Your Favorite Amps for Starfire 4

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Hi all,
First of all, thank you for all your comments and giving a glimpse into your favorite amps for Starfires: "something Voxy or Fendery", "Vox Pathfinder 15R", "Fender blues jr tweed, and a fender pro jr tweed", "Fender tweed of any flavor", "Vox AC10 and... Ampeg Jet II J12T", "1962 Fender Vibrolux... 66 Ampeg Gemini", "Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket", "Carvin Vintage 16", "Axe-FX", "Deluxe Reverb", "Fender Princeton", "Gibson Scout" and "Gretsch Executive". Dumble, Standel, right! Oh yeah, and whatever Jimmy Hendrix was playing through.

Thanks also for your suggestions, 5-15 watts, clean headroom. I have heard of some of these amps but many I hadn't, so your list put many new ones on my radar. I'll try to play a few if I'm able at stores or I'll be watching the local craigslist.

After all that, you may laugh or cry when I say that for now I might grab a... wait for it... a $100 Epiphone Valve Jr. I'm going to try it first, but it seems to get good reviews. And it is the only tube amp that I can afford for now, because I just spent all my money (and my wife's good will) on...

... a 1997 Westerly Starfire 4! "SF4 - TPR mahog, AG000370" (Transparent Red I learned from Hans- thank you Hans. Believe it has the SD pickups GAD likes.). Very good/ Excellent condition. Original case. No scratches that I could see. No repairs. Low action. "Set up in Nashville in 2012" he told me.

Drove two hours through the rain and wind Wed night up to Portland (Oregon), played it, loved it, bought it ($950), and drove two more hours back home. The man I bought it from, A----, was a very nice man who was happy to see it go to someone who appreciates it (me!). He loves these Guilds, too, and still has a chestnut '77 Starfire that he showed me also.

I am thrilled! The only conundrum is now I don't have anything to play it through, since I had to sell my only amp (a '66 Gibson Minuteman that was okay, but I didn't love) for $300 to help finance the Starfire. I may try to rig up a way to play my new acquisition through my 80s marantz receiver and '70's Dynaco speakers (on low volume), or borrow a friend's solid state amp for awhile. I think my wife will forgive me soon, and I can probably get a cheap amp soon that will last me awhile (maybe that Epiphone Valve Jr. if I like it).

But eventually, I will get a better, more prestigious amp that pairs well with my new starfire. Now that I actually have an electric guitar I love, I can test out amps with my guitar and not other people's. So I do appreciate all your amp recommendations. Someday soon...

Thanks again to all of you!

Andrew (drewg)
PS- I'd like to post pictures but haven't taken any yet; and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to upload pictures yet, as a newbie...
 

GGJaguar

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PS- I'd like to post pictures but haven't taken any yet; and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to upload pictures yet, as a newbie...

Here's a pic of my mahogany '97 SF-4 we'll use as a place holder until you get a photo of yours up for us to see. :happy: BTW, this guitar works well with small amps so don't worry about that. The amp in this pic is a Reverend Goblin and I usually play it in 5-watt mode. The Starfire sings through it. Congrats on your new guitar!!

sf.jpg
 

Rich Cohen

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I'm partial to the Rivera amps, especially the one I have. They run a little expensive, though you can find a used one for around 1,000. They are outstanding for jazz and R&B. Overdrive is not their thing, though some of them, like mine, has a Fender Deluxe Reverb setting by pulling out the "middle" button. Of course it runs on tubes.
 

shihan

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Drewg, congratulations on getting one of the best guitars money can buy. I have the all maple version, with the same SD-1’ PU’s, and I love it. I have my sights set on exactly what you have. i want a ‘90’s mahogany SF4.
I’m looking forward to your pictures, so I can drool over it. You are going to love that guitar.
 

mavuser

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hey man those epiphone valve jrs sound pretty good, my buddy had one. still, keep an eye out for a used Fender pro jr (tweed or not), u may get lucky with something...many congrats on the Starfire! u did great there! the Gibson amp was certainly expendable for that guitar! enjoy !
 

Hobbesickles

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I play my '74 Starfire VI Mahogany through an early Bogner Shiva 6L6 1x12 combo. The clean channel and gain channel sounds amazing with just about any guitar though. The 6L6 version is a 60w amp so it can get quite loud but it has a very good master volume so it is manageable at bedroom levels.
 

dougdnh

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Don't rule out solid state amps. I have a 90's vintage Roland BC-60 Blues Cube that can hold it's own against any tube amp. Sounds great clean and on the overdrive channel.
 

wdboland

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Hi and welcome,

My go to amp is a mid-sixties Blackface Fender Bandmaster w/two Weber California speakers. Mostly play jazz the bandmaster has tons of headroom
 

GSFV

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For a long time i refused to play anything but tube amps. Had a Hot rod Deluxe amp that sounded amazing but was just too loud. after 5-6 years of fighting the volume and the weight i traded for a Vox AC10. Beautiful sounding amp. But after 3ish years of that, and needing more versatility, I started researching. Long story short I purchased a Helix LT and have been thrilled ever since!! Definitely a learning curve, and I still have only scratched the surface, but that thing is amazing! It covers so much ground, and I've gotten more complements about my "amps tones" than ever! It also pairs beautifully with my Starfire.

