nmiller
Member
I picked up my 1970 JS-II last year when I started playing bass in a new group and decided that I needed a pro-level instrument. I've always been interested in the Starfires, though, since when it comes to guitars I'm mainly a hollowbody player. I wasn't sure that I could justify two basses with Bi-Sonics, but this I saw that this 1969 specimen had a maple body (vs. mahogany on the JS-II) so I took a chance on it.
I'm glad I did, since the two instruments have a similar feel but very different sounds. The Starfire has oddly unbalanced pickups - the bridge is much hotter than the neck. Maybe this is due to how the bass boost switch is wired; I don't know. The pickups are also mounted about 1/8" too high, so when you set the action below medium the strings keep hitting the magnets. The bass boost switches between a bassy and a trebly "baritone" filtered tone on the neck pickup, neither of which are very usable by themselves (I have the same complaint about the Gibson EB-2, from which Guild stole the idea). The bridge pickup is very hot and has a "scooped" tone, with plenty of treble and bass but not much mid-range. However, if you set the neck pickup to "baritone" and blend it with the bridge, it becomes almost like a mid-frequency boost. The resulting sound (which can be adjusted using the neck volume control) is superb, especially if you like warm, mid-rangey bass tones. It works even better if you roll back the tone control on the neck pickup.
The JS-II has a Hagastrom humbucker in the bridge position, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison in terms of sound. This bass has more conventional wiring except that the two pickups are out of phase in the middle position. The resulting sound is interesting but not very usable due to the extreme drop in volume compared to either pickup on its own. The neck and bridge are pretty well balanced, but I had to raise the bridge pickup to achieve this. I'm still not nuts about the Bi-sonic on its own in the neck, but it's less muddy and more usable than the Starfire. I really like the bridge pickup on its own - not bright, but clear and warm at the same time. I'm considering re-wiring the bass so the two pickup are in phase, thus giving it another usable sound. I typically prefer fingers on the JS-II but I'm starting to really like the sound of a pick on the Starfire. I'm happy to report that the two instruments are definitely not redundant.
The two instruments handle similarly. The Starfire is a bit heavier, but not so much that I really feel the difference on my shoulder. The Starfire's neck is a tiny bit bigger, but the overall profiles are similar. They're both well-balanced in terms of center of gravity, though the JS-II is slightly neck-heavy.
I noticed that the headstocks are not quite the same. Is this a Hoboken vs Westerly thing, or just two jigs at the same factory?
I'm glad I did, since the two instruments have a similar feel but very different sounds. The Starfire has oddly unbalanced pickups - the bridge is much hotter than the neck. Maybe this is due to how the bass boost switch is wired; I don't know. The pickups are also mounted about 1/8" too high, so when you set the action below medium the strings keep hitting the magnets. The bass boost switches between a bassy and a trebly "baritone" filtered tone on the neck pickup, neither of which are very usable by themselves (I have the same complaint about the Gibson EB-2, from which Guild stole the idea). The bridge pickup is very hot and has a "scooped" tone, with plenty of treble and bass but not much mid-range. However, if you set the neck pickup to "baritone" and blend it with the bridge, it becomes almost like a mid-frequency boost. The resulting sound (which can be adjusted using the neck volume control) is superb, especially if you like warm, mid-rangey bass tones. It works even better if you roll back the tone control on the neck pickup.
The JS-II has a Hagastrom humbucker in the bridge position, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison in terms of sound. This bass has more conventional wiring except that the two pickups are out of phase in the middle position. The resulting sound is interesting but not very usable due to the extreme drop in volume compared to either pickup on its own. The neck and bridge are pretty well balanced, but I had to raise the bridge pickup to achieve this. I'm still not nuts about the Bi-sonic on its own in the neck, but it's less muddy and more usable than the Starfire. I really like the bridge pickup on its own - not bright, but clear and warm at the same time. I'm considering re-wiring the bass so the two pickup are in phase, thus giving it another usable sound. I typically prefer fingers on the JS-II but I'm starting to really like the sound of a pick on the Starfire. I'm happy to report that the two instruments are definitely not redundant.
The two instruments handle similarly. The Starfire is a bit heavier, but not so much that I really feel the difference on my shoulder. The Starfire's neck is a tiny bit bigger, but the overall profiles are similar. They're both well-balanced in terms of center of gravity, though the JS-II is slightly neck-heavy.
I noticed that the headstocks are not quite the same. Is this a Hoboken vs Westerly thing, or just two jigs at the same factory?