Starfire Question

[Mark WW]

SF 3

The SF 3 even though it is truly a hollow-body does not feed back like some of the larger/thicker hollow bodies.

Your best bet is to play one if you can. I have large hands and I am comfortable with the SF3. The bigsby works great. The HB's have their own unigue tonal characterisitics but can cover a wide range.

If you prefer a single-coil pickup versus the HB's, look for one with P-90's. They are kind of hard to find and generally command higher prices. All of the Guilds are really good values at the prices they are selling at. I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[d-rock]

I've owned a few Starfires in the past, all post-Fender. I've settled on a '97 Starfire 3 with a neck on the slim side. I love the fully-hollow, thin body and the neck is really comfortable to me. My old SF2 had a much thicker neck and was from one year prior, go figure. I've noticed a good bit of variance with the necks between Starfires, but have never come across one with a tree-trunk neck (not saying there's none though). You might have to be a bit more selective and ask a few more questions to the sellers if you're looking to buy online.

If you stay away from hi gain, the feedback won't be much of an issue. The pickups are not as muddy as Gibson HB's, they have a nice snap. If you can find the right one for your hands, a SF will be a nice addition to your guitar family. Happy hunting!

 

[jp]

Hey there zom zom,

Like matsickma, I was also going to suggest a Dearmond Starfire Special, but since you nixed it, here are other things to consider.

-- If you want to go fully hollow, feedback will be an issue, even at small club volume. The only effective fixes are wax potting the PUs or maybe trying some of the acoustic preamps/feedback reducers.

-- If semi-hollow is still an option, and you don't want a Dearmond, then the Starfire IV, V, or VI (if you have deep pockets) are all semi-hollow. No feedback issues. Lots of newer affordable examples around.

-- The Starfire was based on the Guild T-100--same single cutaway and body shape. T-100s were made from about '58 and onwards, produced roughly at the same time as the Starfires up to early 70s I think. I think the main difference was that they had laminated maple top back and sides, whereas the Starfires were mahogany. Some of the earliest Starfires from '60 and '61 were known to have maple tops as well. Starfires had newer, fancier appointments too, i.e., Bigsbys, Dearmonds, nicer tuners, etc.

My point for bringing this up is that, if you want a thicker, clubbier neck, the T-100s and Starfires from about '58-63 had thicker necks. I know you mentioned that you don't want vintage, but often you can score an early T-100 for under $1000. -- Starting at about '64 the neck profiles became slimmer on Guilds at least until the 70s.

I don't know much about the newer Westerly Guild neck profiles, but d-rock above seems to know.

I hope this helps and good luck on the hunt.

 

[zom-zom]

Thanks to everyone for the comments and help.

I've normally played at high volumes over the years, my main amp for about fifteen years of playing was a Marshall Super Lead, 100 watts turned up most of the way. We were a very loud band. I have a different band now and have been using a 50-watt Park combo, and have lowered my stage volume considerably. I want to try playing different styles, some jazzier bits so I think the hollowbody would be cool. I'm around a lot of jazz at the studio I work at and played some in college on bass, and want to try to re-learn some of it. I thought maybe a SFIII would be suitable for a clean jazz sound as well as some of the rock.

Again, all of your comments and suggestions have been very helpful, thanks!

 

[zom-zom]

I can't stop playing the Starfire. Great sound through my dirty Park combo, through the Hiwatt, everything. Feedback is not much of a problem and actually gives me something fun to work with bending, sustained notes. etc.

And it looks so cool.