I've just found a DeArmond RI Starfire and I'm wondering if you've played one and how you thought it compared to either your original or RI Guild Starfire.

Could be my first hollowbody this ;)

I take it yours is strung with flats?

Many Thanks

I bought one of those back when they came out and returned it immediately, unfortunately. The one I got had poor playability and no resonance or liveliness to it. Maybe just a bad piece of wood. I hear a lot about people buying those then putting Darkstar pickups in it and getting a great bass out if it, but I decided to not go down that path because I already have three proper Guild Starfires, one from '66, two reissues.

If it's super cheap, might be worth it, but try and play it first. Yes, I always string those with flats.

JMJ

Well I won't be able to play it first I found it on this forum $500 shipped anywhere in world which is good me being in the UK and all but it is in Korea, just getting the money together, I can afford it and it seems like a good price and I'm sure I can sell it on for the same in the future but thanks for that advice hopefully I'll have better luck.

Might as well give it ago I can't think of a better hollowbody for the money that is available in the uk

Dean Cabbie
Ibanez Artcore (34inch scale, single pickup)

Do you use shortscale flats or just string it up with standard ones?

Thanks

I would put in a good word for the first generation Artcores with the single humbucker. The tone from those basses is phenominal. It's like a P-bass, but meatier and with that semi-hollow vibe. The necks are pretty chunky, though, so it might not be your thing.

well, I love hollowbodies. I have a giannini diamond, made in brazil in the 70's that really has great tone.
Have you considered the eastwood classic 4? I've always been curious about eastwood basses. I've never seen one here in brazil.

I just got a DeArmond Starfire off ebay. Paid too much but any Starfire is getting hard to find at a reasonable price. Mine is great. The neck is straight and its got a big, big sound. I would like to try the darkstar pickups but buying them would cost as much as the bass did. I also have a Hofner club which is a great bass though its not as versatile. The Starfire can sound more like a solidbody if you need it to. I tried a Lakland skyline hollowbody in a music store and liked it as well, though I did think I would like it a bit more than I did. If I had to choose between them all I would get the Starfire. Good luck finding one.

Justin, do you have the Hagstrom pickups or the smaller Guild ones? Is there much of a difference between the two?

I just got a DeArmond Starfire off ebay. Paid too much but any Starfire is getting hard to find at a reasonable price. Mine is great. The neck is straight and its got a big, big sound. I would like to try the darkstar pickups but buying them would cost as much as the bass did. I also have a Hofner club which is a great bass though its not as versatile. The Starfire can sound more like a solidbody if you need it to. I tried a Lakland skyline hollowbody in a music store and liked it as well, though I did think I would like it a bit more than I did. If I had to choose between them all I would get the Starfire. Good luck finding one.

Justin, do you have the Hagstrom pickups or the smaller Guild ones? Is there much of a difference between the two?

I've got a Hofner Club too! I love that thing...it makes it on lots of records. Very crucial to amplify it right. I have Guild reissue with the chrome guild pickups, a Guild reissue with Darkstars, and an original '66 with Hagstrom pickups. They're all in the same family for sure. Guild reissue with stock pickups is kind of my favorite...sounds like cardboard, but in a good way. (That's the bass on Beck "Paper Tiger", for instance).

tayste, give a Gretsch a shot too man. I've got one, and it's great.

For other great vintage hollowbodies check out Vox, Univox, and Gibson EB-2D's

where can you buy a guild starfire reissue? didn't they stop making them?

eBay, Craigslist. They've been out of production for a while.

Toured and recorded with one of each for awhile. The Dearmond is more faithful to the original than the Guild Reissue. Go figure. :confused:

Mine is on it's way can't wait YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toured and recorded with one of each for awhile. The Dearmond is more faithful to the original than the Guild Reissue. Go figure. :confused:

I would humbly disagree with this, but I have a feeling the Dearmond I tried was a dog.

JMJ

Mine will arrive tomorrow :hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper:

and the verdict is...

Only tried it through my practice headphone amp but it sounded pretty good going out in a bit to try it through my Mesa 400+ and 2 EA CXL's

Looks AWESOME

Ok tried it through my Mesa and holy cow sounded awesome, just need to get some flats and strap locks sorted, also the silver tops on the knobs have come off so if anyone knows where I can get replacement knobs from that would be great.

Also wondering if anyone has experienced the gold coming off the pickups one side of one of mine is down to the white plastic

I have to say to Justin on of the following has to apply ;)

1. Your Dearmond sucked
2. Mine is the best Dearmond ever and all of them pale in comparison
3. The Guilds are so good that by comparison your Dearmond was awful (Which would make the guilds :eek: crazy good)

But yeah can't wait to get this as thump as possible and get my groove on.

