Hey guys! I'm a newbie to the forum and a newbie to Starfires.. I've tried a few Starfire IVs and a late 60's Starfire v. They've were great guitars but their necks were generally on the thin side. Do the neck sizes vary depending on the era (like gibsons?). Are the older models considered to be superior to more recent issues? Also, what are the main differences between the IV and V? THanks a lot!
Starfires
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luckyTT said:
Hello and welcome!
I've owned SF IVs from the 70s to the early 2000s. The 70's models has 1 5/8" wide necks and the late 90's - 00 models had 1 11/16" necks. This makes a HUGE difference to me. They're all thin compared to a 50's Gibson Les Paul, but I like the wider necks better.
A SF5 is a SF4 with a bigsby IIRC.
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Also re: older vs. newer.
I *love* the sound of a vintage SFIV with those magnificent HB1 pickups, but the necks are like pencils to me. I've owned a '73 and a '77 IIRC and though they were killer guitars, I couldn't bond with the necks, so today my only SF4 is a '00 blond. I had the pickups rewound and just love the guitar.
So it depends on what's important to you. The old Starfires just drip vintage tone. The newer ones - for me - have better necks. They're all fabulous guitars. I've never heard of a bad year for Guilds. Even when Fender bought them they turned out fabulous guitars.
I *love* the sound of a vintage SFIV with those magnificent HB1 pickups, but the necks are like pencils to me. I've owned a '73 and a '77 IIRC and though they were killer guitars, I couldn't bond with the necks, so today my only SF4 is a '00 blond. I had the pickups rewound and just love the guitar.
So it depends on what's important to you. The old Starfires just drip vintage tone. The newer ones - for me - have better necks. They're all fabulous guitars. I've never heard of a bad year for Guilds. Even when Fender bought them they turned out fabulous guitars.
it looks like i'l be hunting for a 90's starfire, then.Sarah93003
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I happen to like a skinny neck as they fit my hands better. So, it sounds like the older Starfires would be more to my liking.
GAD said:
+1
Greetings from England.
Got a Corona built sunburst Starfire 4 earlier in the year think it is a 2003 or 2004 ....got it on EBAY from a LTG forum member and pictures of said guitar have been on LTG somewhere.
It is a fabulous guitar top built quality and the neck is great and Fender must have put their top people on the job but the Fender made version of the HB1 pickups are said to be not as good as the legendary Guild HB1 pickups.All in a very fine high quality semi-acoustic and a brilliant instrument perhaps only let down by the pick ups which are are still good but not outstanding.....they are full humbucker size and can't swop for real Guild HB1.
Bare Knuckle Pickups in the UK do a pickup rewinding service...they make excellent handwound or scatterwound pickups.....could such a service work wonders and rework the internals to produce a true Guild HB1.......
Otherwise after looking at the TV JONES "classic" Filtertron pickups and noticed the TV JONES Super'Tron which Gretsch originally used on their top of the line models and is said to be inspired by the Charlie Christian pickups......so perhaps a sort of "Super Starfire" or "Starfire Super".
So is the rewind or reworking of the Fender HB1 such that a Guild HB1 is produced and will drawings and detail plans be in the public domain so that
an exact perfect Guild HB1 is reproduced in all its glory....
teleharmonium
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Sarah93003 said:
Well, not too old. If we're talking about depth here, they started out thicker and then got thinner in the early 60s; it's the later models that got thicker again at some point. I have a couple of '66 Hoboken made Guilds that have relatively thin necks. My '60 is chunkier. A friend has a 200? Corona made Guild which feels about the same as my '60 or slightly skinnier (I think, going by memory here).