The definitive Starfire

[idealassets]

The '67 is a pickup "at the neck", the '66 is a pickup "at the body", the '67 is closer to the neck, and the '66 is nearly in the middle of the body. So is there much difference in the sound between these 2?

The bottom line (rimshot) answer comes down to asking why you have a Starfire and whether anything else would even work for you.

I think a Starfire bass is even more desireable than a Starfire 6 string. The reason to get on bass is that there is quite a demand at our folk society, and other potential venues. If I wanted to make good money I would be spending hours on drums doing what I did 30+ years ago. For drumming, Heavy Metal is the most in demand style at present. I can't see doing it, even for decent $.

So far I have a Starfire III 6 string guitar that I really like. I tried a few different amps with it at Guitar Center, and it got a lot of nice comments. There's a "new" breed of guitar players out there that hae not many Guild guitars of any kind. Especially here in the midwest (Fender and Martin guitar heaven). So far I sound much better on acoustic guitar, even for leads. For me, a Rickenbacker 12 string would be best to do electric leads, but thats another ball game.

Consider what most of the original rockers are doing today. I see myself doing similar to Jorma Kaukonan, Robby Robertson, and Roger McGuinn. They often perform solo, without an aged David Crosby, Paul Kantner, etc backing them.

I am in my 50's. But there is a very nice niche out there for solo, duet, or small band material.
I'm all in for it.

Craig

 

[fronobulax]

OK. I would never describe a bass pickup position as "in the body" but I understand now. Vintage Starfires had three different positions: the neck position that is common to '67 and later Starfire I's and Starfire II's; the "in the body position" that is only found on '66 and earlier Starfire I's; and the bridge position which is only found on Starfire II's. When we discussed it before there were people who said there were differences in sound between each of the three positions but it wasn't clear to me that I personally would notice.

This is mellowgerman on the '66 that he no longer owns. I think krysh has posted some extensive sound clips of his SF II and there are enough '67 and later SF I's that you can find clips of them.

P.S. - if you do get a SF bass and show up at the local folk society, don't tell them it's electric (and don't count on any usable acoustic only projection). :wink:

 

[idealassets]

P.S. - if you do get a SF bass and show up at the local folk society, don't tell them it's electric (and don't count on any usable acoustic only projection).

For our area, with ties to all the nearby folk music societies, a bass is the only amplified instrument that is allowed.

Other policies are either no drums, or no drum sets, but some allow percussion, or a covered snare drum (with a towel or something). They are usually played like a concert snare. I would find that type of drumming, or bongos to be quite pathetic for me to do.

If a player can do a solid, confident bass part, you're the man of the hour! Most of the upright bass players attendance is sporatic. Good quality guitar & vocal pieces are very well liked also. There are a number of paying gigs for folk musicians that I am practicing for, especailly at the Traditional Folk Dances, usually in celtic style. The dances are held seperately from the music jams.

 

[mgod]

I like how this thread has evolved.

 

[bklynbass]

Now if I just had sensitive enough ears to differentiate between mahogany and maple...

I think if you pay attention to Jack and Phil, Jack's tone from Baxter's on is darker, compared to Live Dead. Phil's has more mid-bite. Phil's bass is less modded than Jack's, but what I hear is still consistent from having owned maybe a dozen Starfires.

Didn't Jack's first Starfire have a Spruce top?

 

[mgod]

Probably.

 

[gilded]

frono, mgod, et al,

Hey guys, I kind of missed this thread, go figure. Here's my take on everything.

I've always liked my maple sunburst '66 SFB I, with the 'middle' position pickup. The serial number is BA 54(x). I don't get a lot of different sounds out of it, but I like the sound I do get so much that I don't worry! Let's see, fingers hard, fingers soft, near the bridge, away from the bridge, thumb instead of fingers, pick instead of fingers, tone control open, tone control closing/closed, it all adds up.

In terms of increased opportunities for 'coloration', for an incredibly short period of time (less than a day) I owned an extremely clean cherry red '67 SFB II with all the paperwork, 2 Bi-Sonics and sadly, the suck switch. I could hear the difference with the suck switch in the circuit in a bad way. I didn't dig the bass at all and got rid of it. I probably didn't give the bass enough of a chance, but what's done is done.....

I also played Mello's mahogany-bodied cherry '66 with the 'middle' position pickup for a few days, as I actually bought it from Mello to send on to a friend of mine in Austin. I liked it almost as much as my bass. In fact, I might have liked it just as much, but for the fact that the strings needed changing and the pickup surround needed to be ground down to lower the pickup in relation to the strings. I've owned enough laminate-bodied Guilds to know that there is a difference in the way they sound with mahog, maple or spruce outer laminates, but they all sound good to me!

I've also played a USA reissue maple Starfire II bass. It was a wonderful instrument. I was totally prepared to hate it, humbuckers and all, but it was a great axe. I'd love to have one and I think that somebody could consider one of those basses if they were looking for a Starfire.

And now...... wait for it...... as of this weekend I own a sunburst '99 DeArmond by Guild SF II bass. Here's a pic of both of them:

Having played the dearmond for an hour or so today, I liked playing it on both pickups.

In all honesty, though, I like the pickup placement on my '66 bass. You guys are calling it the 'middle' position, but it's only about a 1/2 inch closer to the bridge than the treble pickup on a SFB II, so there :lol: For what it's worth, I think of it as the 'near-bridge' position, though it would also be fair to call it the 'original' position, don't you think?

I think Guild put the pickup where they thought it sounded good and then later reacted to the Market Forces, as defined by the placement of the pickup near the fingerboard on Gibson/Epiphone EB2 and Rivoli basses. You know, the basses that were so popular back in the middle '60's, when the average high-school rock band bass player thought, 'the muddier the better'.

I've owned basses with both the wooden and the plastic saddles and don't really have a preference for one over the other, though I'm sure they sound 'different'.

I also put a new set of Thomastiks on my '66 today and they sounded great. I forgot how good they sounded, in fact, as I had kept a set on for two or three years

And Chazmo, if you heard the Bi-Sonics and you liked them (and you would), you wouldn't care if it looked like the front grill on a '58 Buick. It's just part of the package, Mon'.

That's all I have tonight, fellas.

Later, Harry

 

[hansmoust]

I've always liked my maple sunburst '66 SFB I, with the 'middle' position pickup. The serial number is BA 54(x).

Hello Harry,

You have mail!

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[gilded]

Thanks, Hans! See you in October!