FS/FT Feeler 60's Guild Starfire

[AlexGStern]

I have for sale a 1960's (not sure what year) Guild Starfire semi-hollow body.

I believe the bass is modded with an aftermarket pickup in the "middle" position. The thumbrests are off, but, I will include them in the (heavily worn) original chipboard case.

This bass has some considerable wear and a noisy tone pot. I have used it in the studio and at gigs, though not very much. I'm selling it as is for $1400 shipped. Would consider trades plus cash as well (4 strings only, please).

Thanks!

[AlexGStern]

Monday Bump.

[emjazz]

Can't tell you how much I wish I could buy this....and I'm in Boston. Can't spend the money right now.

[fjadams]

Could you do some close ups of the body, bridge, pickup? Also back and front of the headstock. I'm interested, as these are my favorite basses.

[AlexGStern]

More coming soon.

[BassManPatsFan]

What does that Mickey Mouse pickup sound like? I've been looking for another Starfire for months. Yours looks awesome, but I already have a Cherry and I'd really like one with a bi-sonic and/or room to add a Dark Star.

Edit: Just re-read your post. I could be wrong, but I don't think that's an aftermarket pickup. Guild made some starfires in 1965 and 1966 with that slender "mickey mouse" pickup in the middle position. Your bass is from '66, so that would make sense. Check out another such bass here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Fronobulax/GuildBridges#

[AlexGStern]

Thanks for the great information. It would seem that I am mistaken, and that it has not been modded.

I don't know if its the pickup, the placement, or both, but its a pretty versatile sounding bass. I've used it to get a Zombies/Kinks/McCartney-esque sound, and I've also used it to play late 60's/early 70's rocksteady and reggae. The former with a pick, the latter without. It sounds convincingly authentic in both platforms. I will say that its probably not a bass that is going to cut through a chunky rock band's mix.

[harryh]

Hi Folks,

I'm brand new around here, just joined in fact to find out some info on Dark Star pickups.
Still, I've owned a few old Starfire Basses, so I thought I'd throw in.......

The earliest Starfire basses had a single Hagstrom BiSonic pickup in a 'near-bridge' position on these 30.5" scale instruments. By the way, this 'near-bridge' position is very close, relatively speaking, to the pickup position of a P-Bass on a 34" scale.

That said, I've seen at least three different pickups in these basses in the 'near-bridge' position; the BiSonic, a smaller Hagstrom pickup made for the Coronado (looks like the Gibson EB2D bridge humbucker) and the Mickey Mouse (although the Mickeys usually lived in the Guild Jet Star basses).

Why? My best guess, after owning Guild basses since the early '70's, is that just because they were out of Bisonics, didn't mean Guild wouldn't 'throw another pickup in the hole' to get product out the door as fast as possible!

I don't think Guild ever changed the actual shape of the pickup 'cut-out' hole for their Starfire basses. They designed the cut-out for a BiSonic and if they used a different pickkup, they would simply change the pickup surround shape. Accordingly, all of those pickups are interchangeable, in the sense that one could buy a bass like this (with a Mickey Mouse) and drop a loose BiSonic in the hole, as long as you had a template to make the wooden surround with.

[Later on in '66, Guild moved the BiSonic pickup up near the fingerboard, a la Gibson EB2. After that, when they started making 2 pickup versions ('67-'77?), the 'near-bridge' pickup location actually moved a little bit closer to the bridge]

Anyway, those are nice basses. I have one in sunburst. I play mine with Thomastiks and use it on all different kinds of music. It sounds great on everything except really high energy music, where a 34" scale bass is more appropriate. [Edit: That last remark sounds pretty 'cork-sniffy' to me, and I apologize. I meant to say if it's the kind of gig where my drummer and I need to kick the rest of the band (and/or the crowd) in the Arse, a longer scale bass works better!]

Thanks, harryh (aka 'gilded' on the letstalkguild forum)

[AlexGStern]

Still available, getting out of town on Tuesday for a while, and would love to send somewhere tomorrow.

[AlexGStern]

Went out of town for awhile, this is once again available.

[AlexGStern]

Bump before trying out Ebay or CL.

[AlexGStern]

One more shot. Price drop to 1300, and still open to cheaper trades + a good amount of cash.

[Bassology]

Payment made, bass is now my....... my precious