds...AND the cost was higher than buying a duncan !!"

 

[GAD]

Do they look like this: Hans would know more, but I'm pretty sure these are Fender HB1s - not SD1s.

Okay, I'm lost again. Guild made (rather, "had them made," I guess) HB-1's until.....well, whenever. Fender started winding the p'ups for them at some point. Were they called HB-1's when Fender made them?

Also, I seem to remember danerectal saying the Fender-made ones had three mounting holes on each side (like in GAD's pic). So that's a tip-off.

IIRC, there are vintage HB1s, Fender-made HB1s, and SD1s which are Semour Duncans stuffed into an HB1 cover.

I'm willing to be wrong though.

EDIT - yeah what he said.

 

[Qvart]

I'm willing to be wrong though.

Me too, apparently!

I kept finding references to Fender SD-1's and thought those were p'ups Fender made. Or is that the name for Duncans with a Guild cover? OR - am I just being daft? Occam's razor - the simplest answer (I'm daft) tends to be the right one. :lol:

 

[rcboals]

The pickups are original next time I do a complete string change or get bored I will pull them and snap a pic for this post. Should of taken a pic of the back side when I had it all apart. I installed a master volume I really like a master volume. Got used to a master volume with my X500 and my Gretsch. The new style Bigsby bridge was slotted wrong strings at different levels and not spaced accurately. Must have been a bad slotting day in Rhode Island. I got to looking at it and the solid brass Gretsch bar bridge fit just had to drill out the holes about a 1/16" larger. The Gretsch bar bridge really brightened up and increased the sustain over the Bigsby bridge. Here is a pic.

 

[GAD]

The pickups are original next time I do a complete string change or get bored I will pull them and snap a pic for this post. Should of taken a pic of the back side when I had it all apart. I installed a master volume I really like a master volume. Got used to a master volume with my X500 and my Gretsch. The new style Bigsby bridge was slotted wrong strings at different levels and not spaced accurately. Must have been a bad slotting day in Rhode Island. I got to looking at it and the solid brass Gretsch bar bridge fit just had to drill out the holes about a 1/16" larger. The Gretsch bar bridge really brightened up and increased the sustain over the Bigsby bridge. Here is a pic.

If that pick guard is original, then I don't think that guitar is a '99... Have you verified the serial number?

 

[rcboals]

The man I bought it from said he bought it new in 1997 the serial number is AG301824 When I first signed up here on Guild Talk. I asked for help dating the guitar Hans Moust said it was a 1999 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15456 But I don't know the guy I bought from was the original owner. If Guild was as good at keeping track and documenting serial numbers as Gibson. Then I just don't know for sure maybe it's a 1966

 

[hansmoust]

The man I bought it from said he bought it new in 1997 the serial number is AG301824 When I first signed up here on Guild Talk. I asked for help dating the guitar Hans Moust said it was a 1999 . If Guild was as good at keeping track and documenting serial numbers as Gibson. Then I just don't know for sure maybe it's a 1966.

It's definitely a Starfire III from 1999. There was nothing wrong with the way that the people on the workfloor were keeping track of the serial numbers.
It went wrong because the people in the office didn't know how to read the notes that were kept by the foreman.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[rcboals]

The man I bought it from said he bought it new in 1997 the serial number is AG301824 When I first signed up here on Guild Talk. I asked for help dating the guitar Hans Moust said it was a 1999 . If Guild was as good at keeping track and documenting serial numbers as Gibson. Then I just don't know for sure maybe it's a 1966.

It's definitely a Starfire III from 1999. There was nothing wrong with the way that the people on the workfloor were keeping track of the serial numbers.
It went wrong because the people in the office didn't know how to read the notes that were kept by the foreman.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Thanks again Hans, So it definately isn't a 1966 Dang! Another poster mentioned the pickguard didn't look like a 1999 but it looks like most of the later Starfire III guards I've seen.

 

[GAD]

Thanks again Hans, So it definately isn't a 1966 Dang! Another poster mentioned the pickguard didn't look like a 1999 but it looks like most of the later Starfire III guards I've seen.

Rule #1: When it comes to Guilds, I always defer to Hans.

 

[rcboals]

Thanks again Hans, So it definately isn't a 1966 Dang! Another poster mentioned the pickguard didn't look like a 1999 but it looks like most of the later Starfire III guards I've seen.

Rule #1: When it comes to Guilds, I always defer to Hans.

Well Yeah! :roll: He did write the book :lol: