older starfire IV walked through the door today (NGD)

ianb

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Thanks! Came to me in pretty pristine condition. The only thing that bugs me is the pickguard is too close to the high E string & gets in the way for me. I was thinking of getting another pickguard and modding it such that it doesn't sit high on the bridge pickup ring. Foe now, just loosening the screw on the bracket & pushing the back of the pickguard away from the strings seems to be manageable.

Re pickups, I found the SD-1s to be pretty good but replaced them with HB-1s. My thoughts are that the bridge HB-1 is a better fit for what I am after - seems to have a nit more brightness/character. Conversely I thought the neck SD-1 was a bit clearer than the HB-1 on first impression, which I prefer. I may have to revisit these options to be sure. Was also thinking of maybe experimenting with some TV Jones variants for a different flavour as I have a few S100s with HB-1s.

Enjoy your new acquisition!

that's hilarious. the guy i got this from still had the pickguard bracket mounted and the pickguard missing (guess it broke and he just left it for 15 years..). He said it was a learning experience to play it without cutting your hand so.... upon purchasing, i (drumroll!!) removed the bracket.

interesting thing i've noticed on the pickups, the hb-1's definitely react better with pedals and seem to retain their frequency range and string definition better under distortion and modulation effects than the sd1's. where the sd-1's tend to get a bit ratty and spitty sounding the hb-1's always sound and react like really good,wider range paf's to my ears. i've got an extra set of rc pickups' 59 paf clones here that are gonna get swapped in here or in the bluesbird in the next few weeks just to see what's what - i'd be interested to hear how you come out with the tv jones - gotta love that filtertron thing in a hollowbody..
 
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ianb

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I've had many Starfires with TPR on the label.

Zelja, what's the color code on yours?
I was scratching my head a bit on the "CRT" on Ian's guitar, thinking it might have been a label error, but reviewed the Guild section of Fender's 2001"Frontline" catalog this AM and saw a "Claret" listed above the color chart as one of the colors "not shown" on the chart.
So wondering if that was translated to show as Claret Red Transparent in '97?
It seems close but not quite the same as good ol' "Transparent Red" but previously I only remember seeing that ID'd as "TPR", on acoustics. .
Thus my guess about "Claret"
Wonder if Hans could help?


so they offered a claret red AND a transparent red at different times? i've noticed on some 60's starfires there was a more opaque orangeish red that is closer to mine and zelja's that the clearer,lighter, transparent red you see a lot on the 90's guitars. is that the claret red you guys are talking about?
 

SFIV1967

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so they offered a claret red AND a transparent red at different times?
Color code 29 was Claret in the 2001 Guild pricelist. Claret was more burgundy, this one is Claret: http://justjazzguitars.com/Images.1/The Collection/098 Guild X-700 001.jpg

Color code 38 was called Red Transparent in the 2001 pricelist and was called earlier (like 1994 to 1999) Transparent Red also as color code 38. Transparent red was a color for the Starfire series series at that time for instance.

CRT stands for Crimson Transparent or Crimson Red Transparent! Different names depending on literature. That was a Fender color and also used by Guild and DeArmond. The 1998 DeArmond catalog had color code 538 as Crimson Red Transparent.

In the 60ies it was Cherry.

Ralf
 
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adorshki

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Color code 29 was Claret in the 2001 Guild pricelist. Claret was more burgundy, this one is Claret: http://justjazzguitars.com/Images.1/The Collection/098 Guild X-700 001.jpg

Color code 38 was called Red Transparent in the 2001 pricelist and was called earlier (like 1994 to 1999) Transparent Red also as color code 38. Transparent red was a color for the Starfire series series at that time for instance.

CRT stands for Crimson Transparent or Crimson Red Transparent! Different names depending on literature. That was a Fender color and also used by Guild and DeArmond. The 1998 DeArmond catalog had color code 538 as Crimson Red Transparent.

In the 60ies it was Cherry.

Ralf

BINGO! Thanks!
I have no literature between '97 and '01.
IAN: I just answered your pm before I saw this.
and oh yes, they offered both Claret AND Transparent at the same time.
Woodgrain Red, too, I think, but I've only ever seen that on acoustics.
Now, how about something in a nice Tennessee Orange?:
DSCN2253.jpg

YOU could also get a nice X-160 Rockabilly to go with it:
sveg8xrtshzgvcsysrfz.jpg

Then there were the Transparent Emerald Green F65ce's that are finally starting to grow on me after all these years:
ze7v2su9ac6bzeg8irkh.jpg


:emmersed:
 

ianb

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Color code 29 was Claret in the 2001 Guild pricelist. Claret was more burgundy, this one is Claret: http://justjazzguitars.com/Images.1/The Collection/098 Guild X-700 001.jpg

Color code 38 was called Red Transparent in the 2001 pricelist and was called earlier (like 1994 to 1999) Transparent Red also as color code 38. Transparent red was a color for the Starfire series series at that time for instance.

CRT stands for Crimson Transparent or Crimson Red Transparent! Different names depending on literature. That was a Fender color and also used by Guild and DeArmond. The 1998 DeArmond catalog had color code 538 as Crimson Red Transparent.

In the 60ies it was Cherry.

Ralf

aaaaaah cool!!
good info there man. thanks!!
 

ianb

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BINGO! Thanks!
I have no literature between '97 and '01.
IAN: I just answered your pm before I saw this.
and oh yes, they offered both Claret AND Transparent at the same time.
Woodgrain Red, too, I think, but I've only ever seen that on acoustics.
Now, how about something in a nice Tennessee Orange?:
DSCN2253.jpg

YOU could also get a nice X-160 Rockabilly to go with it:
sveg8xrtshzgvcsysrfz.jpg

Then there were the Transparent Emerald Green F65ce's that are finally starting to grow on me after all these years:
ze7v2su9ac6bzeg8irkh.jpg


:emmersed:

hahahahaha
man, those orange x-160's have been calling my name here lately.
must.......not........ buy....more...... guitars......:wink:
 
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