NAMM 2013: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Assuming there's no EQ on the amp and the tone is wide open, I'd say the essential tone I get from my Bisonic is there but there seems to be more pronounced treble.. anyone else getting that? Though truth be told I don't know how similar a JS w/Bisonic sounds next to a Starfire.

But..

I'm totally going for one of these first chance I get!

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

I played it today for a while. Can't really say much about the pickup, all they had were a couple little guitar amps there. It felt OK, certainly better and more Starfire-like than the 90s Guilds or the DeArmonds. Unsurprisingly, it felt new and maybe a little too solid. But my newest SF is 43 years old, so its a tough comparison to make. Given that few new instruments are any cheaper, I'd say its a good instrument and probably a good buy. To really asses it I'd need a bass amp and I'd like to A/B it with a Casady bass, which for a long time I thought was the best off-the-shelf bass around, but I might like this better. I enjoyed playing it.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Looks great!
I think that given the difference in the nuances of how they are built, the vintage ones will hold their own.
No doubt the quality looks to be there, but there is just something different with the imports compared to
the US built (vintage or otherwise...).
Can't wait to see one in the flesh.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

This is wonderful...although my bank account might think the opposite. 939€ at Thomann ( http://www.thomann.de/gb/guild_starfire_bass.htm ) including case. Sounds pretty reasonable.
I hope I'm able to fool myself to believe that Dark Starred DeArmond I already have is enough so I don't have to explain yet another bass at home...at least until Starfire II re-issue possibly and hopefully see the daylight someday.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mikko said:

...at least until Starfire II re-issue possibly and hopefully see the daylight someday.

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What a fickle lot we are :lol: We have just one hands on report and we are already waiting for a SF II. Next someone is going to say they are going to wait to see what other finish options are planned for the future.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mgod said:

I played it today for a while. Can't really say much about the pickup, all they had were a couple little guitar amps there. It felt OK, certainly better and more Starfire-like than the 90s Guilds or the DeArmonds. Unsurprisingly, it felt new and maybe a little too solid. But my newest SF is 43 years old, so its a tough comparison to make. Given that few new instruments are any cheaper, I'd say its a good instrument and probably a good buy. To really asses it I'd need a bass amp and I'd like to A/B it with a Casady bass, which for a long time I thought was the best off-the-shelf bass around, but I might like this better. I enjoyed playing it.

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This is very good news indeed, mgod. I hope and look forward to more details from you.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

fronobulax said:

mikko said:

...at least until Starfire II re-issue possibly and hopefully see the daylight someday.

Click to expand...

What a fickle lot we are :lol: We have just one hands on report and we are already waiting for a SF II. Next someone is going to say they are going to wait to see what other finish options are planned for the future.

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Hah hah...that's me. I'm waiting for a brown SF II to appear. You know, I have to make all kinds of excuses for myself or otherwise I'll pre-order one from Thomann....it's already on my wishlist there.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mgod said:

I played it today for a while. Can't really say much about the pickup, all they had were a couple little guitar amps there. It felt OK, certainly better and more Starfire-like than the 90s Guilds or the DeArmonds. Unsurprisingly, it felt new and maybe a little too solid. But my newest SF is 43 years old, so its a tough comparison to make. Given that few new instruments are any cheaper, I'd say its a good instrument and probably a good buy. To really asses it I'd need a bass amp and I'd like to A/B it with a Casady bass, which for a long time I thought was the best off-the-shelf bass around, but I might like this better. I enjoyed playing it.

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Thanks for the report! I may just have to check this one out if I can find one to play.

On another note, I just installed a Hipshot supertone bridge on my Casady bass, and it has improved the already formidable sustain even further. 8)

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Just want to clarify from an earlier post the Epiphone Allen Woody Rumblekat bass is made in Korea, not China. Like i said We're very happy with it.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mavuser said:

Just want to clarify from an earlier post the Epiphone Allen Woody Rumblekat bass is made in Korea, not China. Like i said We're very happy with it.

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From what I understood the earlier ones were MIK but later ones are marked MIC on the back of the headstock. I haven't heard a bad word about either.

Ironically there's not a single Guild dealer in Korea and I'm probably at most an hour or two from the factory unless it's way the hell down in Busan or something.

... I could even get it refinished in nitro. On the steps of the music arcade! PS - Nitro smells ranks. I see why shops use fume hoods. I actually emailed Guild asking them a bit about the factory, where it was, if there were any tours, if they'd be selling the SF in Korea..

In a previous band our guitarist played an MIK Eastwood, or maybe it was an Airline. In either case, though it was made here, it was not sold here, so he had to buy an MIK guitar from Germany (he's a lefty) to get it shipped back to its country of origin to play. Funny.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mgod's photo from NAMM



A Guild photo from NAMM, posted to their Facebook page.



Some where I read that, as of NAMM only two of these basses had been built.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

fronobulax said:

Somewhere I read that, as of NAMM only two of these basses had been built.

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Correct, only a few so far. Hence it will take a little while until you see them in shops. And you won't see them at any big chain. Production quantities are still limited and Guild does not plan to flood the market with them. Kim K. told me he had not seen any of the Newark St. models until last week. Most of the new Guild guitars shown at NAMM were just finished a few days before NAMM. Some had labels with serial numbers from the 15th of January.
Ralf

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

SFIV1967 said:

fronobulax said:

Somewhere I read that, as of NAMM only two of these basses had been built.

Click to expand...

Correct, only a few so far. Hence it will take a little while until you see them in shops. And you won't see them at any big chain. Production quantities are still limited and Guild does not plan to flood the market with them. Kim K. told me he had not seen any of the Newark St. models until last week. Most of the new Guild guitars shown at NAMM were just finished a few days before NAMM. Some had labels with serial numbers from the 15th of January.
Ralf

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That's nothing new for this year. When the first New Hartford D-55s were introduced at NAMM 2009, the lacquer was barely dry.

