GGJaguar
Reverential Member
Seeing this photo of The Tornados made me realize that Guild could have easily made a Starfire III style bass. I think I would have preferred the single cutaway as the neck joint would be more stable.
The bass that never was
- Thread starter GGJaguar
- Start date
krysh
Guildarist in the mod squad
If they just would do this as a 32“ 5-string version with 2 bisonics and the bridge pu in the original sf-1 position I‘d be sold…if there is no neck dive…Seeing this photo of The Tornados made me realize that Guild could have easily made a Starfire III style bass. I think I would have preferred the single cutaway as the neck joint would be more stable.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Shoulda coulda the insanity of not having a bass out until '65 needs to be examined.
They could have had ten models by the time the Starfire bass came out.
'64 Harmony, a bit of a cult item but I probably wouldn't want it back.
Silvertone/Dano pumped out basses to compete with Gibson/Fender/Ampeg etc, but not Guild.
'65 Silvertone that came on in '59, Four Octaves they claimed, and yeah, a whole lotta frets, in fact the same neck as the near priceless Longhorn but on the cheap, and tone is very very good, the tic tac sound, nearly inimitable, favored by Entwistle through the My Generation era.
"The Starfire Bass debuted in ’65, its design obviously influenced by Gibson’s EB-2, which had been around since ’58."
www.vintageguitar.com
They could have had ten models by the time the Starfire bass came out.
'64 Harmony, a bit of a cult item but I probably wouldn't want it back.
Silvertone/Dano pumped out basses to compete with Gibson/Fender/Ampeg etc, but not Guild.
'65 Silvertone that came on in '59, Four Octaves they claimed, and yeah, a whole lotta frets, in fact the same neck as the near priceless Longhorn but on the cheap, and tone is very very good, the tic tac sound, nearly inimitable, favored by Entwistle through the My Generation era.
"The Starfire Bass debuted in ’65, its design obviously influenced by Gibson’s EB-2, which had been around since ’58."
The Guild Starfire Bass | Vintage Guitar® magazine
In the mid '60s, Guild took its knocks for making guitars that looked "inspired by" Gibson models. Fans of the brand think the sterotype is unfair, of course, and certainly, many Guilds from the era have their own intrigue. One very good example is the Starfire Bass. Guild was founded by...
www.vintageguitar.com
AcornHouse
Venerated Member
Fun fact, Entwistle used the Danelectro on My Generation for the solo and kept breaking strings. But the strings by themselves were unavailable, so they had to keep buying more Danelectros.
fronobulax
Bassist, GAD and the Hot Mess Mods
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I'd argue with a couple of claims in https://www.vintageguitar.com/8058/the-guild-starfire-bass/ the biggest problem being the move from bridge to neck position on the Starfire I which happened in '67 not "by the early 70's". The superiority of the bridge position in a Starfire I is noted so the article isn't all bad.
As for the bass that might have been the single cutaway Les Paul Bass was introduced in 1969 although a hollowbody didn't show until 1973. Neither was especially popular or successful especially IMO when compared to the Starfire.
You also have the hollow Guild M85, circa 1968 (too lazy to look up a precise date) which was not as successful as the Starfire.
It is hard to argue about the success of an instrument that was never made but maybe a single cutaway bass would not have been the moneymaker for Guild that the Starfire bass was?
As for the bass that might have been the single cutaway Les Paul Bass was introduced in 1969 although a hollowbody didn't show until 1973. Neither was especially popular or successful especially IMO when compared to the Starfire.
You also have the hollow Guild M85, circa 1968 (too lazy to look up a precise date) which was not as successful as the Starfire.
It is hard to argue about the success of an instrument that was never made but maybe a single cutaway bass would not have been the moneymaker for Guild that the Starfire bass was?
jp
Senior Member
That's the larger Framus Star Bass. Of course, they also made the smaller single cutaway that Bill Wyman used, and that didn't really catch on with the public. Hard to say whether a smaller single cut would have been more popular for Guild before the hollow M-85. The Hofner Club never really caught on as much for obvious reasons. Personally, I like the single cutaway better too.Seeing this photo of The Tornados made me realize that Guild could have easily made a Starfire III style bass. I think I would have preferred the single cutaway as the neck joint would be more stable.
GG, guys, do you think that a single cutaway would really have a more stable neck?
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
GGJaguar
Reverential Member
Just from my experience with a double cutaway and single cutaway Les Paul Special, I'd say yes. But I'll defer to the luthiery types here for a definitive answer.
That Framus is pretty.
krysh
Guildarist in the mod squad
Well, if stability was concerned within construction, I say the single cut is more appealing, tone- and stability wise. But I’d really like to hear if my suggested bass would do the trick…
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I walked into a guitar store by accident - right - when I was under 10, didn't know a chord, and I picked up a thin red sunburst Framus hollow body 6 string, and I wanted it, and I still remember it, still remember the storefront, which side of the street it was on.
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
It sounded pretty awful and didn't play well, but that didn't stop me from wanting it. My very first GAS attack.
