NGD 1997 Starfire IV

[kptkarl]

Hello,
I've been lurking around the forums for a bit with an interest in a Starfire IV. After reading @GAD's blog I decided to keep an eye out for a 90's Westerly model with the SD-1 pickups. After several months of looking I was able to get a deal done.
Cleaned and set it up. A couple of very minor nicks. Very little fret wear. No scratchy pots. Don't need to change a thing. Have been playing through my Fractal FM3 and it sounds great with just about any amp model. It is fantastic.
Happy to be part of the Guild family.

 

[HeyMikey]

Congrats and welcome kptkarl. Looks like a nice one. Looking forward to hearing more about it. Yeah, that GAD guy is a bad influence on GAS for sure.

 

[GGJaguar]

Great first post and congrats on your beautiful Starfire! Now you can increase your Guild count from 0 to 1. Enjoy!

 

[Norrissey]

Congrats! That SF-4 looks beautiful and yeah, those SD-1s are fabulous pickups. I have a hunch, due to their quality and relative scarcity, that there will be a time in the future that SD-1s will be coveted like Gibson PAFs are now.

 

[GAD]

Hello,
I've been lurking around the forums for a bit with an interest in a Starfire IV. After reading @GAD's blog I decided to keep an eye out for a 90's Westerly model with the SD-1 pickups. After several months of looking I was able to get a deal done.
Cleaned and set it up. A couple of very minor nicks. Very little fret wear. No scratchy pots. Don't need to change a thing. Have been playing through my Fractal FM3 and it sounds great with just about any amp model. It is fantastic.
Happy to be part of the Guild family.

Nice!

Starfire and a Fractal? Double nice! I have a small pile of Guild (and ither) amps and the Fractal gets 99% of my playing time.

 

[walrus]

Congratulations! Great guitar!

walrus

 

[zulu]

I've always thought a blonde IV is so classy. Visual harmony.

 

[shihan]

Congratulations! I know it’s a great guitar because I have one just like it. Enjoy it in good health.

 

[kptkarl]

Nice!

Starfire and a Fractal? Double nice! I have a small pile of Guild (and ither) amps and the Fractal gets 99% of my playing time.

Fractal keeps on improving as well. I don't have any real amps now. Most of my playing time is early in the morning before others in the household are awake, so good headphones are key.
Thanks for your great blog on Guild. Honest and very informative.

 

[kptkarl]

Congrats! That SF-4 looks beautiful and yeah, those SD-1s are fabulous pickups. I have a hunch, due to their quality and relative scarcity, that there will be a time in the future that SD-1s will be coveted like Gibson PAFs are now.

You might be right. I really like them over other "PAF" type HBs I've tried.

 

[HeyMikey]

I actually bought a set of SD1’s without a guitar yet for them. I’ve not used them but everything I’ve read about them is terrific. I bet they sound great in your SF IV. I would love to hear what your assessment is of them.

 

[kptkarl]

I actually bought a set of SD1’s without a guitar yet for them. I’ve not used them but everything I’ve read about them is terrific. I bet they sound great in your SF IV. I would love to hear what your assessment is of them.

Now that I've had a bit to play the SF4. These are fantastic pups. Very nicely balanced, great definition. Nice smooth top end and not muddy, at least where I ended up adjusting the height too.
They compliment my Tele, Strat, Jazzmaster and Gretsch very well. The SD1's of course have a little more output and therefore drive the amp a little more,I quite like it that way. I can dial back the vol/tone pots as needed. Like I said above. I've gone through most of the amp models in the FM3 and the SD1's sound fantastic through all of them. Very versatile pups for any genre.
Overall the SF4 is fantastic. I did ditch the pick guard, hard to get the E string when finger picken.

 

[SFIV1967]

I did ditch the pick guard,...

Not a problem on such a nice top! Always nice to see the full top!

Ralf

 

[walrus]

Not a problem on such a nice top! Always nice to see the full top!

Ralf

Agreed! I always removed the pickguard from any archtop I had, except for a '58 Gibson ES225.

walrus

 

[kptkarl]

Not a problem on such a nice top! Always nice to see the full top!

Ralf

True that!