Mystery Bass

[OrgPsych]

I was at an independent music shop getting my upright bass repaired, and they had a strange bass I had never even heard of before. They only wanted $125 for it, so I bought it. Can anyone help identify it? I don't see any makers marks or numbers. Inside, there are two Jazz bass pickups, which is weird since they are nowhere near the strings. Output is very low. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Giffro]

I was at an independent music shop getting my upright bass repaired, and they had a strange bass I had never even heard of before. They only wanted $125 for it, so I bought it. Can anyone help identify it? I don't see any makers marks or numbers. Inside, there are two Jazz bass pickups, which is weird since they are nowhere near the strings. Output is very low. Thanks in advance for any help.

Looks like it could be something called a Starfire..your pic shows a 4 string..info in the posted link of mine shows a 5 string bass. Chinese made bass with more info on my link. Good luck.
https://reverb.com/item/41314795-starfire-5-string-bass-black-and-brown-sunburst

 

[dabbler]

Another Starfire... headless.

https://reverb.com/item/29789193-starfire-headless-4-string-black-bass-guitar

 

[tpaul]

It's a Starfire!

What do I win?

 

[ardgedee]

On some searching, it looks like Starfire was one of those short-lived Chinese brands from the '00s. Here's a review of a 12-string (4 triple-courses) bass... spoiler: they don't like it.

Some videos: This one looks like OP's but fretless.

There are some previous posts here about Starfire products, mostly from the '00s. Unfortunately hardly any pics so it's hard to be sure at times whether they're reviewing the item you have, but for the most part opinions about the company's products seem to be lukewarm at best.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/i-...tring-bass-what-am-i-going-to-receive.346361/ (incredibly enough, OP returns 16 years later to provide a photo)
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/starfire-fretless-beatle-bass.940537/ (mentions Rondo used to sell the brand)

 

[ghiggin1079]

So what is this thing? A pretty steinberger-ish thing or a fretted EUB?

 

[sikamikanico]

Cool bass!

Output is very low.

raise the pickups! Oh, wait…

I’d try piezo or surface mount pickups. Or, route away…

how does it balance?

 

[B-Mac]

I was at an independent music shop getting my upright bass repaired, and they had a strange bass I had never even heard of before. They only wanted $125 for it, so I bought it. Can anyone help identify it? I don't see any makers marks or numbers. Inside, there are two Jazz bass pickups, which is weird since they are nowhere near the strings. Output is very low. Thanks in advance for any help.

Looks cool.
Probably very prone to neck dive?
Might work better with a post extension to play like an upright?

 

[sylvanbass]

I had a fretless one of those that I bought at a pawnshop. It was neat and cheap. It was mounted to some sort of cymbal stand to play like an EUB. Played and sounded like sh*t at the pawnshop, but I bit the bullet and figured I could tweak it enough to make it something cool to mess around with. Nope. Traded it to a buddy for a skill saw. I'll look through some old pics I have cause it had a brand name, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Starfire. Texting my buddy as well now to see if he still has it. He may have repurposed it into a floor lamp in his garage or something lol.

 

[sylvanbass]

Update: The one I had didn't have any brand name on it, but I forgot how large it was. It's a grainy pic, but my buddy still has it and hasn't turned it into a floor lamp yet lol.

 

[MattZilla]

I know lots of people who spend more money on smaller decorations.

I’d like to see it get a Warwick bridge & MEC Thumb pickups & pre.

 

[OrgPsych]

Cool bass!



raise the pickups! Oh, wait…

I’d try piezo or surface mount pickups. Or, route away…

how does it balance?

My plan is to take out the jazz pickups and put in an under saddle piezo. How does it balance? It neck dives like it's going for an Olympic gold. Worst bass ever for balance. But it was cheap and looks cool on my wall.

 

[OrgPsych]

Looks cool.
Probably very prone to neck dive?
Might work better with a post extension to play like an upright?

Neck dive is terrible. It isn't practical in any way. I considered a tail piece and playing like an EUB, but the fingerboard and bridge are just not shaped correctly to make that viable. With the amount of work it would take I might as well just make an EUB from scratch (after I finish the fretless Jazz bass I'm building).

 

[OrgPsych]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I appreciate it.

 

[OrgPsych]

Cool bass!



raise the pickups! Oh, wait…

I’d try piezo or surface mount pickups. Or, route away…

how does it balance?

I really don't need another bass, so this thing is mostly decoration, So I don't want to rout it cause it looks kinda cool. I'll put a piezo in it and see what that does. If it doesn't work, it stays as a decoration and I'm still happy.