1. My Dearmond sucked

I have owned a '67 SF II and a '70 JS I, both with hagstrom bi-sonics, to my ears its mostly just hype about these pickups, My '73 M85 w/ stock guild humbuckers just oozes old school tone. I have not played a bass equipped with darkstars so I wont comment where those are concerned, suffice to say the starfire and JS basses are long gone. I think the stock Guild humbuckers have gotten a bad rap lately, but I,ve notice that when they show up on ebay they get alot of attention, so I cant be the only one that feels this way. But hey, if the Bi-sonics and Darkstars do it for you, thats what makes the world go round.

Cool perspective, Bluesblaster. I love my m-85 with stock hums as well! They're good pickups.

JMJ

I have owned several starfires and so far the best combination of tone and playing well (and in tune) has been a SFII reissue with darkstars--which is what I have now.

I had an old one with one hagstrom neck pu that was super muddy live but recorded well--I stupidly sold that one.

I also had a reissue with the stock pu's that was really cool. Didn't have the bite of the darkstars/hagstroms, but had a very cool thick, but clear, old-school tone. It sat in a mix really well in spite of how dull it could sometimes sound in it's own. I used that one a bunch and also stupidly sold it--the reissue I have now essentially replaced that one, and I think it's a keeper.

My first Starfire was a 90,s reissue, I really liked the sound of just the neck PU soloed using a pick, fingerstyle it was not terribly interesting. I believe the RI,s had seymour duncan PU,s . I would like to give the Darkstar a try but I would want to play a bass with these before I shell out the cash for some, they,re not exactly cheap.

the darkstars are really fantastic--but i do agree with you, the old guild humbuckers are nice as well and a often dogged for no reason. the pu's in the reissue are even mellower, but still work great. the darkstars have a more full-range, open, and gritty (when you dig in) sound, but still have a lot of lowend and retain that hollowbody thing.

Do you think there would be any discernable sonic differences in sound between DS,s mounted in a hollowbody (starfire type) as opposed to a solidbody bass? just curious

Yes...in that the hollowbody sound is so different innately to a solidbody. Darkstars sound awesome in a bass I have called a Lakland Decade....they also sound good in one of my Starfires. But yes, they do sound like Darkstars regardless, that's for sure. Clear, open, expressive. A little furry when played hard, but barely so....and it's a good thing, anyway.

JMJ

I'm jealous of all you guys with Starfires. I only have one hollowbody, a Jay Turser Beatle bass copy, and I want another one. I just don't want to pay what a Starfire usually costs ;)

yeah, the solidbody is a different animal than the hollowbody. i recently sold a guild m-85 that was cool. had a fat tone---solid mahogany body...i'd like to get another one down the road.

Thanks guys, just trying to figure which body type to do a DS project with. I,d have to say I,m leaning more towards a hollowbdy at this point as I dont currently own one.

Just wanted to expand on this. I really love my Dearmond now (Still need to get some flats for it) but its so much fun to play and it looks so cool.

But the output is quite low on it and I'm not sure if I should Darkstar it or just add a clean boost (I'm leaning clean boost as it won't effect the character of the bass).

Also does anyone know where I can buy replacement knobs for it?

Thanks

Here's one of mine sporting a pair of Rick Turner's early trapezoid single coil pickups. The electronics are essentially what's found in a rack mounted Alembic Superfilter but this modification pre-dates that unit by a few years. Circa '72.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v371/Hammon/1802.jpg

Here's a look under the hood:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v371/Hammon/Untitled19.jpg

Those things spiral wrapped in copper foil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage) are actually duplicates of the top mounted pickups acting as hum-canceling dummy coils.

BTW. That was Rick Turner who called the Guild buckers "Pedestrian". We used to just call them "ho-humbuckers" at the old Guild Forum so I'm somewhat responsible for them getting a bad wrap. I appreciate that people are finding unique sounds with them so take it with a grain of salt. If you like them you are not by any means alone.

I'm jealous of all you guys with Starfires. I only have one hollowbody, a Jay Turser Beatle bass copy, and I want another one. I just don't want to pay what a Starfire usually costs ;)

If you don't want to spend the money, just get the DeArmond, they are built great. The only improvement I noticed with the Mahogany body was it sounded better unplugged...

I've just found a DeArmond RI Starfire and I'm wondering if you've played one and how you thought it compared to either your original or RI Guild Starfire.

Could be my first hollowbody this ;)

I take it yours is strung with flats?

