Help make a Starfire 1 SC sound more like a Tele ??

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Hello
My first Guild and my First Post!
I have a new Starfire 1 SC w/guildbsy and I really really like the way it plays and feels right out of the box but was really hoping it would have more of a tele sound with its coil splitting etc.. ( I already own a nice tele so please don't tell me to go buy one) Are there any pickups that I could put it in it to give it that bright sharp 50's (Think Burton) tele twang tone. I find these stock pickups to be very warn and muddy sounding, not bad just not what I want to come out of this baby. Again I really like the guitar itself but want to know if I am wasting my time trying to achieve that tone from this beauty?
Appreciate any help.
 
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jack.plugg

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Hi Guitardog.

Welcome aboard!

I've got a Guild Starfire 1SC too, similar to yours I suppose, which I use quite happily in a country music band.

Previously, I was mostly using a Telecaster, which was of course perfect for the task, but I've found that I can get lots of twang out of the Starfire too, when I need it, simply by picking the strings near to the bridge. I don't do it all the time of course, only when I want to emphasize a twangy riff for example, but it comes as second nature to me now, so it isn't a hard technique to adopt and no desecration of the guitar was required.

By all means swap your pickups if you are keen to do that, but by setting up your amp controls slightly differently and experimenting with your picking technique, you might find that when you need to, you can get your Starfire to sound brighter and more twangy.

Here's my set-up from last weekend's gig...

IMG_1418xx.JPG
 
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Nuuska

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Hello

As PA-soundman I can testify that putting microphone in that close position pointing almost to center of speaker will give you all the high-end ( not HiFi 😂 ) spectrum you'll ever need.

And yes - it is not only the guitar - also the amp - and most importantly : how you play. 🎼 🐾
 
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matsickma

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Fill in the semi hollow part with an epoxy, add a bridge plate/ ashtray assembly and a super hot single coil in the bridge position.
As GAD said a SF isn't made to sound like a tele. In fact no guitar sounds like a tele except a tele. Leo Fender was a incredibly creative guy in form, function and tone.
The SF1 with coil split option allows the HB to get a Strat SC tone and an approximation to a Super Strat tone with the bridge in HB and neck in SC.
The SF1 's are flexible but not as a substitute for a tele.
M
 
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Jack.Plugg Thank You sir for your thoughtful suggestions and being the only person to actually understand my question and could see I was just wanting a tone that is ...MORE LIKE A TELE....
I returned the Guild today and sticking with my Gretsch's for hollowbody playing. Unsubscribed
 

Boneman

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Heh, wow, talk about picking up all your toys and storming off in a huff. That was a funny veer in a thread I didn’t see coming. God knows there must be pickups he could try to get his tele tone, but as was pointed out, why bother when you already have a tele? I don’t get some people.
 

DrumBob

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Freakin' idiot. Good riddance. Did he expect us to hold his hand?

What a snowflake. ❄️
 
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matsickma

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This thread got me thinking about the tone of a T-250. Usually I didn't think the T-250 sounded like a tele given the EMG pickups. The current strings are also a pretty heavy gauge. However since I have been playing mostly SF's the last year when I picked up the T-250 it was sounding Tele like.

My ears may have been mellowed out from the Starfires cause I know when I first heard a T-250 I didn't think it sounded like a tele. I'm going to put a new set of thinner gauge strings on the T-250 to see how well it performs. Either my tone expectations changed or age is catching up and I'm loosing high frequency hearing!
M
 
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fronobulax

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Heh, wow, talk about picking up all your toys and storming off in a huff. That was a funny veer in a thread I didn’t see coming. God knows there must be pickups he could try to get his tele tone, but as was pointed out, why bother when you already have a tele? I don’t get some people.
I do. For whatever reason he is looking for One Guitar to Rule Them All and if he can get the Starfire to do the work of the tele he might sell the tele. Or maybe he needs the tele sound for one song in the set and doesn't want to swap instruments mid-set.

He did say

I already own a nice tele so please don't tell me to go buy one

I think leaving in a huff is childish but given the number of responses that were clearly not useful (probably because the responders didn't really read the OP) and the subsequent rudeness I don't think this thread is going to be one of LTGs finest moments.
 

GAD

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From the OP:
Again I really like the guitar itself but want to know if I am wasting my time trying to achieve that tone from this beauty?

A bunch of us specifically answered that.
 

DrumBob

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I don't see rudeness, or maybe it's because I have a pretty thick forum skin. Some of us told him to play his Tele to get Tele tone.

Again, did he expect hand holding from us? He asked a question and got answers.
 

ruedi

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A bit late to the party, but what about an equalizer pedal? I'm not sure if you get a Tele tone with that from your Starfire (leaving aside the point of sense or no-sense), but these pedals sure do interesting things. I like this episode of That Pedal Show a lot:

 

mavuser

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a matched set of P-90s and a silverface Fender super reverb amp would get you a lot closer to where u are looking to be with it...but of course that would still give u much more bite, resonance, and tones than a telecaster. I guess u did not stick around long enough to consider my suggestion (hopefully u went to the store and bought a semi hollow telecaster instead!) but the new "SF-1" does seem like a cool guitar for a 14 fretter. cheers
 

swiveltung

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I have not found pickup swaps to make huge differences. And really t hink going fro SF to Tele sound is a big leap. But If you want brighter there are things to do with the controls that can help. A few come to mind:
-There are HB pickups that are brighter.... not sure compared to the Guild pickups though. Seymour Duncan has ratings for lows, mids highs for their pickups. You could browse those looking for really bright HB's.
-Install treble bleed on the volume pots. This will help the guitar to maintain the brighter sound turned down, like when the volume is wide open.
- Go for a high value volume pot, like 1K pot in lieu of the normal 250k-500k
Are you mainly a bridge or neck pickup player?
 
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