Hope you had a good time, Ralf. We were living vicariously through you guys who attended the show. I really wish I could've been there!

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Chazmo said:

Hope you had a good time, Ralf. We were living vicariously through you guys who attended the show. I really wish I could've been there!

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Just arrived home tonight, now I am starting to do my hundreds of e-mails...It's so good to have a fast internet connection again.
I started sorting through the pictures but I am afraid you guys have to wait another day or two, it's already 1am here...
Ralf

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

SFIV1967 said:

Chazmo said:

Hope you had a good time, Ralf. We were living vicariously through you guys who attended the show. I really wish I could've been there!

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Just arrived home tonight, now I am starting to do my hundreds of e-mails...It's so good to have a fast internet connection again.
I started sorting through the pictures but I am afraid you guys have to wait another day or two, it's already 1am here...
Ralf

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We'll give you a breather Ralf, but make it brief please. :lol:
Good to hear you made it home safe... wish I could have been at the party too!

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

Just want to add that Gibson posted a picture of a new ES-335 semi?/hollow bass from NAMM also. Much more interest in the Starfire I'm sure but it sounded like something new to report. Maybe Ralf or Mgod got a glimpse.

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mavuser said:

Maybe Ralf or Mgod got a glimpse.

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No, I did not even check out the Gibson booth. NAMM is so huge!
Ralf

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

mavuser said:

Just want to add that Gibson posted a picture of a new ES-335 semi?/hollow bass from NAMM also. Much more interest in the Starfire I'm sure but it sounded like something new to report. Maybe Ralf or Mgod got a glimpse.

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It looks cool but it's a long scale .....

Re: Newark St. Collection Starfire Bass

chefothefuture1 said:

mavuser said:

Just want to add that Gibson posted a picture of a new ES-335 semi?/hollow bass from NAMM also. Much more interest in the Starfire I'm sure but it sounded like something new to report. Maybe Ralf or Mgod got a glimpse.

Click to expand...

It looks cool but it's a long scale .....

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To veer, I have avoided long scale basses for many years, a behavior I attribute to owning a JS II and living with a roommate who had a late 60's Fender Precision and constantly having a sore, cramped left hand after playing his bass. Recently, I was put in a position where I could not, with good grace, avoid playing a Guild Pilot, which is long scale. To my surprise, I loved it, indeed enough that I now own one. It seems my aversion to long scale had more to do with neck profile than with scale. "skinny" is one way to describe the Pilot's profile.

To return to the topic at hand, my local dealer intends to stock Newark Street electrics and he offered to hold his first Starfire bass for me. We'll see when his estimated delivery date is.

Here's my little NAMM review of the Newark St.™ Collection Starfire™ Bass.

Newark St. Collection models are handcrafted instruments with authentic Guild electric tone and superior feel. Premium features include authentic Guild body shapes, arch radii and neck profiles; authentically vintage-style pickups and hardware; improved playing action ideal for today’s alternative styles; and more.

The whole series can be seen here: https://guildguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/newark-st-collection/

Mike Lewis (FMIC project leader for the Newark St.™ Collection) explained to me that he purchased a mid 60ies bass and sent it to their factory in Korea with the task to exactly reverse engineer all used materials and construction. No change in materials and construction was allowed. The task was to recreate the original as good as possible.

However Mike said it is important to understand, that they are not re-issues of the old models, but the 2013 version of them. They are very close copies but not 100% "copy exactly" copies. (see little differences like different label, different TRC, different fret size, different finish,...)

The official specs can be found here.

Some details that I noticed at NAMM:

The Top and back use Arched Laminated Sapele (a version of Mahogany), as was according to Mike also used in the original.
Body finish: Gloss Urethane (Mike said since made in Korea no nitrocellulose was possible)
Nice "Aged-look" binding (ivory white)
Neck Shape: Vintage Soft "U"
Fret Size: 6105 tall vintage (.055" Tall x .090" Wide)
Fingerboard Radius: 12" (305 mm)
Nut Width: 1.5" (38.1 mm)
Scale Length: 30.75" (781 mm)
Strings: D'Addario® EXL165 Nickel Wound Bass, Custom Light, 45-105

Now to the Pickup. It is now called Guild® "Bi-Sonic" Bass pickup.
A second factory in Korea (a close supplier to SPG) was responsible for all metal parts and the pickups. They also had the task to exactly re-create the original provided pickup. Again no change in material, magnets, wires, windings and so on was allowed. So the pickups should be an almost identical recreation of the original Hagström made "Bi-Sonic" pickup.

Here are some detail pictures I took at NAMM:

The TRC is not "period correct" but it was a decision to use the same 50ies style Guild TRC on all Newark St. models. I think it looks cool!
Serial number and "Handcrafted in Korea" stamped on back of headstock.
Quality Grover® Tuning machines.



The Cherry red is really good looking!
Guild® Combo Bridge-Tailpiece with Rosewood String Saddles, Knobs with Tone and Volume from 1-9.



Cool detail: A version of the "Ghost label" is used for the Newark St.™ Collection models! That is one of the things Guild decided to change from the original.



Now a sharp eye might spot that the serial number on the label is slightly different from the serial number on the headstock! SPG used "KS" (Korea, SPG) as starting letters and the headstock shows "KSG" where G seems to stand for Guild.
The label however only shows the KS at the moment.
I asked Mike Lewis about it and he said those are the little things that still need to be fixed for serial production, that is only the prototype.

Video of the new Starfire Bass together with the new Starfire IV (played by Mike Lewis):




Ralf