Take the Starfire Plunge?

Hey friends,

I think it is finally time to take the Starfire plunge, but I am having trouble figuring out which one will be complimentary to me and my rig. I play pop rock, classic rock and some blues and my main amp is a 71 Vox Ac30.

As far as hollowbodies go I have:
A 69 Guild m-75 bluesbird that is completely hollow inside. I love this guitar.
An early 90s epi casino seafoam green w/bigsby and p90s-great mojo great tones, a bit tough to control live as the pickups are a touch microphonic with the chrome covers.
I also have a Taylor T3 w/bigsby that is just phenomenal. So many tones can be coaxed out of it. it is the spankiest hollowbody i have ever heard.
I am kind of looking for a hollow body for rhythm tracks for studio work that would sound huge with gain and stuff (think Foo Fighters) but also can be used live for lead playing. Obviously the Starfire iv and v's are a good place to start because they are close to the 335'ish stuff, but I must say the III's are pretty cool looking. At first, I didnt think so, but the more I look, I dig the vibe.

What are your guys thoughts? Teach me

hi sugarbear,

i had a 1990 sf-4 and had a waxpotting done on the HB-1's. after that this guitars was perfect for the stuff you describe. the sf-2/3 will be much more sensitive to feedback since they are completely hollow.

you should also consider a nightbird or a nightingale because they are chambered in a similar way and also have the semi-hollow touch.

I would recommend a series of Starfire 4's and 5's,along with a "modern" Bluesbird. I would recommend the SF3 and 3P90 for lower volume pleasure when jamming by yourself or in a low volume combo setting.

The semihollwo starfires can do rock, blues, other style where you want a less solid tone. They have great balance and access to the upper frets. If you really like to play high on the neck the SF3's only run up to "C" where as the semihollow models go to "D".

I like a variety of semihollow SF models. A classic is a 1967 or later SF4 or 5 with the mini humbuckers and a mahgony body. They can have a classic 60's tone or can be grungy and sharp. The sound of this model is unique and can't be duplicated. They sound significantly different from a late 1960's M75 hollowbody model with mini humbuckers especially at the lowend. I also like the later semihollow models with Guild HB-1's and the late 70's models with Dimarzio's. For these models and pickups I perfer the maple body. In the 80's Guild also offered semihollow Starfires with the high distortion XR-7 Dimarzio pickups however I have never heard one of these.

The later Guild Bluesbird has styling and playability of a Nightbird but offer independent Vol and Tone for each pickup and can be had at a significantly lower $ from a Nightbird. The Bluesbirds have SD pickup. One of these days I am going to swap a pair of HB-1's into a Bluesbird and see how it sounds. That may be an ideal configuration.

M

" An early 90s epi casino seafoam green w/bigsby and p90s-great mojo great tones, a bit tough to control live as the pickups are a touch microphonic with the chrome covers."

a lil bit of packing sponge and or 3m dbl sided spongy thick tape will help out that

Sugarbear:

It's hard to argue with the versatility of the semihollows. My '75 Starfire VI works so well in different contexts. Never have to worry about feedback. It goes from jazzy and civilized to some really powerful blues drive at higher volumes. I love the hollowbodies too - have long coveted the SF III - but would anticipate using both a soundpost and f-hole plugs to make that type of guitar more useable at higher volumes.
MD