NGD! My first archtop Guild!

Muovinen

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It finally arrived two days ago and it's gorgeous! I can't believe this guitar is almost 20 years old, it looks like new!

I can't say much about the sound yet because something happened to the mic switch during transit :/ Bridge position starts to rattle (also makes a chorus/tremolo kind of sound) after a while and then it completely cuts out :( I use neck pups pretty seldom so it's a big deal for me. The switch also pops out of the bridge position real easily so it must have gotten bent a bit. Otherwise the guitar feels really comfortable to play. I'm giving the neck some time to settle in because it was -20C when it arrived and the dry winter air is pure murder for guitars. But it's almost perfect already. Just a slight buzz from the 2nd fret of the G-string.

Sorry, no hifi photoshopped pics yet. Just a group shot with my amp and cab arsenal :)

PS: also bought a HB-1 today from a finnish seller! One more and I can get my Carved (aka Terho) back to original :)

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walrus

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Nice! Black is my favorite color for electrics!

walrus
 

Muovinen

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Oh, I almost forgot... the bestest thank you's to brother cestlamort for a great deal! It was a long wait from Seattle to Muhos but it was worth it.
 

SFIV1967

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Congratulations! A real Rock machine! And I love the photo composition! You have great talent when taking pictures!
I (personally) wouldn't call a Starfire 4 an archtop, it's a thinline double cutaway semi-hollowbody due to the middle block. I know technically it still is an archtop, but I think more of Jazz guitars when talking archtop.
Ralf
 

Treem

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Wow! Congratulations! You know it already by now, that it is a tone monster! How do you like it compare to your S-100s?

Enjoy every minute of it!

Blessings!
 

Muovinen

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Thanks Ralf! I didn't have my main camera with me but I took some time compositing, nice that you noticed ;) I wouldn't call it a archtop either. For some reason I picked it up from the Archtops/Semihollows header :/ I would just simply call it a semi-hollow like we do in finnish, too.

Treem: I can't say anything final about the sound because of the mic switch problem (I haven't heard the bridge pup properly yet) but it's comfortable to play even though it's quite big and heavy. I've only had two semi-hollows before this so my experience with them is not that vast. Better neck and overall ergonomics than with the MIJ Tokai ES-110 I had previously. Tokai had a great sound though. I'll take the SFIV to my local tech and then really dig down to its tone repertoire :)
 

Qvart

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AWESOME!!!!!!

Welcome to the dark/semi-hollow side!!!

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Now you might understand how I was cured of my S-100 obsession...

Inquiring minds will want to know - what are the p'ups? Duncans?
 

Muovinen

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AWESOME!!!!!!

Inquiring minds will want to know - what are the p'ups? Duncans?

Yes, they are Duncans SD-1's. Apparently they are supposed to be quite good pups but I can't say much yet. The mic switch has taken quite a blow because the whole thing has rotated a bit :/ Luckily the wood is ok.

BTW, sunburst doesn't suite mr. Vader that well... I wonder what is his favorite color? ;D
 

SFIV1967

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Yes, they are Duncans SD-1's. Apparently they are supposed to be quite good pups...
I guess they are! Read what Evan Skopp, SD's former VP Business Development & Artist Relations had written the following here in July 2012:
"When FMIC purchased Guild, we made their humbucker pickups for the first year or so while they were tooling up. These were the pickups that had covers that look like this: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix0 ... cker_1.jpg
What we wound under the covers to capture as much of the original sound as possible, was very close to our SH-1 '59 Model. Ironically, when FMIC eventually took over production of this pickup, they called it the "SD-1" and everyone thought we were still making them -- but we weren't."
How much this info is correct, and how much Evan remembered correctly, I don't know. I still hope Hans solves that riddle finally in volume II sometimes.
Ralf
 
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cc_mac

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That's a beautiful Starfire 4 you have there and yes, black is beautiful. I hope you get the pickup selector switch sorted out quickly so you can enjoy the guitar. I am always amazed to see 1970s era Peavey amps in Europe. Seeing one your TNT100 in Finland made me smile.
 

Muovinen

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That's a beautiful Starfire 4 you have there and yes, black is beautiful. I hope you get the pickup selector switch sorted out quickly so you can enjoy the guitar. I am always amazed to see 1970s era Peavey amps in Europe. Seeing one your TNT100 in Finland made me smile.

Peavey bass amps are very common over here. Every time I tell someone about the TNT100 and how great it is for the size and price they tell me they've had one at some point. It's not hifi - far from it - and that's why I like it so much. I'm planning big changes to my guitar amp arsenal but more about that later...
 

Muovinen

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New switch installed! The original was covered with glue and possibly some lacquer too so maybe that's why it stopped working. First quick test with my favorite Line6 POD preset was promising but those modelling devices always smooth out the differences of guitars. Gotta take it to the training place some day and play through some old school tube amps :)
 

cc_mac

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Peavey was and is stil pretty common in the US - especially here in the south where they are made so there ware a lot of them around when I was growing up and learning to play.Peavey were usually low priced, sometimes sounded good but not really durable amps. Seeing yours with the silver knobs brought me back to 1977 for just a moment. I guess it's no stranger for you to have a Peavey TNT in Finland that it is for me to have an old Hagstrom III (partially disassembled ) leaning in the corner awaiting repair.

Glad you got your selector switch sorted out and are read to rock.
 
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