I blame all y'all [NBD]

chazmo

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James, does that birdseye maple cover over the pickup do anything to the tone? Just curious.

Gosh, this thread almost has me jonesing to get a bass. :D
 

James Hart

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James, does that birdseye maple cover over the pickup do anything to the tone? Just curious.

Gosh, this thread almost has me jonesing to get a bass. :D


Purely aesthetics! That pickup (and preamp) are made by John Suhr in the brief time after splitting from Pensa and before establishing his own brand (I will own a Suhr Modern T some day!). My other similarly styled custom Benavente 51P has DiMarzio Ultra Jazz with the covers removed and fitted with mini soap bar shaped Ash covers. John built the preamp in this bass too.
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RVBASS

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Serial number has year 1975, but I would guess based on the body shape (soft upper horn) that most of the work was done in 1974 and it was finished in early 1975. I have another with a soft upper horn that was finished in June 1974, and one with a newer upper horn shape that was finished in January or February 1975 (it was at the NAMM show in March 1975), so my guess is that this fretless probably falls between those with a finish date in early 1975. No records found on this one at the shop yet.
 
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James Hart

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it has arrived, well packed and in good shape... worth the price but definitely an import. Something is definitely off in the alignment of the nut, fretboard, pole pieces and bridge. It showed up early evening and I was still working, opened it up, tuned it up, played around the neck for 10 minutes... then put it away. It has come from CO to NJ... I gave it about 2 hours in the box in my Music room, now it is tuned up and will sit at tension for the night. I'll be giving it the once over in the morning.
 

lungimsam

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The wonky alignment should be no problem to fix:
1. Make sure nut is centered and up tight against the fingerboard.
2. Make sure the wooden saddles are in place and their bottoms are contacting the face of the bridge plate.
3. Tune to pitch.
4. Grab hold of all 4 saddles and slide them as one unit left or right until the strings are centered over pole pieces as best as possible. They should slide along the metal paddles they sit on. They will stay in place after that. (see pic below). Bracing your index or thumb on the base plate edge helps, depending on which way you are sliding. If they won’t budge then detune, do step 4, then so step three. It’s a bonus if the A and D strings also happen to be evenly spaced on their sides of the 21st fret dot inlay while the strings are spaced evenly over the pole pieces.
Welcome to the wonky world of Guild harp bridges, where nothing lines up perfectly, but close enough!
 

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fronobulax

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Welcome to the wonky world of Guild harp bridges, where nothing lines up perfectly, but close enough!

Indeed, whether needing things to line up is something with functional or performance benefits or merely a minor obsession is a debatable point.

If you need to tweak intonation make sure you check in since there can be quirks.
 

fronobulax

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Wonky is one thing... but the spacing is off via bridge notches and the E notch is too wide for the string (got DA Chrome ECB81M currently) and the pickup might be out of square too.

I think this is in order for this bass... https://www.ebay.com/itm/175430040042

It's been done before.

Various iterations of the Badass Bass Bridge have been used and I think one or two dedicated folks used the harp bridge from the 90's on Starfires that didn't have it.

Replacing it is definitely a personal preference. I've managed to live with that bridge since 1972 :)
 

lungimsam

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You can also buy new wooden saddles from the Guild online store and file new slots yourself.
Some of my saddles broke over the years and I had to replace them. Very easy to do with nut slot files.
Just for reference:
My 2013 Starfire came with the saddle slots cut off center.
My 2017 Starfire came with saddle slots cut centered.
I always cut them myself centered, then do the slide trick to get them over the pole pieces. Either way, sliding will have to be done.
 

mgod

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You can also buy new wooden saddles from the Guild online store and file new slots yourself.
Some of my saddles broke over the years and I had to replace them. Very easy to do with nut slot files.
I've gotten a set for my 68 M-85. They're pretty good.
 

James Hart

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My Newark Street Starfire has the Alembic brass bridge, sustain block, and tailpiece. I like it.

That, a brass nut, and some TI Jazz Rounds (a common description from players "When they are broken in the attack is reminiscent of some flatwound strings, but with some added mid and treble content") and this will be a fun little ride!

Do you have details on yours here anywhere?

That said, I'll be ordering a set of wood ones if they come back in stock soon.
 

RVBASS

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That, a brass nut, and some TI Jazz Rounds (a common description from players "When they are broken in the attack is reminiscent of some flatwound strings, but with some added mid and treble content") and this will be a fun little ride!

Do you have details on yours here anywhere?

That said, I'll be ordering a set of wood ones if they come back in stock soon.
Here is a link to mine…

 

davismanLV

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James, all issues aside, you'll notice no one blinked at shouldering the blame you laid on us. We're good with encouragement and promoting GAS. It's what we do..... :ROFLMAO:
 

James Hart

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Here is a link to mine…


Thanks, I found it earlier and liked a couple posts in it :)
 

James Hart

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Now, if you reeeaally wanna join the dark side... :devilish:

that is tempting... I think I'm sticking with the brass nut, brass bridge and TI Jazz Rounds for now. I've got my name on the wait list for the local luthier who is going to do the work... he is a 6ish week wait. I need to order the bridge and strings... he's got the brass blank :)

I'm cleaning up some sharp fret ends and starting to roll the board edge after playing it a couple hours tonight.

Here it is resting with its older cousin...

20230125_twinsies.jpg
 
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