66 Starfire bass w/ 1st generation Hagstrom pickup?

[tsarter]

I’ve never seen this pickup on a Starfire before. Has anyone here heard one?

Guild 1966 Thinline Starfier Bass 1966 Tobacco Sunburst | Reverb

1966 Guild Starfire Thinline Bass This Guild Starfire Bass is in very good condition considering it is 55 years old. It has very little wear and checking.Maple Body.Rosewood Fingerboard.Peruvian mahogany Neck.Original hard case.This bass has great action and tone.According to most sources, a one...

reverb.com

 

[fronobulax]

Seen them before, but never heard them. Guild used (I think) three different PUs before standardizing on the Hagstrom Bisonic and getting a reliable supply.

Maybe https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/index...s-pickups-used-by-guild-prior-to-1971.200801/ would be of interest?

 

[tsarter]

Thanks for posting that old thread. I have a bass that Fat Dog of Subway guitars made for me in the late ‘80s. Has one of the old Hagstrom pickups pictured in that thread, along with a Hagstrom necks. It’s a great sounding bass.

 

[tsarter]

I find it fascinating how Guild (and other guitar makers) used different pickups to build their instruments!

 

[lungimsam]

Did those Hagstroms always have such large surrounds?
Neat that the bass has original? Plastic saddles.
Rosewood board looks cool too.
That pic of the age damage on the side is why I would be afraid to buy vintage semi hollow bodies.

 

[nmiller]

Hagstrom used a smaller ring:

I'm guessing these Guild basses with the small single-coils were originally routed for Bi-Sonics and the large ring was needed to cover the hole.

However, on those Guild basses with Hagstrom humbuckers, they used Hagstrom's rings.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

That pic of the age damage on the side is why I would be afraid to buy vintage semi hollow bodies.

I'm watchful of the binding. Seems like they sometimes used incompatible glue to attach the plastic binding back during the 1960s. I've seen many Japanese guitars/basses from that era, the binding on which has been turned brown by chemicals (solvents?) in the glue. Seems like this also has happened to older Gretsches a lot: the binding turns all brown and crumbly.

 

[nmiller]

Celluloid doesn't break down due to glue; if not formulated correctly, it will be unstable just sitting untouched on a shelf.

https://acousticguitar.com/ask-the-expert-all-about-celluloid-rot-and-what-to-do-about-it/

 

[fronobulax]

The earliest Starfires (65 and 66) that did not have Bisonics appear to not have been routed for Bisonics. Samples below.

The Guilds that used the Hagstrom pickup as shown in the Fat Dig bass were only 1970's and only used it in the bridge position of two PU basses. I don't think the mounting was "enlarged" to cover a Bisonic sized hole, but I could be wrong. They have been spotted in M-85-II's and some JS IIs as well.

Binding turns yellow with age. It has more to to with the stat of the art in making plastics than the glue. Stew Mac sells a "white" binding that is yellowed so that it is a better match when repairing a portion of the binding on a vintage instrument.

BA-297



BA-276




And for comparison, BA- 357

 

[tsarter]

So cool. Awesome research there.

 

[SFIV1967]

Binding turns yellow with age. It has more to to with the stat of the art in making plastics than the glue.

Usually the main reason you see binding turning yellow is the aging of the nitrocellulose lacquer on top of it. If you remove the lacquer the binding usually looks as white as on day one.
Unless it disintegrates as nmiller showed above. Same happened to many late 50ies tuner knobs like those Klusons



Ralf

 

[mavuser]

imo the smaller Hagstrom in post #1 sounds just like a regular Bisonic, at least in Guild basses. Someone here, possibly N. Miller (? forgive me please if that is not right), i belive reported they played a Hagstrom bass with that pickup, and said it didn't really sound like a Bisonic...assuming we were talking about the same pickup...but someone had posted a video a while back of a Starfire bass with one of those, and it sounded like a Bisonic to me.

Also the bass in post #1 has been for sale for many many years on CL. guess the guy really is not budging much on the price, but he appears to have done some HW this time, and has come down a little on asking, so seems more motivated.
Have to report also, previously when this was listed, there was very faint numbers visible on the back, like someone wrote something like a phone number on a piece of paper, with a magic marker, and was using the back of the bass as a desk, and it bled thru, or something like that. Previously, the seller was quite upfront about the numbers on the back with photos, etc. so, he may have had it buffed out since it looks pretty good in the photo now, and there is no mention of it. it may have been no big deal and an easy fix, the numbers were super faint. it could have been an ancient school inventory number or something. anyway it wouldnt stop me or affect value much for me, and appears to have been addressed. just in case anyone is serious on this, thought i'd mention that in the event there is a cosmetic blem or repair on the back of any kind, it wouldnt be such a surprise.

 

[mavuser]

here is the sound clip I heard, turns out it was not a Guild bass, but a Hagstrom Concord:

1967 Hagstrom C1 Concord Bass / Viking Bass >> Vintage Guitar and Bass

Images, description and soundclips of a Swedish-made 1967 Hagstrom hollow-body Concord bass

www.vintageguitarandbass.com

to me, that sounds just like a Bisonic.

also check out this thread

Late 60s Hagstron Concord pickups compared to Bisonics?

Late 60s Hagström Concord pickups compared to Bisonics? In the late 60s Hagström made a Starfire-like base called both the Viking and the Concord. They used a single-coil pickup in these, but not a bisonic. Has anyone ever compared these to a bisonic? Any comments? Pics here...

letstalkguild.com

 

[tsarter]

imo the smaller Hagstrom in post #1 sounds just like a regular Bisonic, at least in Guild basses. Someone here, possibly N. Miller (? forgive me please if that is not right), i belive reported they played a Hagstrom bass with that pickup, and said it didn't really sound like a Bisonic...assuming we were talking about the same pickup...but someone had posted a video a while back of a Starfire bass with one of those, and it sounded like a Bisonic to me.

Also the bass in post #1 has been for sale for many many years on CL. guess the guy really is not budging much on the price, but he appears to have done some HW this time, and has come down a little on asking, so seems more motivated.
Have to report also, previously when this was listed, there was very faint numbers visible on the back, like someone wrote something like a phone number on a piece of paper, with a magic marker, and was using the back of the bass as a desk, and it bled thru, or something like that. Previously, the seller was quite upfront about the numbers on the back with photos, etc. so, he may have had it buffed out since it looks pretty good in the photo now, and there is no mention of it. it may have been no big deal and an easy fix, the numbers were super faint. it could have been an ancient school inventory number or something. anyway it wouldnt stop me or affect value much for me, and appears to have been addressed. just in case anyone is serious on this, thought i'd mention that in the event there is a cosmetic blem or repair on the back of any kind, it wouldnt be such a surprise.

Interesting. Seems like he has it priced pretty well now.