Are NS green Starfires hog or maple?

[Minnesota Flats]

Keep your head on a swivel when you're carrying that kind of cash if you don't know the guy. Don't mean to sound paranoid, but I always check out the neighborhood with Google maps street views when I'm gonna do a cash deal with a stranger in an unfamiliar area. I've passed on investigating "deals" when the neighborhood looked too sketchy. You can even Google a district of an unfamiliar city and find out if it's a high-crime area. Either that, or arrange to meet outside the police station or at least in a very public place (more problematic when it's an electric guitar/bass which requires electricity and an amp to evaluate). Most people are straight up and decent, but you just never know: there are also some bad hombres out there and there has been some pretty brazen lawlessness goin' down lately.

I always let the wife know exactly where I'm going, when and to meet whom and then give her an "all clear" call when everything has gone well. 99 times out of 100, these protocols turn out to not have been needed, but things sometimes do go hinky.

Hope the bass turns out to be just what you're looking for!

 

[lungimsam]

Oh well he was supposed to give me the address to meet for the bass this am but now he ignores my messages. I guess someone offered him more. As of Thursday night we were still set to meet up. Wish he would just tell me either way. Bummer.

Listing is gone so it is sold I guess. Oh well, that's what I get for not going the same day to pick it up! Like new 2017 green Starfire II for 600$ (down from 800$).

 

[RVBASS]

Mine has a mahogany top, back, and sides, with what looks like alternating mahogany and maple laminated wood. Zoom in on the tailpiece screw hole in the attached photo and you can see this. Ignore the other areas like pickup holes since those were modified with inserts.

 

[lungimsam]

CMG told me the NS center locks are spruce.
They wrote back and said they are not sure what was used in the 60s and 70s models but currently “across the board” they use spruce centerbloques.
So should be spruce we are looking at there in the neck rout and bridge and alembic bridge routs. Not sure about screw holes. Certainly looks like mahogany on the bottom of your bridge pup rout. Did Alembic install that base in that pocket?

 

[RVBASS]

Yes, the walls of the pockets look like spruce. Not sure which base pieces were installed and which were routed from previously existing wood.

 

[lungimsam]

This emerald 2017 SFII bass is back on sale for 1k now. Same seller. Same place. He stonewalled me on the day I was coming to pick it up for the agreed upon $600. Never told me what happened.
Have contacted him and hopefully he will do 600$ like he said he would in April.

Update: Nope.. Turns out wife told him he couldn’t sell it that cheap cuz she knew what he paid for it.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Update: Nope.. Turns out wife told him he couldn’t sell it that cheap cuz she knew what he paid for it.

 

[lungimsam]

I asked if the wife would accept $750

 

[lungimsam]

Going to take a look Thursday night, the Lord willing!!!
Will be fun to compare a CMG to my FMIC bass.

 

[twocorgis]

Going to take a look Thursday night, the Lord willing!!!

Excellent! I hope you can work out a deal.

 

[lungimsam]

It’s maple (I think)… and it’s mine!!!
Super clean. Trod works. Neck straight. Sounds great. Electronics not noisy. No scratches. No fret wear. Like new. Praise the Lord it worked out!!

I will say that online pics don’t do the green finishes justice. The color changes in the light, like a metallic finish does. It is transparent in the light and can see the wood grain. This is the iteration before they started making them with bound fingerboards. I like unbound fingerboards so it is good for me.

 

[GGJaguar]

Glad the deal worked out, congrats! That's a nice looking bass and I'll bet it sounds good, too.

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks! Yes, sounds a little "bigger" and more even toned than my 2013 Starfire. Just as bright, even though it has 500k pots and my red Starfire has 1MEG pots.

Looks like the body is maple(?) and the neck might be hog. The grain on the body is like waves, and the grain on the neck is like typical tight hog straight grain in some places and wider grain in others on the neck. I will post pics to show the grains.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Glad for you that you were able to work a deal. Looks nice. If I was in the market for another NS SF, Green would probably be my choice as well. The un-bound neck also gets my vote.

I was planning to buy a green one when they were announced, but while I was waiting for them to show up in stores, I came across a deal on a natural finish one that was just too good to pass up, so I bought that instead.

I'll just have to enjoy yours vicariously.

 

[lungimsam]

Haha! That's funny! I actually wanted a natural maple finish more than the green. But the green was available and who knows how long an affordable maple II would take to get listed online (and one I could test drive before buying). But I do like the green with all the different colorings depending on light.

You can see the grain of the neck and body are different. Really doesn't matter what wood it is but it is nice to have a maple body for some variation. Crazy reflections. Hard to get a pic without all the reflections. You can see the coloring diffs in different light, even on the cutouts and neck pictured below. Makes it fun to look at. I have to clean it. It is dusty.

 

[lungimsam]

Here are pics of the body woods of both my green Starfire and my Cherry Starfire. The cherry is definitely hog. The green looks like maple. Not that it matters which woods were used but interesting to note the green looks like it is maple. So maybe the greens are maple bodies with hog necks? Any wood experts here please chime in and let us know your opinion based on the pics I posted in this post and the last one. Interested to know.

 

[GGJaguar]

I believe your wood assessment is completely correct.

 

[hieronymous]

It’s maple (I think)… and it’s mine!!!
Super clean. Trod works. Neck straight. Sounds great. Electronics not noisy. No scratches. No fret wear. Like new. Praise the Lord it worked out!!

I will say that online pics don’t do the green finishes justice. The color changes in the light, like a metallic finish does. It is transparent in the light and can see the wood grain. This is the iteration before they started making them with bound fingerboards. I like unbound fingerboards so it is good for me.

Congrats! That's a beauty, and knowing the saga I hope it's that much more satisfying.

There's a green one at my local store again (Bananas At Large in San Rafael, CA) - I'm not in the market but it's a sweet looking instrument. Like @Minnesota Flats I'll enjoy your vicariously! Or maybe hieronymously in my case...

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Looks like maple, but since its veneer, it probably is mainly a cosmetic difference, as you've suggested.

Because mahogany has a brownish tint to it, it is really only suitable for overlaying translucent colors on the red side of the spectrum. Maple, since it has a lighter, more neutral tone, provides better "pop" as a substrate for just about any color (e,g. green or sunburst.

I have a sunburst Westerly SF-II that utilizes maple veneer ply. That one sounds quite different, but I attribute that to the "barrel" (as opposed wooden) bridge saddles and Guild 'Bucker pups, not the body wood.

Have never seen one in the flesh, but I would guess that the sunburst, Chris Hillman commemorative NS SF-I was also made with maple ply.