Regarding pickups and effects signal output.

jc2940

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Just reading about P/U changing........Just wonder......Can anyone tell me what after market P/U's will fit the Starfire with OR without modifications
 

fronobulax

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The Curtis Novak Bisonic is supposed to be dimensionally identical. There was a Bisonic replacement out of France, I believe, that was similar. I'm not sure how to deal with the "without modifications" portion since there are a lot of pickups that will fit into the hole if you are willing to add shims, craft a cover, etc.

The 70's Guild humbuckers are pretty close in size.

Since there is actually a neck block, replacing the PU is similar to doing so in a solid body instrument which is easier than doing so in a true hollowbody.
 

Happy Face

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How about the Newark Street Guild pickups? They were on sale a while back.
 

mavuser

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not sure how big of a job (or cost) it is, but if i were serious about swapping pickups in a Guild Starfire Bass, I would do some research and see what is involved with getting some Alembic pickups in there. The Novack, the Newark Street, the Guild (vintage) humbuckers and possibly the Dearmond Humbuckers are options as well. and Dark Stars, if you can find them.
 

fronobulax

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See here which may be about the potential host - a 98's Starfire II.

If that is the bass under discussion and it really has Dark Stars - (which are no longer in production *) most people here would not be interested in swapping them out.

* Fred Hammon, the originator, is no longer making Dark Stars. Curtis Novak will make one upon request. He says that the Dark Stars and the original Bisonic differ only in the winding and he will add a coil tap so one pickup sounds like either. (Ask me how I know).
 

mellowgerman

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Not sure of the exact model name but Bartolini also makes or used to make a Starfire-sized pickup for this exact purpose. I think it was a humbucker and not meant to imitate any particular previous sound/tone.
On a side note, I can and will vouch for Curtis Novak's bionic replacement pickup which I am very fond of. Closest pickup to what was in my 1966 SFB, which to this day may be my favorite bass tone... depending somewhat on musical/genre context of course
 

Minnesota Flats

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I've recently picked up a Hartke VXL Tone Shaper Pre Amp that does some interesting things with the signal from my NS SF-I (w/stock Bi-Sonic pup). Really expands the tonal palette quite a bit (not that there was anything wrong with it to begin with). Cool tool.
 

edwin

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Not sure of the exact model name but Bartolini also makes or used to make a Starfire-sized pickup for this exact purpose. I think it was a humbucker and not meant to imitate any particular previous sound/tone.
On a side note, I can and will vouch for Curtis Novak's bionic replacement pickup which I am very fond of. Closest pickup to what was in my 1966 SFB, which to this day may be my favorite bass tone... depending somewhat on musical/genre context of course

I had a pair of the Bartolini GB bass pickups (GB= Guild Bass). They were a direct drop in replacement for the humbuckers, so I think even back then, Bill Bartolini and crew recognized how much was lost with the demise of the BiSonic. Mine were triple coils (like a mini Alembic series setup in each pickup) with lots of coil switching possibilities. They actually sounded great with a Bart 3 band EQ. I'm not complaining about the current setup, though. I will say that it was quite a journey to get all that work done and not cheap. It is the best sounding setup so far.

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