mine sound wonderful. huge fat tones, thick sound, but with definition. they don't sound so far off from HB-1's, in that regard. even if the measurements/readings are not similar to an HB-1, that is kinda what my ears hear. one thing about my guitar is that the neck zebra pickup is splittable, but Carlo did not spit it, and there is no evidence of there ever being a push-pull pot or anything that would "tap" the coils. so it is just the full throttle bucker full time. sounds glorious. I know Carlo and Guild had a relationship with DiMarzio. Not sure how he arrived at the X2N Power Plus set for the Chief Star, but it is a winning formula no question.
I also have a 1984 Starfire 4 w factory Guildsby and factory California pickups, which are at least a little higher output than average (but I have not measured them) That guitar sounds holy grail all day, particulalry the neck pickup, or middle/both pickups. bridge pickup is hot, and makes pedals sound incredible. i'd put that Starfire 4 up against basically anything (except maybe the above referenced Carlo w those Dimarzios)