From the Guild website LB-1's on Starfire III

[F30]

LB-1's position specs...is this correct?
7.2k Neck
5.06k Bridge

 

[F30]

Looks like we've been here before from GAD:

Guild Anti-Hum and LB1 Mini-Humbucker Pickups | GAD's Ramblings

One of my most popular articles is Guild Full-Sized HB1 and SD1 Pickup Variations where I put into writing all the nitpicky details about those pickups that I’ve learned over the years. I often get people asking me about the Guild “mini humbuckers” from the 1960s and thanks to a recent project...

www.gad.net

Interesting read in any case.

 

[Default]

LB-1's position specs...is this correct?
7.2k Neck
5.06k Bridge

Unfortunately, yes. Fender was in the process of trying to correct that when Guild was sold, and CMG has no interest in correcting it.

 

[SFIV1967]

Here was the "explanation" for the error from CMG (after FMIC sold Guild to them in 2014). The error already happened during FMIC times back in 2011 or 2012. BHK (the manufacturer in Korea) is not to be blamed as FMIC gave them a defective pickup with the task to 100% reproduce it which they perfectly did...

A Deeper Look at the Starfire Pickup | Guild Guitars

A Deeper Look at the Starfire Pickup

guildguitars.com

Ralf

 

[cupric]

My new1997 Starfire3 has the stock Seymour Duncan's in it. I guess that may be a good thing? I've had limited playing time in it so far but they sound really good to me, and well matched.

 

[Default]

My new1997 Starfire3 has the stock Seymour Duncan's in it. I guess that may be a good thing? I've had limited playing time in it so far but they sound really good to me, and well matched.

That guitar has zero in common with the CMG guitars.

 

[JohnW63]

So would the assute shopper buy the guitar and order an extra neck pickup to swap out the bridge one?

 

[Rambozo96]

“When developing the Newark St. Series Starfire guitars, we wanted to recreate the magic that was found in a handful of original pickups we came across. A large number of guitars were meticulously tested and compared in order to find the most awe-inspiring pickups with that magical sound. Sure, we tested numbers and metrics along the way, but our primary driver in selecting the pickups to recreate was our ears. In the end, we chose the best sounding pickups that we could find and replicated them with the utmost care and detail.

The Starfire’s LB-1 Little Bucker pickup sits somewhere between a mini-bucker and a full size humbucker. Tonally, it’s got a little more jangle and a little more air then a traditional humbucker. The resistance and inductance of these pickups sit comfortably between a typical single coil and a typical PAF style humbucker – contributing to the airy nature of the pickup without compromising its warmth and hum-free output.

Recently, we’ve been asked why our Starfire pickups have a lower resistance measurement in the bridge pickup than measures in the neck pickup. While we understand why this question is asked (because many people use the resistance to measure pickup output), measuring output with resistance alone fails to account for a multitude of impacting factors.

Guitar pickups can be measured a few different ways: resistance (ohms K), inductance (Henries) and output in millivolts are all typical measurements. While any of these measurements can give you a ball park estimate of your pickup output (when compared to another identical pickup), they don’t tell the whole story. For that, you’d need to compare all three different measurements as well as components used and overall pickup efficiency. For example, the Starfire bridge pickup does have a lower resistance than the neck; however, it is wound with 41g wire. The neck pickup is wound with 42g wire. This difference in component alone will impact the resistance of the pickup. 41g is a thicker wire and as you increase your wire thickness, you decrease the amount of resistance.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of specs and speculations but in the end, you should always count on your ear because after all, it’s our ears which we are trying to please!”

It’s worth noting that when Bill Lawrence was still alive he always advertised his pickup’s inductance instead of its DC resistance as he felt this better described the output of the pickups.

 

[Default]

Yeah, that's the bullshit that they are peddling, but CMG had zero to do with the design of the minbuckers, the HB-1S or, for that matter, any of my GSRs. This was prior to Fender selling Guild, and has been mentioned previously, we found this out using our ears. That's why a shop in England has a business rewinding bridge LB-1s so they aren't mismatched anymore.

 

[Default]

Marketing shucking and jiving, that's all it is. All it takes is a phone call to Korea, "use the same coils and magnets in the bridge and neck pickups", BOOM! Fixed.
Five minutes, and your demo artists will actually start demoing the bridge pickup, instead of switching away from it like they got an electric shock.

 

[fronobulax]

So would the assute shopper buy the guitar and order an extra neck pickup to swap out the bridge one?

This issue has been around for several years. My recollection is that if your ears won't buy the Guild Kool-Aid you can't just replace the bridge with the neck PUs. Form factor and pole spacing are different. IIRC.

 

[fronobulax]

“When developing the Newark St. Series Starfire guitars, we wanted to recreate the magic that was found in a handful of original pickups we came across. A large number of guitars were meticulously tested and compared in order to find the most awe-inspiring pickups with that magical sound. Sure, we tested numbers and metrics along the way, but our primary driver in selecting the pickups to recreate was our ears. In the end, we chose the best sounding pickups that we could find and replicated them with the utmost care and detail.

The Starfire’s LB-1 Little Bucker pickup sits somewhere between a mini-bucker and a full size humbucker. Tonally, it’s got a little more jangle and a little more air then a traditional humbucker. The resistance and inductance of these pickups sit comfortably between a typical single coil and a typical PAF style humbucker – contributing to the airy nature of the pickup without compromising its warmth and hum-free output.

Recently, we’ve been asked why our Starfire pickups have a lower resistance measurement in the bridge pickup than measures in the neck pickup. While we understand why this question is asked (because many people use the resistance to measure pickup output), measuring output with resistance alone fails to account for a multitude of impacting factors.

Guitar pickups can be measured a few different ways: resistance (ohms K), inductance (Henries) and output in millivolts are all typical measurements. While any of these measurements can give you a ball park estimate of your pickup output (when compared to another identical pickup), they don’t tell the whole story. For that, you’d need to compare all three different measurements as well as components used and overall pickup efficiency. For example, the Starfire bridge pickup does have a lower resistance than the neck; however, it is wound with 41g wire. The neck pickup is wound with 42g wire. This difference in component alone will impact the resistance of the pickup. 41g is a thicker wire and as you increase your wire thickness, you decrease the amount of resistance.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of specs and speculations but in the end, you should always count on your ear because after all, it’s our ears which we are trying to please!”

It’s worth noting that when Bill Lawrence was still alive he always advertised his pickup’s inductance instead of its DC resistance as he felt this better described the output of the pickups.

Can't tell where the marketing BS ends and your opinion begins but remember that this problem was discovered by people whose ears told them there was a difference and then took measurements to understand why.

There are people who can't hear a difference and a few who hear the difference and like it. But most people I trust view this as a large company refusing to admit someone made a mistake.

 

[Rambozo96]

Can't tell where the marketing BS ends and your opinion begins but remember that this problem was discovered by people whose ears told them there was a difference and then took measurements to understand why.

There are people who can't hear a difference and a few who hear the difference and like it. But most people I trust view this as a large company refusing to admit someone made a mistake.

Admittedly I haven’t been able to try a SF reissue as nobody I know except for maybe the big box stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex carries them so really my opinion means nil. If the pickups are noticeably unbalanced then I would agree that it’s an issue to be addressed. Especially in the $1500 decked out SF reissues.

 

[Default]

Puts down pencil.

 

[Walter Broes]

If the pickups are noticeably unbalanced

They are

 

[Shakeylee]

I would be fine with swapping positions.
Just put the neck pickup in the bride and the bridge pickup in the neck .
Raise the weaker pickup closer to the strings and you’re fine