New 2013 Guild Starfire Bass Reissue

[Mr.Fingers]

Apparently Chris Hillman gets a "Signature Model", based on his Starfire he used in the earlier days of the Byrds:

Invalid Link Removed

Looks like a Newark St. with a burst.

 

[Mungi]

Beautiful!

I wonder what recordnings he actually used an SF on.

 

[Mr.Fingers]

I guess: none. All the early Byrds stuff was done by studio musicians (except the 12string was McGuinn), because they were a kinda crappy live-band (especially "not really tight"... and sometimes just plain terrible), especially in the early days. Don't forget that Hillman was a mandolin-player (and came from a bluegrass background), and was forced into playing bass, something he had never done before.

 

[Mungi]

No, there were session musicians on two tracks only Mr. Tambourine Man and its B-side I Knew I'd Want You. The rest of the album is the band playing.

 

[JoeWPgh]

I would buy a burst to replace the 66 single bridge pickup model stolen from me a year ago.

 

[fretwear]

Hi all, I'm getting all into the hunt for the right Starfire, been thinking of vintage for the most part. But some folks have suggested a reissue as the best choice?
For the newer 12/13 year reissues, How does the Newark St vs. GSR limited run play out. Quite a spread in price, the later is made in the usa though.

For only 11 GSR SF's made I see quite a number of them on ebay?

 

[jbiscuti]

Hi all, I'm getting all into the hunt for the right Starfire, been thinking of vintage for the most part. But some folks have suggested a reissue as the best choice?
For the newer 12/13 year reissues, How does the Newark St vs. GSR limited run play out. Quite a spread in price, the later is made in the usa though.

For only 11 GSR SF's made I see quite a number of them on ebay?

There is a cool Westerly 90's reissue on eBay at the moment:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990s-Guild...d-/161160913748?pt=Guitar&hash=item2585f06354

I'm also selling a couple of mine; they're all vintage though. PM me if you're interested.

 

[leftiebass]

I guess: none. All the early Byrds stuff was done by studio musicians (except the 12string was McGuinn), because they were a kinda crappy live-band (especially "not really tight"... and sometimes just plain terrible), especially in the early days. Don't forget that Hillman was a mandolin-player (and came from a bluegrass background), and was forced into playing bass, something he had never done before.

I saw them live in the early days. They were great, and very tight. Don't know why you say otherwise.

 

[ukulelelab]

There is a cool Westerly 90's reissue on eBay at the moment:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990s-Guild...d-/161160913748?pt=Guitar&hash=item2585f06354

I'm also selling a couple of mine; they're all vintage though. PM me if you're interested.

That westerly is a great deal for $1,500.

 

[jawrat]

Hi all, I'm getting all into the hunt for the right Starfire, been thinking of vintage for the most part. But some folks have suggested a reissue as the best choice?
For the newer 12/13 year reissues, How does the Newark St vs. GSR limited run play out. Quite a spread in price, the later is made in the usa though.

For only 11 GSR SF's made I see quite a number of them on ebay?

While I haven't played the Newark St Korean SF, the GSR is amazing. I think the problem is that there is a VERY limited number of folks who would plunk down $3k+ on a reissue bass. Heck, I wouldn't have done it, but a friendly supporter had a bit of money to burn and gifted me with one. Search my username on youtube and you'll find some reasonable examples of what it sounds like. Have in mind i'd only had it a couple of weeks at that point and hadn't played out with it much at all.

I would definitely like to check out the Korean ones to see how they compare...one of these days....

 

[wisconsindead]

Any more news on this bass? Any more reviews? Anyone measure the impedance yet?

Are they all made in korea?

Don't know if people have read this review...
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19701-guild-starfire-bass-review

kind of discouraging to hear him say that the tone knob seems to have minimal effect.

 

[fjadams]

A StellarTone will take care of the tonal variations.

Now we just need GHS to make their 3060s in a short scale version.

 

[scars]

I'm a life long Starfire fan & I've been eyeballing one of these since they first advertised it.

I've owned a '76 Starfire II that I swapped darkstars into, as well as 2 of the DeArmonds from around 2000. On one of the DeArmonds I not only put DarkStars in, but added a slew of active electronics (2 ch buffer/mixer and variable Q LPF's for each pickup) in an attempt to approximate Casady's Yggdrasil tone. It ended up sounding more like Lesh on American Beauty (which is not a bad thing at all). Sold it to my good friend who still uses it in the New England Dead Tribute band Fennario.

I love short scales and the Starfire has always been my favorite.
I fought it for months but jbiscuti's video, PG's Audio clip and a few others sealed the deal-

So I have a set of TI JF-324's sitting on a shelf waiting for my back ordered Newark st. Starfire to come in.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19701-guild-starfire-bass-review

 

[RickC]

I know Dan and I know that bass. We've done double bills with Fennario several times. That's a nice one.

 

[moonliner]

I takes a lot of hallucinogens to make somebody want that many knobs on a bass. Not that there's anything wrong with it.

As a matter of fact I'm having Alembic mod a Starfire for me as we speak..... And yes, I used to enjoy hallucinageons!

 

[kohntarkosz]

Beautiful!

I wonder what recordnings he actually used an SF on.

Eight Miles High for sure! That intro was not recorded on a longscale bass.

Glad Hillman is getting recognised, finally, for his work.

 

[moonliner]

Apparently Chris Hillman gets a "Signature Model", based on his Starfire he used in the earlier days of the Byrds:

Invalid Link Removed

Looks like a Newark St. with a burst.

Do we know this as a fact? I'd love it to be true but I can't find any info about it anywhere on the net.

 

[evhest]

kind of discouraging to hear him say that the tone knob seems to have minimal effect.

I own one and the remark about the tone knob is BS; it makes a huge difference. Perhaps it was faulty?

What also makes a huge difference, is where you play on this bass, more than on any other of the basses I've played. Nice and punchy over the pup, thick, creamy and woolly by the neck.

 

[kohntarkosz]

I own one and the remark about the tone knob is BS; it makes a huge difference. Perhaps it was faulty?

I sometimes wonder if these guys actually play the bass before the review is written. I know this makes me sound like Ed Roman, but there y'go. Usually I open these mags and find adverts for a instrument and a review of the same instrument. Usually the review is glowing but with one token 'negative point' to make it seem more plausible. No way will they bash the instrument of a manufacturer who just paid for add space.

 

[fjadams]

I sometimes wonder if these guys actually play the bass before the review is written. I know this makes me sound like Ed Roman, but there y'go. Usually I open these mags and find adverts for a instrument and a review of the same instrument. Usually the review is glowing but with one token 'negative point' to make it seem more plausible. No way will they bash the instrument of a manufacturer who just paid for add space.

Same as golf magazines. You'll see an ad then later in the mag is a glowing review.

It's even worse with the yearly "best equipment" issues. The companies who do the most advertising always have their clubs, balls, putters rated the highest with a nice cross section of those companies rated as best of in the various categories. Apparently smaller companies that can't, don't or won't pay the huge fees to advertise don't make products worth reviewing or considering for any of the "best of" awards.