Starfire Bass, my favorite

[idealassets]

Recently I have come across a few Starfire basses that are available, but at a price. Before taking the big plunge, I have a few thoughts to ask:

1. Is the bridge screwed into the body with 2 screws? Is this a potential problem area? It seems like a lot of stress for the desing of the plate and screws.

2. If any of the hardware and electronics need work, how difficult will it be to get done? I most likely would have to go to Detroit about a 2 hour drive away to the auth Guild shops there.

3. Gibson currently makes a very similar hollow body bass that Jack Cassiday plays. I wonder how compatible the parts from this guitar might be for use on a Starfire.

4. I will probably get a Ric 4003 as my player, and the Guild for selected playing. I doubt that anyone in my entire state plays a Guild Starfire. I have never seen the real thing, only pictures. Please tell me how nice they sound compared to a Fender or Ric.

5. Most likely I will still play mostly guitar. But isn't that how nearly all bass players got started?

Thank you,
Craig

 

[idealassets]

Sorry, Jack Casady plays an Epiphone hollow body bass, not Gibson.

 

[gilded]

Recently I have come across a few Starfire basses that are available, but at a price. Before taking the big plunge, I have a few thoughts to ask:

1. Is the bridge screwed into the body with 2 screws? Is this a potential problem area? It seems like a lot of stress for the desing of the plate and screws.

You won't have any problem with the bridges.

2. If any of the hardware and electronics need work, how difficult will it be to get done? I most likely would have to go to Detroit about a 2 hour drive away to the auth Guild shops there.

It won't be any harder to work on than any Gibson semi-hollow guitar or bass. If a volume or tone pot goes bad, if a switch goes sour, no big deal.

3. Gibson currently makes a very similar hollow body bass that Jack Cassiday plays. I wonder how compatible the parts from this guitar might be for use on a Starfire.

Not comparable, but don't worry about it. With respect, Craig, it's possible to over-think some of this stuff. A good, local-to-you repairman is just gonna fix it and that'll be the end of that.

4. I will probably get a Ric 4003 as my player, and the Guild for selected playing. I doubt that anyone in my entire state plays a Guild Starfire. I have never seen the real thing, only pictures. Please tell me how nice they sound compared to a Fender or Ric.

Like they say in Detroit, 'there's an Arse for every seat.' Same with Basses. Some people like Rics, or Fenders, Guilds, boutique basses, etc.

There are so many different Fender Bass sounds, it's kind of hard to put into words. I'd rather compare short scale basses with short scale basses......

To me, a Guild beats the day lights out of a Hofner Beatle or Club Bass. Hofners always feel tubby to play, though they may not sound that way. Mustang basses sound good to me with fresh strings and a good amp. They feel pretty good, too.

Ric Basses? I don't have an opinion, really. I've owned them, but never got used to them. The 32" scale is pretty comfortable, though.

The Starfires? Well, the bodies and tops are very tightly laminated and they seem to 'ring true'. I like them better than most Gibson EB2 basses I can think of playing. I play less complicated lines with the SF basses, but in part that is because the fundamental notes sound so good. For instance, root-third-fifth figures just come out strong and luscious on a SF Bass. Simple lines don't sound corny or cliched, it's just a whole new thang', really.

Having said that, If I am exclusively playing bass over the course of a whole gig. I like to use a 34' Fender scale bass, though again, I love the sound of old Starfire with a Bi-Sonic pickup and a fresh set of Thomastik strings.

SF Basses are easier on the hand than a long-scale Fender bass. I like Starfires for playing a single set and then switching to the comparitively smaller scale-lengths on a guitar or mando. My hand can readjust to playing the guitar in 10 minutes with a Starfire vs. 20-30 minutes with a Jazz Bass.

5. Most likely I will still play mostly guitar. But isn't that how nearly all bass players got started?

Most of them :lol:

Thank you,
Craig

 

[idealassets]

gilded,
Thanks much for your helpful info. I am considering going for it to get a Starfire bass. That is how I have aquired everything so far, (just going for it) including a Martin HD28, Guild F512, then Ric 360/12. I haven't regretted geting any of them, and I have been lucky with my choices in instruments so far.

SF Basses are easier on the hand than a long-scale Fender bass. I like Starfires for playing a single set and then switching to the comparitively smaller scale-lengths on a guitar or mando. My hand can readjust to playing the guitar in 10 minutes with a Starfire vs. 20-30 minutes with a Jazz Bass.

I like the fact that you have a 66' Starfire bass. You sound as though you speak from good experience. Perhaps someday Guild will reissue the Stafire basses. But there will be price competition from ephiphone's hollow body basses.

-Craig

 

[fronobulax]

Nothing really to add to what guilded has already said.

Do remember that there is a lot of individual preference in play. grot almost always gigs with a Pilot although he does bring out a Starfire once in a while. krysh seems to favor a Starfire over a Pilot at the moment. twocorgis loves his Starfire but still has a Fender in the stable. As noted before, I have never accepted the physical challenge of a longer scale so if someone doesn't like the sound I am going to get from one of the Guilds then I am not the bassist for them.