Vintage mini humbucker question

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I have my first Guild inbound and am very excited. It is a newer Starfire V. The problem is it does not have the original pickups. The previous owner installed some Brian Setzler TV Jones filtrons. I was looking for some vintage mini humbuckers to replace the filtrons and came across a set from 1965 on Reverb but they are asking $450 for them which is way too rich for my blood. Is that the going rate for a vintage set? If not what should I expect to pay? I would gladly pay $250-$300 but $450 seems steep for a set of pickups.
 

parker_knoll

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I have my first Guild inbound and am very excited. It is a newer Starfire V. The problem is it does not have the original pickups. The previous owner installed some Brian Setzler TV Jones filtrons. I was looking for some vintage mini humbuckers to replace the filtrons and came across a set from 1965 on Reverb but they are asking $450 for them which is way too rich for my blood. Is that the going rate for a vintage set? If not what should I expect to pay? I would gladly pay $250-$300 but $450 seems steep for a set of pickups.

how long is a piece of string?

The answer is they don't come up all that often but are also not massively in demand compared to, say, a vintage Gibson PAF.

I bought a set for $300 on ebay which seemed reasonable, since you'll pay the same for decent new pickups. They are nice pickups but also quite variable IME
 

parker_knoll

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HOWEVER, if it's a newer Starfire are you sure it has mini humbuckers? they switched over to big humbuckers in the early '70s.
 

AcornHouse

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HOWEVER, if it's a newer Starfire are you sure it has mini humbuckers? they switched over to big humbuckers in the early '70s.
If it's newer, as in NS issue, then it would have come with the mini-hums reissues.

$450 is on the high side; patience is the key to find them at a reasonable price.
 

GAD

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Did you buy the one from TGP? That was a NS Starfire.

Agree with all above answers. I would expect a vintage set of minihums to fetch a minimum of $300.

As much as I love vintage Guild pickups, I'd give those Setzers a chance. If you do decide to part with them I may be interested.
 
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I traded for the one on TGP. I have always wanted a Starfire and am finally scratching the itch. I'm not keen on filtrons. I wanted to buy a replacement stock set of LB-1s but Guild doesn't currently have the bridge LB-1s in stock.
 

trimbo

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I sold one recently in the UK and got $200. They do vary quite a bit in resistance and there seems to be at least two types of baseplates used. I know which ones I prefer from the ones I own but I'v not tried enough to want to make generalisations.
 

dbirchett

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I wouldn't plan on changing pickups before you even hear them. All TV Jones pickups are highly regarded and the Setzers are among the best of the lot. Try them. You may end up liking them.
 

DThomasC

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I traded for the one on TGP. I have always wanted a Starfire and am finally scratching the itch. I'm not keen on filtrons. I wanted to buy a replacement stock set of LB-1s but Guild doesn't currently have the bridge LB-1s in stock.

So get two neck LB-1's! From what I hear, the reissue bridge LB-1 is, well, not quite right. Possibly the vintage they copied had too few turns or a shorted winding. There's discussion about it here on LTG.

But I agree with the others that you should give the Setzers a try before you replace them.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I'd also suggest giving the Jones pickups a good shot. IMO Filter'Trons and '60s Guild anti-hums aren't that far apart sonically from each other.

-Dave-
 

Quantum Strummer

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So get two neck LB-1's! From what I hear, the reissue bridge LB-1 is, well, not quite right. Possibly the vintage they copied had too few turns or a shorted winding. There's discussion about it here on LTG.

The reissue LB-1 bridge pickup is just fine…but in my experience with vintage Guilds the lower DC resistance "anti-hum" typically comes as one of a matched set (as in my Bluesbird) rather than paired with a higher resistance version. The "mismatched" set works great to my ears in my T-bird, but someone else's ears may hear things differently.

-Dave-
 
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I'll give the TV Jones a try. The Starfire should be here tomorrow so I'll report back then.
 

Walter Broes

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IMO Filter'Trons and '60s Guild anti-hums aren't that far apart sonically from each other.

-Dave-
hmmm...I'm not a humbucker guy period, but I don't really agree there. Filtertrons always have some of that "two strat pickups together" quack, and a guild mini humbucker doesn't do that, they're a little more rude and straightforward sounding to my ears, especially the originals.
 
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Getting ready to get home and plug her in. I'll post some pics later. The style of music I play definitely calls for something a little more rude. I'll report back soon with pics!
 

Quantum Strummer

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hmmm...I'm not a humbucker guy period, but I don't really agree there. Filtertrons always have some of that "two strat pickups together" quack, and a guild mini humbucker doesn't do that, they're a little more rude and straightforward sounding to my ears, especially the originals.

Well, I should've qualified by noting that my vintage "anti-hums" are the ~5KOhm DC resistance, thicker wire & fewer winds variant. Less rudeness, more jangle/twang than the standard version. To my ears the reissue bridge LB-1 has a good amount of this same character. Not the same as an old Filter'Tron but not too far off either.

I suspect we may hear things differently in general, as I recall my description of what a DeArmond 2000 sounds like didn't agree much with yours either. :) Could be all those frequency notches in my hearing caused by too much time spent in front of too-loud amps!

-Dave-
 

parker_knoll

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hmmm...I'm not a humbucker guy period, but I don't really agree there. Filtertrons always have some of that "two strat pickups together" quack, and a guild mini humbucker doesn't do that, they're a little more rude and straightforward sounding to my ears, especially the originals.

Yes, I generally get what Walter does, especially in the bridge: raw, low-fi, midrangey, rude - early Kinks. However, I've always liked them more in the neck: woody, not muddy, quite crisp.
 
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