Your Favorite Amps for Starfire 4

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Hi all,
I believe I’m about to buy a ‘97 Starfire 4 – mahogany, think it has those Seymour Duncan pickups that GAD likes (thanks GAD, for your pickup id tips!). Anyway, if I don’t get this one, I will get one some day as I’ve wanted one ever since I played a ‘62 in a music store and the notes went right inside me– loved it!
My question to you all is, what is your favorite amp to play a Starfire through?
I played that ‘62 through a Hot Rod Deluxe that sounded quite nice.
Would it sound good through an acoustic amp?
I’ve mostly played acoustic up to this point, mostly strum but pick a few notes finger style (Is a Starfire a good strumming/ rhythm guitar?). I’d love to hear what amps you like for these.
New member here. I’ve tried to soak up a lot of your knowledge, so pleased to make your acquaintance. I love Guilds and don’t even own one yet!
Andrew (drewg)

‘34 Kalamazoo KG-11 ‘small burst’
‘88 Seagull S.M.6 (spruce, mahog)
‘98 Tacoma Papoose (pin-less bridge)
70s Harmony parlor
 

krysh

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hello and welcome to LTG.

of course the answer is dumble.

joke aside, ask yourself first, how loud you'll have to play and in which direction soundwise do you want to go (listen to other guitarists and look up what amps the ones use that you like).
then there are so many great amps on the market to chose from - tubes, transistor, modeling, profiling, only depending on taste, volume, and walletsize.
remember it is not the guitar or amp or pedals, but the player who makes the sound. ;)
 

dbirchett

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My favorite amp for just about anything is a Deluxe Reverb (preferably not a reissue). Better than that is a Gretsch Executive, which is basically the same circuit. If the 22 watts is not enough then a good microphone is in order.
 

shihan

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I agree with dbrichett; any guitar will sound good through a Deluxe Reverb, or for that matter, any good vintage Fender amp. Lately, my gig amp has been a Gibson Scout, it’s like a Princeton Reverb with a bad attitude.
Try as many different amps as you can, friends, music store, whatever, and see what speaks to you.
Good luck and have fun with the search!
Oh, ‘97 SF 4’s are dy-no-mite guitars.
 
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Had never heard of a Dumble– but when Wikipedia says "primarily for celebrity musicians" that probably doesn't describe me. :)
I hear many good things about Deluxe Reverb. Don't know about Gretch Executives, so I'll check that out, thanks.
For myself, I'm looking for a small tube amp for home playing and eventually maybe small venues. I tend to like tube amps (though I'll probably get a Fishman Loudbox for my acoustics). Guitarists I like are Mark Knopfler, Lightning Hopkins, Willie Nelson, Neil Young. But I'm not (consciously) trying to mimic them, and I know I just have to try out a few amps to see what I like.
But my question to you all is what amps do you personally like to play Starfires through; or do you think Starfires sound particularly good through a certain amp. I just like to hear your personal opinions, your own personal preferences, to give me some amps to try.
I hear Lightnin' played a Starfire at times, but I've never seen/heard him with one.
 

adorshki

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I’ve mostly played acoustic up to this point, mostly strum but pick a few notes finger style (Is a Starfire a good strumming/ rhythm guitar?).

Welcome aboard, drewg!
Nobody answered that one yet but I'm not even an "electric guy" and I can tell you that Starfires are one of the most versatile guitars ever made, so, yes.
(Bob Weir used one for a while, after Garcia moved had moved on from his SF)
In fact kind of surprised the question got asked.
:friendly_wink:
Oh and at the other end of the spectrum:
c913ed7d5e5608c082a7ad116f281659.jpg

109859dd4a8e89dacf9a4b2ab00b5e82.jpg

Hendrix with his genuine lefty, '68.
And as you probably know Jimi wasn't all fire and thunder all the time, either. (Wind Cries Mary, Castles Made of Sand)
You might take his amp choice into consideration too.... actually I can't tell what it is other than the proverbial "any good vintage Fender amp" Shihan mentioned.
:smile:
 

walrus

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Welcome drewg! I had '98 SFIV, yours will sound good with almost any amp! :joyous:

walrus
 

Quantum Strummer

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When it comes to humbucker equipped guitars I'm partial to my Fender Princeton, an early '68 silverface with the blackface circuit and components. This is the non-reverb version, a lot less gainy than its Reverb sibling. Which means it has actual headroom with higher output pickups and can be played in its clean sweet spot (Vol at ~4.5) in a house without annoying your neighbors. Note: the stock 10" Oxford speaker commonly found in these amps is a gutless atrocity and should be replaced. I recommend the Weber version of a Jensen C10Q or something similar.

But…any decent amp should sound good. :)

-Dave-
 

Walter Broes

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Would it sound good through an acoustic amp?
No, definitely not. Acoustic amps and electric guitars is a pretty awful combination.

