New Starfire XII

dbirchett

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Starfire-IV-12-ST-Cherry_Front.jpg


A couple of things to note with this. First, for a change, they did not try to emulate all of the features of a particular vintage model. The Starfire XII, to my knowledge, always came with a harp tailpiece. This one has a stop tailpiece. I don't have anything against the long trapeze style tailpieces but I hate the ones that attach the strings to the underside. My Gretsch has a "G" tailpiece but the string retainer is on top. GREAT IDEA!!! The stop tailpiece on the Newark St XII loads just as easily. This is a definite improvement over the vintage.

The nut width is 1 11/16" so it is wider than a Ric but narrower than my Gretsch. So far it is only available in Aspen Green or Cherry Red (Mahogany). If they come out with a flame maple natural I may be in trouble.
 
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Mr. Lumbergh

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matsickma

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Owned a '67 SF12 years ago with the improved metal bridge instead of the rosewood one. Liked it but the thin neck was very hard for me to play open position chords. Excellent 12 fir playing higher up on the neck.

Definitely like the ST model but still wonder about the width of the neck.

Speaking if 12 strings is the Ric the only midel that has the lower octave string in front of the higher octave string?
M
 

AcornHouse

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I didn't hear a lot of jangle.....
I know; that’s the whole point of a 12-string and this guy’s playing all of these stopped tones. Some people need to learn that they’re supposed to be showing off the guitar, not themselves.
 

gilded

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Re the guy's playing style, I hear you, Chris. But I'm also trying to say that I don't think there's any jangle in 'that there gee-tar.'

Maybe if the strings were switched around, a la Rickenbacker, there's be some jangle, but maybe not.

I played a Ricky solid body mandolin one time. No jangle. In fact it sounded like a Les Paul at the 12th fret.
 

Mark WW

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I stumbled on this yesterday. Got pretty excited until I saw the 1-11/16" nut width. WHAT??? Not playable for anyone that has slightly largish hands. I wish manufacturers would figure this out. Seagull (I know acoustic but still) has a 1.9" neck and that is sweet.
 

matsickma

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Year's ago I picked up a Dearmond S7312 which is a S100 Polara style guitar with 12 strings. Nice wide neck but a bit headstock heavy. If I used it a lot I would likely add some counter weight. Shame they didn't make the 12-string out of the Jetstar body. It likely would have balanced out nicely because both the Bajo and 7-Star balance well.
M
 

DrumBob

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Looks like Guild is now offering the Starfire XII in their import lineup. (Someone should tell their demo guy, that when you do a lot of stopped tones, you kinda miss the point of a 12 string.)

When they start showing up in the used market, I may actually be tempted.

http://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-...m_term=0_233188518b-e623f28fd4-241036817#demo



The kid in that video has no experience playing an electric 12 string. He should have been jangling some Petty and Byrds. I might speak to the folks at Cordoba, because that guitar is not well represented.
 

kakerlak

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I don't have any problem with that guy's demo, but I thought the guitar sounded like ****. It could easily be an amp choice/settings issue, but that Starfire sounded rubbery and dull. I've owned/played both '60s and '70s versions of the SF12 and every one of them was an absolute ripper -- very bright and metallic, even those with a wooden bridge. I do kind of wonder if the stop tailpiece is less well-suited to the guitar than a harp would've been. I have a hunch that a harp would've contributed to a little more 'open' sound, with quicker attack/decay.
 

GGJaguar

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I really wish they had put a harp tailpiece on it. The "reissue" Hagstrom Viking 12-string uses the Hagstrom harp tailpiece and it looks great.
 

dbirchett

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I really wish they had put a harp tailpiece on it. The "reissue" Hagstrom Viking 12-string uses the Hagstrom harp tailpiece and it looks great.

I do prefer the look of the harp tailpiece and wish that they had made them more restringing-friendly. Maybe the solution is to just put flatwounds on and leave them.
 

Walter Broes

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I don't think you can really say all that much about a guitar from a youtube clip. What I can say is that this is a very odd demo, weird sounding recording too.
 
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