Starfire bass

mellowgerman said:

can't really justify that kind of money for a show unless the ticket includes transportation back to 'Frisco, 1968

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Just make sure to get one of the ones with "Eat me" printed on the back. :lol:

any idea where this guy came from?
looks like a Hagstrom Concord.
any experience with it?
don't look like the hagstrom pickups starfires mount.
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/msg/2065126220.html

saemola said:

any idea where this guy came from?
looks like a Hagstrom Concord.
any experience with it?
don't look like the hagstrom pickups starfires mount.
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/msg/2065126220.html

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Quick search on Hagstrom Concord yields pictures that confirm your guess.

No experience with the bass.

I always screw up when trying to name the Guild bass pickups from the '60's and 70's. I think the full name for the Hagstrom PU that inspired the Dark Star is a Hagstrom Bi-Sonic. Guild definitely used Hagstrom PUs besides the Bi-Sonic. There are a couple dual PU basses from 1970 or slightly later that have a Bi-Sonic at the neck and a smaller chrome covered Hagstrom at the bridge. See this. What I have no idea about is whether the Concord PU is electrically similar to the "other" Hagstrom Guild used.

That said, my understanding is that if you want that particular sound your choices pretty much are the original Hagstrom Bi-Sonic or the Dark Star. I've never heard of any other PU that captured the sound.

mgod said:

I recently sold one of my sunburst SF-Is to a friend for $3500. 67, almost mint, so I never played it.

DS

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Nice to know that some prices hold. Personally I'd be willing to pay what seemed like a premium for one of your Guilds because of your (positive) "reputation" but luckily for my budget I'm not in the market. :wink:

fronobulax said:

That said, my understanding is that if you want that particular sound your choices pretty much are the original Hagstrom Bi-Sonic or the Dark Star. I've never heard of any other PU that captured the sound.

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you're probably right.
I was kind of curious, since I thought the Hagstrom pickups might sounds similar to those on the Guild and the price is quite interesting also.

so the question is: what do you do when you are desperately longing for something you can't find?
and the answer is: change the keywords in google.

instead of searching for guild starfire bass I thought "some are old, old instruments, maybe someone had one and didn't even know the model name (and possibly the market value)".
so I typed guild hollow bass found this '60s "Guild hollow body bass" with original pickups and natural finish.
price 1500$.
too good to be true.
I look up the date: november 6th... it's gonna be long gone...
yesterday night I sent an email to the seller... no luck.
I call him this morning... and the bass is still there!!!

looks like the G string saddle is cracked (sounded like he didn't really know a whole lot about bass, he kept calling it the "movable wood bridge", but I'm pretty sure that's what he was referring to), but everything else should be ok (maybe one of the knobs is missing, but the picture on CL wasn't clear and I forgot to ask).
he is going to send me pictures tonight.
and he is open to offers.

what do you guys think of the price?
we didn't discuss it, but he sounded willing to include shipping.

I'm gonna ask him to use paypal, hoping he's familiar with it.
are there other secure payment methods?
first time I buy from a distant private in the US.

the funny thing is that, being that the ad was posted on the 6th, it expired after midnight tonight, and I found it at like 11PM!

I'm still to excited, too good to be true.
I know one of you guys is gonna track him down and take the bass.
let's see how it turns out.

The store I used to manage had a few of the rosewood saddles (two or three of them). I can check and see if he still has 'em under the counter if you get the bass and need to replace any.

John

you're awesome man, that would be great!

And this place apparently sells saddles as well (no experience or affiliation):

http://www.guildbassparts.com/Home.html

@saemola - Post your pictures. From what you said it is definitely worth pursuing at that price if it has no issues and a case, in my opinion anyway.

Yggdrasil said:

And this place apparently sells saddles as well (no experience or affiliation):

http://www.guildbassparts.com/Home.html

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He, or his machinist, makes them. He has posted on LTG as PeteyBass. He owns a few Guilds and has had more and there is every reason to expect the saddles to fit/work.