The music you mention doesn't seem to be about squeaky clean guitar tones. In that case, if it's mainly for playing at home, get something under ten watts. There's a whole market for small tube amps now, from fairly affordable to super expensive/boutique, with most stops in between. Five or ten watts with an efficient speaker still gets awful loud in a room in a house playing by yourself. A bigger amp won't sound as good and won't be as fun to play if you have to keep the volume on the amp really low - most tube amps only really come to life when you turn them up halfway.

A Deluxe Reverb is a fun amp in a band setting, but if you want anything else than clean, it's much bigger than you need if most of your playing is at home by yourself.
 

GAD

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It depends:

On your tastes
On your mood
On the Starfire
On the pickups
On the genre
On your ability to discern tones
On the song
etc.

So, it depends. :)

That's one of the reasons I own an Axe-FX - so I can get them all.
 

richardp69

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I picked up a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket a while back, Not sure why, but I did. It's a fine amp, pretty portable and light and works well for most everything I have electric wise including Starfires , Blues 90's etc.
 

Mark WW

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Get the guitar first. Then take it to a guitar store and plug it in to some different amps. I will echo what Walter said. 10 watts is pretty loud at home. So anything 10 and under should be a good starting point. I play mostly through my Vox AC10 and my Ampeg Jet II J12T which is 15 watts. I also have a handful of 5 watt solid state amps that I goof around with and they can get LOUD too.

Whenever you ask that type of question on a Guitar Forum you will usually get a recommendation based on the respondents favorite amp which may not translate for you. Nothing wrong with Fender amps. Great cleans. So my best advice is try before you buy if you can. That is not always possible in the age of the interweb.
 

JohnW63

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As has been mentioned, you don't need many watts for LOUD if the environment you play in is rather quiet. I have a Carvin Vintage 16 that is normally at 15 watts, but I didn't turn it up very loud. Then I tried flipping the switch on the back to put it in 5 watt mode. I can get better tone as lower volume, now. It's a small tube amp.
 

dbirchett

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Had never heard of a Dumble– but when Wikipedia says "primarily for celebrity musicians" that probably doesn't describe me. :)
I hear many good things about Deluxe Reverb. Don't know about Gretch Executives, so I'll check that out, thanks.
For myself, I'm looking for a small tube amp for home playing and eventually maybe small venues. I tend to like tube amps (though I'll probably get a Fishman Loudbox for my acoustics). Guitarists I like are Mark Knopfler, Lightning Hopkins, Willie Nelson, Neil Young. But I'm not (consciously) trying to mimic them, and I know I just have to try out a few amps to see what I like.
But my question to you all is what amps do you personally like to play Starfires through; or do you think Starfires sound particularly good through a certain amp. I just like to hear your personal opinions, your own personal preferences, to give me some amps to try.
I hear Lightnin' played a Starfire at times, but I've never seen/heard him with one.

Alexander Dumble was an artist with an amplifier and through engineering or witchcraft modified amps to sound phenomenal and also came up with designs of his own. The only thing about them more phenomenal than their tone is their price. That, as much as anything is why they are celebrity amps.

The Gretsch Executive is a reworking of the vibrato (tremolo) channel of the Deluxe Reverb by Mark Baier of Victoria Amps. He then put it in an almost Super Reverb sized case and mated it to a 15" special design Eminence. The Deluxe Reverb has a great sound on its own but the Executive gives it a more 3D sound so that the sound is more diffuse rather than coming from a particular point.

An old Standel tube amp is also just a sound to be treasured. But that will cost you at least an arm and then you wouldn't be able to play through it.
 

mavuser

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try a Fender blues jr tweed, and a fender pro jr tweed. compare other amps to those 2, is my advice
 

Guildedagain

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Get something with a little bit of clean headroom.

Humbuckers can drive small amps into distortion pretty easily, resulting in an inability to be both loud and clear.

To me, very strong acoustic tone is very important.

I want to be able to sound a like a guitar, not a fuzz box, when you're not even using one.

Even a little Fender Frontman (one of the older ones) would be a fine bedroom amp.

Any of the small older Peaveys are great amps too, and virtually indestructible.
 

GAD

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Though I said it depends, and it does, I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed with a Fender tweed of any flavor.
 

walrus

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The best answer is definitely "it depends". I have had a Vox Pathfinder 15R for quite a while. Suits me just fine for all the reasons mentioned above.

walrus
 

GGJaguar

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It depends:

On your tastes
On your mood
On the Starfire
On the pickups
On the genre
On your ability to discern tones
On the song
etc.

I agree with GAD on this. For me, it's the music that drives my guitar and amp choice first. Example - if I'm playing surf, I'm going to use a guitar with single coil pickups and a Fender amp. With regard to the '90s Starfire IV, I use mine for classic rock either through something Voxy or Fendery. Good luck with your amp hunting!!
 
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Today its my 1962 Fender Vibrolux, tomorrow it may be my 66 Ampeg Gemini.
Thanks John
 
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