I anticipate that being out of the price range, but what actually sold me on trying it out was my friends fender mustang. He got a new one on sale and for less than $2 hundo it blew me away. Especially if you're just playing at home. A nice pair of studio headphones means you get an amp but the spouse doesn't.

All that to say: don't rule out solid state or modeler amps. the technology and processors have come a long way in recent years. They aren't perfect, and haven't fully "arrived." but they're closer than they ever have been. Can usually be found fairly inexpensively (even new). I think are worth a shot.

But I have to agree with everyone else who has said to try out multiple. Take your beloved new Starfire to a shop, play different amps that are in your price range and just above. What you like may not be what we like. But give the solid state ones a shot. You may be surprised.

Congratulations on a great purchase! I'm hoping to get an american Starfire someday. Until then I'll just enjoy y'all's pictures!
 

Quantum Strummer

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I like Fender's current take on modeling with their Tone Master Deluxe & Twin Reverbs. Do one amp per enclosure and do it accurately. Despite being a tech guy I cannot stand gizmos with oodles of features buried in menus. It's why I never got into rack gear when that was a big deal, and also why my effects pedals each do just one thing.

YMMV, of course.

-Dave-
 

DThomasC

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I admit to being a cork sniffer when it comes to tone. (I don't play professionally, just for my own pleasure, so I do what I want.) Having said that, I have a Yamaha THR-10 that I use a lot at living room levels. It doesn't have the piquant bouquet of a good tube amp, but it's still very satisfying, and tremendously versatile.
 

jp

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After all that, you may laugh or cry when I say that for now I might grab a... wait for it... a $100 Epiphone Valve Jr. I'm going to try it first, but it seems to get good reviews. And it is the only tube amp that I can afford for now, because I just spent all my money (and my wife's good will) on...

... a 1997 Westerly Starfire 4! "SF4 - TPR mahog, AG000370" (Transparent Red I learned from Hans- thank you Hans. Believe it has the SD pickups GAD likes.). Very good/ Excellent condition. Original case. No scratches that I could see. No repairs. Low action. "Set up in Nashville in 2012" he told me.

Drove two hours through the rain and wind Wed night up to Portland (Oregon), played it, loved it, bought it ($950), and drove two more hours back home. The man I bought it from, A----, was a very nice man who was happy to see it go to someone who appreciates it (me!). He loves these Guilds, too, and still has a chestnut '77 Starfire that he showed me also.

I am thrilled! The only conundrum is now I don't have anything to play it through, since I had to sell my only amp (a '66 Gibson Minuteman that was okay, but I didn't love) for $300 to help finance the Starfire. I may try to rig up a way to play my new acquisition through my 80s marantz receiver and '70's Dynaco speakers (on low volume), or borrow a friend's solid state amp for awhile. I think my wife will forgive me soon, and I can probably get a cheap amp soon that will last me awhile (maybe that Epiphone Valve Jr. if I like it).

But eventually, I will get a better, more prestigious amp that pairs well with my new starfire. Now that I actually have an electric guitar I love, I can test out amps with my guitar and not other people's. So I do appreciate all your amp recommendations. Someday soon...

Hey Andrew!

Congrats on your new Starfire IV acquisition.

I agree wholeheartedly with all of my fellow LTGers on great suggestions for suitable amps. It's astounding how much amplifier you can get nowadays for so little money, both solid state and esp. tube variants. Here are a few more in the 5-15 watt, 10"-12" speaker range that you can often find for under $300 -- just a few more choices to further confuse you. :C)

-- Crate V16
-- Vox AC4
-- Fender Super Champ X2 or X4 or Champ 12 (red knob)
-- Egnater Rebel, Tweaker (15-20 watts)
-- Jet City JCA 20 (20 watts) or PicoValve (5 watts)
-- Laney LC15 or CUB10
-- Peavey Classic 20
-- Roland Blues Cube (various wattages)
-- Boss Katana (various wattages)

Although I've never played through an Epiphone Valve Jr., I know there's a huge fan base for these. I wouldn't underestimate how good your SF can sound through the Epi and good speaker cab. Also, like the last two choices, there are a lot of affordable, older solid state amps that will get you through if you also get a decent inexpensive modeling pedal like a Line6 M5.

Note: If I recall correctly, you can use your stereo if you plug into the mic jack of a cassette deck that is paused on Play/Record. Haha! That brings back memories of when I had a beat up Eko 290 Barracuda and no amplifier!

Good luck on the hunt!
 
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