***Looking for Starfire Advise***

Hi all, A new noobie here. I recently found LTG, lurked for a day or two and here we is! Been doing my homework as I'm on the hunt for some SF bass's. Need to get away from the long scale due to old hand injury's coming back to roost.
Found a red '68 SF II that's been modded, not sure what to think. If the neck is still good and it's a good player I my give it a go.
The original bridge and knobs are there.
Mods: replacement tuners, extra PU route (jazz pu not installed), extra v/t holes empty, stereo (2nd) jack installed, has humbucking pu's/ no bisonics, top over sprayed with clear. Not sure if the pots are original?
Owner said to make a fair offer, prob is I'm not sure what that would be due the mods. Most folks may flee but hey if its a good player I may want to give it a try.
Any and all advise would be appreciated!!

Thanks, Leo

Welcome.

First, I'm going to commit heresy and say that you can get a brand new Newark Street Starfire bass for $1100. So, with all of those mods, the question becomes how much is the remaining vintage vibe worth to you? The primary reason I justify a '67 and a '13 Starfire in the stable is there is a slight, but noticeable difference in tone between them because the '67 has a Bisonic.

So the mere pickup swap would make me walk away from your bass unless it was a screaming deal which means well below $1000.

So to answer your question, I'd prefer to see pictures but SF II with Bisonics would easily be in the $2000-2500 range and one with humbuckers would be in the $1500-$2000 range, all estimates being for an unmodified instrument in VG condition with hard case. None of the mods you describe enhance the value for me so a fair price could get as low as $1000, hence my initial comment.

By the way, playing long scale basses always hurt my hand so I figured the scale length was the problem. However I played a Guild Pilot (which is long scale) and it was comfortable. No problems. It turns out the neck profile was a bigger problem for my hand than the scale length. If budget is an issue $500 and patience will get you a Pilot in pretty good condition if you aren't picky about some of the variations in Pilots, over the years.

NIce to see you made it here, fretwear. Good advice from Frono. For a small neck radius, you can also look at the Guild JS-I or JS-II.

But now you have some good ammo if you decide to negotiate over the Starfire.

fronobulax said:

SF II with Bisonics would easily be in the $2000-2500 range

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If you are talking about a 1960s SF2 w Bisonics, I have seen several go on ebay for well over $3,000. one or 2 for a little less.

1960s SF1 w Bisonic $1800-$2500 in nice condition. some of the very early sweet spot ones have even exceeded that.

Im sure thay can be had for less, if you can find them, but I think that is an accurate ebay report for anything in nice condition from 2013, for the 60s/Bisonic models. Have seen a few that were a lot more beat up for less $ though

I've had my Newark St for about 6 weeks now and I can't put it down. Its a great bass. Given all the mods to the one you're looking at, not sure Id give over $500 bucks for it. Because by the time you install a couple of new custom wound BiSonics, your gonna be right back close the price of the new Newark St.
You would have 2 pickups tho, which I guess is a plus. I'm doing fine with the one tho.

fretwear said:

Found a red '68 SF II that's been modded...extra PU route (jazz pu not installed)... has humbucking pu's/ no bisonics
Thanks, Leo

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Hi Leo,

Are you saying this bass is set up for 3 pickups total? Also are the humbuckers Guild humbuckers? Please clarify! there is a chance this bass has very little monetary value, no matter how good it sounds. Is a project for sure!

I should add ive seen a couple Newark Street basses for sale used on CL for around $900, maybe less. They were presumably not very "used". if you live near a store that has a Newark Street for you to try, definatley go check one out! great advice from Pine Apple Slim.

Hey thanks for all the help, and thanks Happy Face for the invite to LTG!
To be clear the middle of the top was routed for a jazz pu but it's wired for the two humbucker's. The more I think about this I'm cooling down fast. When the second or used market opens up on the Newark St line the old beat-up and modded vintage will take another drop in value (just my guess) so $500 would be safest, the owner mentioned 800-1000 as being fair. I have my eye on other more suitable SF bass's that I hope come together.
The vintage guitar market seems to be getting softer by the month, hope it doesn't come apart like a cheap watch. The vintage G&L guitars are down by 30+ % from their peak, arff, I have a few! Not as good a trading chip as they were.

Thanks

Interesting. the difference between mavuser's and my estimates has a lot to do with actually buying Starfires and I'm thinking that even with the Newark Street basses out there, the price of a vintage Starfire in good condition with little to no mods is holding steady or creeping up. But if any of us could predict the market with accuracy we'd be dealing basses, not playing them

Regardless of what clean examples go for, not sure Id want one with an extra hole in the top and the wrong pickups.

Just to be sure when did Guild change from bisonics to the humbuckers? the ser # on this is hard to make out, looks like BA 168?. I thought it would have placed it as a 1968?
thanks

fretwear said:

Just to be sure when did Guild change from bisonics to the humbuckers? the ser # on this is hard to make out, looks like BA 168?. I thought it would have placed it as a 1968?
thanks

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Go here for a introduction to Guild serial numbers. Starfire bases from 1965-1969 has a serial number that began with a prefix "BA" then had a dash and then a three or four digit number. BA-168 would have been a 65 which is unlikely for a factory Strafire II. BA-168x would have been a very late 1967 bass. We could probably confirm the date with pictures. But the "68" in the serial number has absolutely nothing to do with the year 1968.

Guild switched the Bisonics for the humbuckers in 1970. It was not unheard of for folks to swap the bisonics out for humbuckers thinking they were improving things and getting the latest and greatest. So my best guess is this was a factory SF II that had an "upgrade" to Guild humbuckers and then had work started for a third PU. Much less likely, but not unheard of is that the neck was stamped in 1967 but not actually used on a bass until 1970 in which case the humbuckers could be factory. Pictures and the label might eliminate this as a possibility.

Welcome, fretwear!

fretwear said:

Just to be sure when did Guild change from bisonics to the humbuckers? the ser # on this is hard to make out, looks like BA 168?. I thought it would have placed it as a 1968?
thanks

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I'm still not 100 percent clear if this bass has 3 holes in the top or 2, and if it started life as a SF1 or 2. That is an early serial number though so at least that much would indicate 65-66, I think. Is that serial number on the back of the headstock, the sticker in the body, or both? And what is the shape of the headstock, and font of the lettering and logo? Can u post any pictures?

First off thanks everyone for the warm welcome and interest in the thread! To be clear it's ser # best I can read it is BA 1686, so looks to be a late '67 early '68, haven't seen the sticker, it started life as a SF II, does have an empty jazz pu route centered/angled between the SF pup's, also two added holes for V/T placed in the bass side of the body.
I need to learn how to post pics, (I'm still rubbing two sticks together trying make a fire )

thanks

And an extra input jack...

id run away fast and not look back. A parter outer, for whatever is left of it, or just a player if it sounds and feels good, for very little money