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(Once again) Dear Lefties...

B

BassPlayer95

Oct 1, 2011
207
6
#1
I'm so frusturated with the lack of lefty basses on the market.:help: My rants aside, I found this knock off Music Man bass and I was wondering if you guys had ever heard of the brand Starfire. I don't believe it's the same SF as the SF Guild blah blah blah, but it may be. Anyone have any experience with Starfire?
Thanks-Caitlyn
 
#3
There are alot more lefty basses around now than there were years ago. Have you tried: adirondack guitar, drum city guitarland, or nj guitar and bass center? Also look at the for sale on the lefty bassist forum. Honestly I've bought a few really nice lefty basses off ebay. You have to know what you're looking for but there are some nice ones.
 
#5
bhunt1 said:
There are alot more lefty basses around now than there were years ago. Have you tried: adirondack guitar, drum city guitarland, or nj guitar and bass center? Also look at the for sale on the lefty bassist forum. Honestly I've bought a few really nice lefty basses off ebay. You have to know what you're looking for but there are some nice ones.
Click to expand...
what he said. there's quite a few options out there for us leftys nowadays. if you go to schecter's website they have the option of viewing all the lefty basses and they currently have 29 different models, which aint too bad. i have two of their basses (stiletto elite-5 and stiletto studio-5) and they are a hell of a bang for the buck and quite good sound and playing basses. keep an eye out for leftys on ebay too like bhunt said. thats how i scored my '83 aria pro II sb elite-1.
 
#6
you guys are not answering the OP's question :eyebrow:

your turning this into yet another, "buy this or that brand" and are bypassing his question. I don't see anywhere in his post that says "recommend me a bass". The guy want's to know if anybody had heard of Starfire.

So........ yes I have one. Cheap Chinese junk copies. Do I recommend them? Sure, if the price is also VERY cheap.

I bought mine from SilverSpring music for 50 bucks ( e.bay ),Well, the bridge had a stripped saddle screw, the tuners would not hold tuning, the pickups hummed bad, so after I changed the bridge/tuners/pickups using spare parts, it is now perfectly playable with low action.

I appreciate the fact that you all are steering him away from the brand as If I had to spend money on this thing modding it would I have?..probably not.
P1010218.jpg


Bassplayer95, what are they asking for it?
 
#8
BassPlayer95 said:
Thanks everyone! Now that we've established that Starfire's are crap, my next question to you is: Squier, SX, or Ibanez? I'd love a MusicMan but I have no income to buy one.
Click to expand...


The only current Squier lefty model that I know of is the VM Jazz, which is available in both the maple and sunburst. Ibanez has the SR300, as well as a few GSR basses for left handed players. Rondo offers a bunch of different lefty basses, including short scales and a 5 string or two.

Not mentioned on your list, but Schecter has a few lefty models available.

I guess it all depends on what you like, what sound you want, and how much cash you have to spend.
 
#9
ghostdog93 said:
The only current Squier lefty model that I know of is the VM Jazz, which is available in both the maple and sunburst. Ibanez has the SR300, as well as a few GSR basses for left handed players. Rondo offers a bunch of different lefty basses, including short scales and a 5 string or two.

Not mentioned on your list, but Schecter has a few lefty models available.

I guess it all depends on what you like, what sound you want, and how much cash you have to spend.
Click to expand...
i had a sr300 a few years ago when they first came out with that model and they are pretty good basses for the money. i ended up trading it in a few months after i got it but thats only because the neck was too thin for my tastes. other than that it was pretty sweet and the electronics were pretty versatile. if i was a jazz bass guy i'd buy one of the squire vm s. the recent squire offerings have really impressed me with quality/price ratio. and also as far as ibanez goes, if you want something simple, a gsr 100 is a good little bass. i got one as a gift a few years ago, tweaked the action and strung it with DR Hibeams and it sounds as good as my american standard p-bass.
 
#11
BassPlayer95 said:
Is the SR300 the one with the j bass neck and Phat boost? My current Dean bass has a j neck and I love it. I'm currently playing a Dean Edge 09 but it's basically all fret buzz and such.
Click to expand...

the old SR300 model had the j neck and phat boost. the newer model has two soapbar style pickups as opposed to the p-j setup. the newer model has a more contoured body style along with a thinner neck front-to-back, as well as the nut width IIRC. the newer model also has the controls laid out as volume/blend/stacked bass and treble/mid sweep.
 
#14
ghostdog93 said:
The SR300DX (P/J) models have been discontinued for a few years. You might try e-Bay, local pawn shops, and all the other places you would usually look for previously owned gear.

Guitar Center has a few of them listed on their Invalid Link Removed. Not a lefty, though.
Click to expand...

just searched the used section for leftys. they have 2 sr300dxls listed, both for $150, and also a sr400 for $180.
 
#15
BassPlayer95 said:
Is the SR300 the one with the j bass neck and Phat boost? My current Dean bass has a j neck and I love it. I'm currently playing a Dean Edge 09 but it's basically all fret buzz and such.
Click to expand...

The current SR300 has the 'style-sweeper' preamp; earlier versions had a 2-band preamp, or were passive. None had the 'phat boost'; only the GSR200 has that. All Soundgears have the thin 'Jazz' neck.

BassPlayer95 said:
Is it possible to get the old model? I really want that P and J sound.
Click to expand...

The old Soundgears that were lefty and had P+J pickups were the SR800, SR500 (the '90's one, not the current one), SR400 & SR300.
 
#16
danomite64 said:
The current SR300 has the 'style-sweeper' preamp; earlier versions had a 2-band preamp, or were passive. None had the 'phat boost'; only the GSR200 has that. All Soundgears have the thin 'Jazz' neck.
Click to expand...

According to SR300(DX) - Bass Gear Reviews at TalkBass.com, the SR300DX did have the Phat Boost. I've also seen it mentioned in a few other online reviews.

Is it possible that the PB is being confused with something else?
 
#17
Wow, Starfire still in the market?

My first bass was one (11 years ago) and despite the emotional weight of it,
I can say it was complete crap. Bad frets, dull sound, neck heavy (though mine
was a p/j with a tiny body. A MM copy is not likely to have this problem).

That bass now lies around the place in pieces, being my first(failed experiment)
of converting to fretless. For that use alone, I can recommend Starfire basses.

While you are at it, stay away from the Johnson brand, too. I had a J copy and the body wan't even real wood,

The yamaha rbx 270 is a decent pj with a left handed model (270L).
I have the 270J and it is a very solid instrument for it's money.

I don't know your location, but you may want to look at these:

Yamaha RBX270 L Left Handed Bass Guitar Mist Green MGR | eBay
Yamaha RBX 270 L. Left Handed Electric Bass Guitar in Black with Boston Gig Bag | eBay
 
#19
ghostdog93 said:
According to SR300(DX) - Bass Gear Reviews at TalkBass.com, the SR300DX did have the Phat Boost. I've also seen it mentioned in a few other online reviews.

Is it possible that the PB is being confused with something else?
Click to expand...

Nah, I just checked my catalogs; the 300 was passive in '96-97, had the Phat boost in '98-'03, then got the 2-band on '04. My '05 300DX had a 2-band preamp; I just assumed they always had it because the the only basses I've seen with the PB werea GSR200's.
 

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