Anyone know anything about Guild Starfire basses?

[deepestend]

The full size Lakland Hollowbody was designed by Tobias to be an update of the Starfire.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I have a slightly modified 1967 Starfire II from the Hoboken, NJ factory, and a 2017 Newark St. Reissue.

I had this Emerald Green reissue for a while too, and swapped it for the other. (pictured here with my '77 Series I...)

The reissues are very, very nice. The bisonics are not quite on level with the original Hagstrom pickups. Excellent reproduction though.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Depends. Are you talking original vintage or reissue? I cannot speak directly to fun, but the old Guild Starfires were considered at least equal to the EB2s and Rivolis of the day, although much less rarely sighted, at least in the deep south. And Steve Boone, Jack Casady. and Chris Hillman all performed with both a Starfire and a P bass.

"So did I"

 

[DJ Bebop]

 

[RocknRay]

A young Berry Oakley too!

 

[RocknRay]

And Hagar Ben Ari

 

[DJ Bebop]

A young Berry Oakley too!
View attachment 4699228

It seems he still enjoyed the Bisonics...

 

[CaseyVancouver]

I suggest, for sure, you play a Starfire, Eb2 or Casady model before buying.

 

[bassman10096]

Lots of interesting Guild bass lore here: Bass

I have one of the new Starfire reissues but with Curtis Novak’s much richer take on Dark Star and Bisonic pu’s. Recently I swapped out the Korean pots and installed high quality volume pots and Stellartone tone pots. Now it only makes good , usable tones. Also built a Warmoth P bass with a Novak Bisonic instead of a split coil. Sounds quite a lot like Berry’s bass on the Allmans Fillmore East live album.

 

[GretschWretch]

"So did I"

View attachment 4699200

Yeah, but you got the two-pickup version. You must have had one heqq of a paper route growing up.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Yeah, but you got the two-pickup version. You must have had one heqq of a paper route growing up.

Not me, the other Phil.

 

[wiscoaster]

I have a new Starfire I and I will vouch for it.

 

[KenD]

You might like them. They really are a bass guitar made for guitar players with their ultra slim, narrow neck. Also be aware that there is considerable variation in the tone, depending on which BiSonic pickups are installed.

 

[bluesblaster]

I used to always play one everytime I would see one in a GC about 2-3 years ago. They were always one of those basses I couldn't put down. Wish I jumped on them when they were cheaper - one GC even had a new one marked down to $800 - which at the time was the average used price. Necks were thin and alot of tones between the two pickups and all the combinations and your hand positioning. This video shows a sweet tone and easy playability up the non-wide neck in a bass solo setting:

You'll notice he is soloing one of the PU's, not sure which is in the down position. I always liked the neck PU soloed myself

 

[markjazzbassist]

Wonderful basses I wish I never sold the 2 I owned with hagstrom bi sonics.

 

[13bass]

I’ve had my StarFire II for about two months and absolutely love it, unique tone as you said, it’s different from my P bass or J bass and I’m running Labella deep talking flats on it. And no real neck dive issues.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

Love my 66 Starfire. My Alembic sat this one out.

 

[Danny O Danny]

A few years ago I had the Korean-made Starfire with the two bisonic pickups. I used it for a while, but eventually sold it--though I can't remember why. I really enjoyed it, it was fun. I don't recall it having terrible neck dive. It had a lot of good tonal options. Here's a poor quality cell phone video of me playing it in a classic rock band.

Dropbox - Doctor My Eyes.mov

 

[2F/2F]

I have the current production green Starfire Bass. It is, hands down, one of the finest made, finest playing, finest sounding, and finest looking basses I have ever played – and I have played a lot of damned good stuff. Maybe I just got a good one...but I'm super critical, and this thing is just a gem. The tone is perfection. The fret work is as close to perfect as it gets. The fit and finish is just about flawless. It surprised the hell out of me, to be honest.

I have long been a huge fan of the old pre-Fender ones, which were made as well as anything IME. Guild has been my favorite acoustic guitar brand for decades. I own an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar from the '60s, and an acoustic bass guitar from the '70s, all by Guild. I was leery of imported Guilds at first, and though they seemed terribly overpriced...but I took a chance on this instrument, and it totally changed my tune on that front.

It going through Sweetwater's hands first might have helped. I hear from my friends who work in guitar factories that Sweetwater is very picky about what they'll accept from manufacturers, and so they take extra care on batches of instruments that they know are headed there.

My only complaint is that the quality of the hardshell cases is nowhere near what it used to be.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Want.