New Starfire arrived today. Newark Street. 3 point review.

My first Guild after a lifetime of being a Fenderman. I have never seen one of these in person before.

Wow. I must say that I am very impressed. It looks waaaaaaaayyyy nicer in person than in the online pics. Nothing wrong with Sweetwater's pics. They are great.
But nothing like real life eye-to-bass contact. You guys are spoiled, playing all these Starfires all these years. I am so glad Guild re-issued them. They are so nice.

Looks:
The wood grain is beautiful, the stripe down the back is ruler straight, from top of the headstock through the headstock/neck joint, down the neck and right into the strap button. Tuners straight.
The rosewood fingerboard is beautiful, as are the inlays. The color is a dark cherry, which I like. I was hoping it wouldn't be light in color as it was a little hard to tell from the online pics what it would really be. The clear finish is thick and like glass. Not sure if Poly or Nitro or something else.
The binding is a nice creamy color.
Hardware looks sturdy and of high quality.
Everything just looks so well put together and finished so nicely.
Guild sure makes a fine instrument. It has been a long time since I worried about scratching up a new bass, and I was feeling that way today.

Play:
It plays so easy. I love the ease of the shortscale neck, which is what I was after. Much more friendly to my small hands than a 34" scale bass. I love the thin and narrow neck. Easy to play down by the nut. Easy to play above the 12th fret. I never felt any fretwire as my hand moved up and down the neck.

Sound:
The sound is fantastic. Growly and punchy and bright and clear. Even the low E string has great definition of tone and clarity, which is a feat for a builder to get that on shortscale basses I hear. The sound above the 12th fret is clear like the sound below the 12th fret. Intonation was good.

I am very pleased and hope the short time of playing the instrument today gave me an accurate view of what it is really going to be like. I am looking forward to playing it a lot.
After the bad experience I have had with a Gibson short scale bass over the last two years, I am so glad to finally get a shortie bass that plays, looks, and sounds so good.

I hope to post some pics soon.

Glad to hear it arrived and made a good first impression.

That's quite an endorsement!

Well, after the hard time I have had with my Gibson SG Bass, I am really excited to have a shortscale bass that looks, plays, and also sounds great.

I am hoping it works out.

Tonight, I found two things about it that are not ideal, but aren't really problems yet.:

1. Serious neck dive. But it is ok because the weight of my arm resting on the body is enough to cancel it and doesn't interfere with playing.
2. The low E-string is a little flat on the intonation, and looks like the bridge piece is maxed out, though I haven't tried to move it yet. As it is now. If I tune by ear, it sounds fine. If a get precise with a tuner, it is off. Hopefully I will have enough space to move the bridge piece to get it right.

lungimsam said:

Not sure if Poly or Nitro or something else.

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It's not polyester but Urethane. Environmental laws (as far as I read) in Korea don't allow usage of Nitro.
Ralf

lungimsam said:

1. Serious neck dive. But it is ok because the weight of my arm resting on the body is enough to cancel it and doesn't interfere with playing.

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Interesting. I don't notice that with either of my Starfires. Maybe it is because I have a big fat strap with a rough leather underside that counters the tendency to dive.

lungimsam said:

2. The low E-string is a little flat on the intonation, and looks like the bridge piece is maxed out, though I haven't tried to move it yet. As it is now. If I tune by ear, it sounds fine. If a get precise with a tuner, it is off. Hopefully I will have enough space to move the bridge piece to get it right.

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When the tuner and your ear disagree, go with your ear, because that is what you will hear. However there is an opportunity to train your ear so they don't disagree

This is actually a known issue with the bridge design and the solution depends upon your preferences. Raising or lowering the bridge sometimes generates more room for intonation adjustment, but at the cost of the action height. Sometimes the saddles can be slid to one side or the other which can help with intonation. A custom saddle or some work with a file might help. Strings are also a factor. The intonation using a tuner was spot on with the factory rounds on my NS but is slightly off with TI Jazz flats and I have not gotten around to adjusting that yet.

Thanks for the info, guys.

Does the Low E problem happen on the '60's models, too?

lungimsam said:

Thanks for the info, guys.

Does the Low E problem happen on the '60's models, too?

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Sure does. The reissue is authentic!

I've had mine now for a couple of months and I agree with everything you said. Some dive but with your arm resting on it, a wide strap and straplocks, no worries.
With the stock rounds my low E was perfect, but was flat maxed out when I put on the Labellas 460FLs. As the strings settled in tho it got better, now its close to spot on but not perfect w tuner. Ears say its fine. Its a great bass. Plays like butter. I love the pickup and don't miss not having two of em.
Thru my old 50w Silverface Bassman Head/1-15 Carvin cab its just lovely, and plenty loud enough for my Americana/Alt Country group.

Happy Face said:

Sure does. The reissue is authentic!

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Ha ha ha!
OK, so I guess that is not considered a defect, then.
I don't want to send it back anyway for fear I will get a bass with some worse problem.
Tuning to ear seems to work. And tuning to octaves works out, too.
Tuner is a no no. Strange.

Pine Apple Slim said:

I love the pickup and don't miss not having two of em.

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Yes. I like the pup, too.
I am used to one pup with my Pbass. Starfire pics to come. Just gotta get some done.
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lungimsam said:

Thanks for the info, guys.

Does the Low E problem happen on the '60's models, too?

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Yes, it can. Sorry I didn't make it clear when I said it was a design problem. The same bridge design was used in the 60's and 70's.

lungimsam said:

Tuner is a no no. Strange.

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Well, strange or not, I have a Snark and a Korg (? Casio? ??) tuner. The Newark Street E string, when it is close, always homes in on an E on both. The '67, however, will often home in on a B. My ear hears an E and all the various manual tuning tricks say the E is in tune, or close, but the tuner insists on a B. Maybe that's why, when push comes to shove, I go with my ears.