I'm curious: how does action adjustment work if the saddles are made out of wood?
you can go lower, but not higher? :mrgreen:

saemola said:

I'm curious: how does action adjustment work if the saddles are made out of wood?
you can go lower, but not higher? :mrgreen:

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A couple of riser bolts that raise & lower the bass & treble side of the bridge.

saemola said:

I'm curious: how does action adjustment work if the saddles are made out of wood?
you can go lower, but not higher? :mrgreen:

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'71 JS II with fingerprints in bad lighting.

Saddles slide up and down towards and away from the neck. Used to set intonation, i.e. making the octave harmonic in tune with the "fretted" octave. The saddles sit on a piece of metal that slides in the channel and is anchored by a small screw. I would need to verify this but I'm pretty sure that at one point in time Hagstrom also made the bridges used by Guilds. Adjusting a Guild "harp" bridge does take some patience which is why you often find they have been replaced.

Action is controlled by the two screws "in the middle". Raising or lowering them raises or lowers one side of the bridge and thus the action.

The two screws at the bottom anchor the bridge to the bass.

wow, looks medieval. I like that. :mrgreen:
how do you guys think wood saddles affect the sound?
if it's true that higher mass-density bridges give a longer sustain, then wood is probably going to lower that, right?
anyone changed from wood to steel?

saemola said:

wow, looks medieval. I like that. :mrgreen:
how do you guys think wood saddles affect the sound?
if it's true that higher mass-density bridges give a longer sustain, then wood is probably going to lower that, right?
anyone changed from wood to steel?

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Medieval, huh?

The question of saddle material has come up a couple of times. I think PeteyBass has some metal (brass) ones made and a couple folks tried them. I don't recall that anyone liked them enough to keep them. I seem to recall mgod commenting on the subject and expressing a similar opinion. The LTG search function is a PITA but you might be able to find the old posts or threads.

Getting any closer to *your* Starfire? :wink:

I'm reading the search results right now.
I should get the pics tonight around 8PM (EST).
I'm biting my nails. :mrgreen:

btw, you guys really are amazing for helping me out so much and be so interested in the transaction.
I don't know if it is Guild camaraderie or just plain GAS :mrgreen: but you all really rock!

saemola said:

I'm reading the search results right now.
I should get the pics tonight around 8PM (EST).
I'm biting my nails. :mrgreen:

btw, you guys really are amazing for helping me out so much and be so interested in the transaction.
I don't know if it is Guild camaraderie or just plain GAS :mrgreen: but you all really rock!

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Camaraderie. I read the whole forum and I'm not even I'm not even a bass guy. (Well, a wannabe maybe)

adorshki said:

... (Well, a wannabe maybe)

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hear, hear!

jeez, I'm waiting for this pictures like a kids waitin on Santa.
I was wondering something serious though: what kind of strings do you guys use?
never used flats before, but that's definitely what I'm going for.

I use heavy gauge strings (.050 - .110 nickel), mainly for a matter of feel.
I'd like to keep the same high tension on this bass too.
since it's a 30.5" I guess the formula is: same strings = higher tension.
I'd definitely wouldn't go below a .105 E though.
I was considering LaBella .052-.110, but I'm afraid the big string, together with the fact that they are not short scale, might cause me some problems at the winding.

I've heard that when it comes to flats a lot of people have a high opinion of Pyramids (but then who would talk s**t about a set you've spent 70$ on? :mrgreen: ), Thomastik, D'Addario (not a big fan of the latter brand overall).

what's your experience?


-edit-
looks like the laws of physics are against me:

Tension=(UW x (2 x L x F)2) / 386.4
F=Frequency
L=Scale length
UW=Unit weight

which means that shortening the scale, the tension diminishes.
wow.
all my life...
...

I'm gonna stick with the LaBella I think... :mrgreen:

Saddles - Derek (sorry man, forgot your nom de web) sent a set from Peteybass. I didn't really like them. But on my primary Starfire I put the brass set from Alembic (circa 1970) that came on the Lesh fretless M-85. So its not a problem of brass itself. I don't know why the new ones sounded thin to me.

Strings - if you love high tension I don't know what the answer is. I'm deeply in love with T-Is, both round and flat. They are the most musically useful string I've ever used on a short scale bass in 40(!) years. (God I'm old. But not as old as Jack or Phil...)