New member looking for advice on buy a Starfire.

mcarter

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BradHK

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Norrissey said:
They are great playing and sounding guitars BUT they are heavy - note the weight of this one - 8.7lbs.
Some people don't mind the weight, I personally prefer a lighter guitar. I believe the Starfire IVs are a couple of pounds lighter.
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8.7lbs is not that heavy for a Starfire IV. My 1970 is 8lbs and my newer custom shop is just over 8lbs. Some seventies Starfire IVs can be over 9lbs.
 
SFIV1967

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The late 90ies DeArmond Starfire (IV) by Guild was a relatively good model. Fender USA made "DeArmond" Gold Tone humbuckers.
Guitar made in the Cor-Tek (Cort) factory in Korea.




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Ralf
 
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Default

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DrumBob said:
Obviously, we have differing opinions on Bigsbys. By your own admission, you have to practically jump through hoops to get them to function properly; use erasers, push out pins, alter and lube nuts, get locking tuners. Why bother?

OP, this is another case of us telling you what to do, when all that matters is what YOU think. If you find a Bigsby-equipped Starfire that works for you, buy it, by all means.
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Nope. I don't use the eraser trick. I don't need to, but it's helpful if you have fine motor skill issues, i.e. arthritis, carpal tunnel, things like that. Attention to the nut slots and a luthier's knots take care of most tuning issues.
If you want to divebomb from pitch to slack, and back again, go the graphite nut/locking tuners route. Lockers actually make stringing a Bigs easier. Once you get the ball end of the string through the bar/on the post, you hold tension on the string, run it through the tuner, and lock the string. Normally, you have to put a little tension on the string, while you wind up the post, but locking tuners take almost no time when you are restringing the guitar.
Most people (Brian Seltzer and Horton Heat notwithstanding) don't have lockers on their guitars, but, if you decide to change the tuners, just pay the extra fifteen bucks.

As I've mentioned in the past, my blue sparkle DeArmond M-75T had the full nine yards applied to it and it works seamlessly during whammy work. You don't have to do this to your guitar to use a Bigsby successfully, I did as a science experiment. I just mentioned all that stuff, so the op can have options.
I would second a Starfire lV-Vl. If you just want to bend the pee out of notes, get one with the stop tailpiece. If you want that atmospheric waver that a trem gives you, buy the one with the Guildsby. I would just smooth out the nut slots or get a luthier to do it.
Every guitar has it's quirks.
 
SFIV1967

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DrumBob said:
...in fact, I'm in the movie. I can be seen standing at the edge of the balcony when the camera panned around toward the end of "Happy".
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Sorry for the veer here, "Happy" wasn't on the DVD as far as I remember, but another highlight for me was the bonus track when Keith played his 10 string Guild Custom Shop F-30-LM10. Not to mention about minute 12:24 when he was drifting away with his Martin 00-21...the band greeting Bill Clinton in the meantime...simply classic to me...he was in another universe...




Ralf
 
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DrumBob

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GAD said:
Millions of guitars have a Bigsby and millions of people use them just fine.
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SFIV1967 said:
Sorry for the veer here, "Happy" wasn't on the DVD as far as I remember, but another highlight for me was the bonus track when Keith played his 10 string Guild Custom Shop F-30-LM10. Not to mention about minute 12:24 when he was drifting away with his Martin 00-21...the band greeting Bill Clinton in the meantime...simply classic to me...he was in another universe...




Ralf
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You're right. It was "Tumbling Dice," not "Happy."
 
DrumBob

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SFIV1967 said:
Prime location up there! (y)

Ralf
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SFIV1967 said:
Prime location up there! (y)

Ralf
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It was a great spot. My best friend managed the Beacon Theatre for seventeen years. Consequently, I got comped into any concert I wanted to attend. But for The Stones, I had to work. They made me a volunteer usher for the night and assigned me to the balcony. All I had to do was show people to their seats. I even got tips, and good ones; NYC tips of $5s and $20s. So, I got paid to see The Rolling Stones while they filmed a movie. Pretty sweet deal. Christina Aguilera and Jack White were musical guests, along with Buddy Guy. She did "Live With Me" with Jagger and killed it.
 
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Mine took a little while to settle down and play right and stay in tune, but it's been very stable, especially after I had it set up.
 
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