Many Thanks

I have a DeArmond and used to have the RI Guild too... I found the DeArmond better... The stock pickups for the RI are not good, and the Korean DeArmond has better pickups... The DeArmond has neck binding, the Guild does not. The Guild has tuning posts that are so big they get in the way of the A string... the Dearmond does not.

I actually switched the Dearmond Pickups into my Guild when I took it on tour! I wanted the look of the Guild... it had that trans red finish... and was mahogany... but the sound and playability of the DeArmond.

I sold the Guild back to the guy I bought it from - that was our pre-arranged deal. He tried to sell it back to me awhile later. Guess he had the same problem... looks will only get ya so far. :bassist:

I've always wondered how much 'better' the Darkstar pickups are to the DeArmonds... output seems higher... but how much many more nuances of sound is it capturing? I've always been really happy with the DeArmond pickups. Great for chording.

Fred is there anyway you can supply a matched volume comparison of the DeArmond vs. Darkstars?

If you don't want to spend the money, just get the DeArmond, they are built great. The only improvement I noticed with the Mahogany body was it sounded better unplugged...
I think I want Fred Hammon's Starfire. I could never pay for it, but I want it!

I think I want Fred Hammon's Starfire. I could never pay for it, but I want it!

LOL... and you're not alone!

Another very cool hollowbody that's relatively rare is the Mosrite Combo Bass. I don't see me ever parting with mine. It's got a weird shape and weight balance is not that great but it's got great big sounding pickups and a cool slim short scale neck. It's somewhat unique in that it's actually a carved out body, meaning it was a solid piece of wood but the inside was routed out and the back was glued on. The wood as a result is thicker compared to most hollowbodies. It's got a good thump to it but can almost sound like a cross between a hollow and solid body. When they do rarely pop up on ebay they still sell pretty cheap, especially compared to solid Mosrites.
http://homepage.mac.com/sonicvi/moscombo.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/sonicvi/moscombo.jpg

I played one of these at a Richmond, VA Sam Ash. Thought they had overpriced it and have been scouring ebay for one. What do they normaly go for when you see them? I loved the tone.

I played one of these at a Richmond, VA Sam Ash. Thought they had overpriced it and have been scouring ebay for one. What do they normaly go for when you see them? I loved the tone.

I bought mine about a year and a half ago for $700 with a non-original case and cosmetically it's far from perfect (dings, chips, finish cracks). As far as I can remember I've only seen one more on ebay since then and it was in an original case and in much better shape and I want to say it sold for somewhere between $1000-1100. There's a Joe Maphis bass on ebay right now (i think it's still there). They're the same thing as the Combo just without the F-hole and in an ugly (imo) natural finish.

I bought mine about a year and a half ago for $700 with a non-original case and cosmetically it's far from perfect (dings, chips, finish cracks). As far as I can remember I've only seen one more on ebay since then and it was in an original case and in much better shape and I want to say it sold for somewhere between $1000-1100. There's a Joe Maphis bass on ebay right now (i think it's still there). They're the same thing as the Combo just without the F-hole and in an ugly (imo) natural finish.

They might have been a little high then. This one had player wear to through to the wood by the neck pickup, some dings, and was in need of a fret job, but was priced at $950 I think. I think that Joe Maphis looks pretty sweet :)
Edit: I've also been looking at the Univox solidbody copy of the ventures bass as an affordable alternative, but didn't know how they compared.

To update this I'm loving my cherry Dearmond Starfire and I recently strung it with flats 45-105 from Overwater and it's tuned DGCF and it just sounds fantastic really huge so good infact I've found another one I'm going to buy but this one is in that brown colour.

It's got 2 more holes drilled for a mod the owner did series/parallel and coil split I'll probably add the series/parallel back in and use the other one as a producer switch (see interviews with Leland Sklar)

Thanks for putting me on to these basses Justin

That is so great! Glad it's working so well. Speaking of de-tuning, I think Starfires sound great like that; kinda cool with a super low tuning like CFBflatEflat, then use a capo to shorten the scale even more. HUGE.

And I love that you'd put a producer switch in there...classic.

JMJ

What about Warwick's new hollowbody star II bass?
Has anyone tried it yet?

Warwick calls that a "reissue" of the Framus Star Bass, huh? OK, but it looks nothing like it.

Another update I bought a second one in black (Might have mentioned I was going to) :D but it seems to have some problems

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=455588

Feel free to chime in anyone with some ideas but I will say acoustically it seems to sound a bit nicer than the cherry one.

I think I'm going to have both tuned DGCF but one with flats one with rounds. Thinking really heavy rounds like 50-110's I've also got a capo as well so I'm going to experiment with some uber low tuning as Justin recommended.