Some info on the Newark Street Starfire Bass has been posted elsewhere on the forum, I will try to collect and move as much info to this thread as I can. Cheers.
"Fit and finish are pretty darn good. I did not go over the NS with a fine tooth comb but I couldn't find anything wrong. Dealer said the nuts on the Newark Streets he's had in (bass and guitars) were sometimes a bit rough but his tech touched them up in a couple minutes. Mechanically it is a Starfire. The thumb and finger rests are spaced slight wider than the width of the vintage pickup but that's the only playing difference noted. The bridge is not visually identical and future work will highlight the trivial differences. Binding is WBW but Mrs. Fro. noted the width of the B stripe was not the same.
The key, of course is the sound, and the issue is the NS ships with roundwound strings. I demo'd it in the store and when the treble (tone pot) was up it sounded thin and tinny and not like my memory of a Starfire with rounds at all. Dialing the treble down gave a sound more like what I was expecting. Emotion won over logic and I bought it anyway. I plugged it into my Line 6 at home and was immediately happier. The treble was still there but not to the point of being tinny. I could start to hear the "growl" I associate with a Bisonic in a hollow body. So my first impression is that the NS PU is very close to a Bisonic but not a completely accurate copy. I had rounds on the vintage Starfire for decades so I am comfortable comparing the NS to my memory but I should withhold judgement until I put flats on it.
Case is a TKL case and a bit too snug at the moment. Silver/Chrome hardware as opposed to Gold/Brass on the vintage case. Case candy included a polishing cloth and a t shaped tool which I presume is a truss rod wrench. Contrary to Guild's web site, no pickguard.
Bottom line is that it is a very fine bass. For many people it will be an adequate substitute for a vintage Starfire at a lower cost. The Bisonic aficionado should probably wait until I change strings or at least wait until I go beyond my first impression. I'm off to practice
"
"I love the new bass as does everyone else who has played it. Fit and finish are "perfect", noting that my inspections have sometimes been cursory. There is a slight worn spot in the finish on my '67 on the back of the neck about where I want to put my thumb in 2nd or 3rd position. That is driving me crazy because the new bass is as smooth as a baby's behind there so I actually prefer the new neck as a result. The new bass has rounds and as such it is difficult to directly compare the sound. Dial down the tone and it is very, very close. Interestingly, I played it through my "big" amp and the differences in sound seem to diminish, although that could just be everything else in the room vibrating
I owe LTG some sounds clips, more pics, A/B comparisons (do they both fit the same cases?) and a test drive with flats but I have to confess that I am spending my time playing it instead of documenting it."
"...the sonic differences I can hear between the Starfires through the Line 6 were much less distinct through the Peavey."
"My case has a Guild badge with "Newark Street" on it. Photos to come."
"I have played/heard the Newark Street bass. I think it sounds unreal and "very close" to what I know of both maple and mahogany 60's Starfires with the pup in both the neck and bridge postions. I am making a general statement and saying that it is right in the neighborhood it needs to be in. The new pick up is likely a dead ringer of the Hagstrom Bisonic. But really no 2 from the 60s will even sound identical, and with the varing woods and pick up postions, and probaly alot of other little things, you would really need the exact 1965? version of the Starfire that the Newark Street was designed after, to make the most fair comparison. Mind you the wood is 50 years younger...the pup is not to blame for that. When someone takes the new pup out of the Newark Street bass and throws it into a 60s Starfire bass, that person can tell us if they sound alike. Frono I am not asking you to take your basses apart and swap pups, and it's the last thing id do if I was in your shoes. Also in Frono's case, I don't expect the 2 basses to sound the same when one pup is in the neck position and the other pup is in the bridge position (and then the age of the wood and whatever other small differences)...I would imagine most Starfire 2 bass owners would tell me the brige pup sounds different than the neck pup.
I'd advise people to take the Newark Street bass for what it is (not "is this identical to a 60s Starfire bass") and if you do that, you wil be very happy. its not 100 percent a 60s Starfire. And Im not the type of person that can say its 90 percent or 75 percent or whatever. But it is 100 percent totally awesome and it plays like a dream. the neck plays just like a 66-68 fender mustang bass- it just feels like a regular guitar. hence the salesman pitch, "great bass for guitar players." "
"id like to add it appears unclear, if you buy a Newark Street bass online, whether or not you get the hard case. it might come with NOTHING. definately look into that if your considering buying one online/amazon/sam ash website. try to just get one in a regular store in the flesh from a real person, those definatley have hard cases, Definately ask/inquire as to the hard case in all scenarios. The bass should come with one "
It is also noted that maybe 100-200 are believed to have been made available for retail sale at this point, or close to that.
It is also noted that a handful of them, case included, have sold on ebay for the BIN price of 1099 (tax and/or shipping charges unknown). It is presumed others have sold as well, outside of ebay.
It is also noted that at least one or 2 of them have been returned due to personal preference in set up/action/fret size, and/or slight blemishes in the finish when delivered from the factory (these were very early in the game, some of the very first NSSF basses to be made). All public feedback to this point, however, agree the bass is high quality craftsmanship, and sounds fantastic, for what it is.
Also from my brief personal test drive of the NSSF bass, the neck is super slim and easy to play, just like a slim bass neck from a 60's Guild SF bass.
