A new and different Guild Starfire

#61
edwinhurwitz said:
It has a full Alembic Series II setup. I found the pickups and electronics (which were actually just an incomplete bag of parts, so I had to rebuild all that from a schematic) online. The bridge and tailpiece were installed by Alembic. The pickup mounting rings and the door on the back were done here in Boulder by Woodsong Lutherie. Mike Stephens did a great job with the door, including putting the binding on it and shielding it completely in the side with the electronics.

This bass has been through a lot of changes (you can see all the screw holes) including Bartolini triple coils and a Badass bridge, which also sounded really good. With round wounds it even gets a great slap tone! Here it is with an ACG EQ-01 preamp.View attachment 4259743
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Very cool, I like yer style dude!
 
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#63
Nice video and playing!

Some thoughts:
Medium scale strings probably fit best, they do on my Starfire 2. Or the short scale Pyramids just barely fit.

Maybe makes sense to call the parallel mode “vintage” as it sounds more like the single coil bisonic pu. Bright and clear. Especially like the two bisonics together which is parallel like a Jazz but not so much “scoop.” The two bisonics together just sound right in between either soloed, but a little softer. The bisonics are HOT single coils so have to watch you don’t get more low bass or overdrive than you wanted.

It sounded rather like a P bass on your first video. I didn’t feel like that so much on the second. I think the flatwounds should bring out more of that husky, throaty tone from the hollow body, but didn’t quite get that here. Maybe the strings are too new. Do you feel you can hear a characteristic “hollow body tone” with these basses, vs. the tone on a solid body?

Really amazing the tone difference vs. the Jack Casady. The Casady sounded sweet. It might be everything to do with the strings. I know the La Bella LTFs are dark and lovely right out of the box, while the DTFs are bright at first and need a long break in. I believe a Gibson humbucker is rather darker tone anyways. Certainly my EB-0 is!
 
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#68
I got mine yesterday, I'm just a beginner but what a beautiful instrument. It sounds brighter and punchier than my old Vantage, and it's really fun & easy to play. It also looks much better than the photos on the website - the cherry red is much deeper in color. Also, at 7lbs it's more comfortable on a strap than the 9.5lb Vantage. Love it so far.
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#69
Hey everyone question here about the new Starfires I and II. Are the current production basses exclusively Newark St.? On dealer websites I'm seeing some described as Newark St. and others with no description at all, but the Guild site only lists Newark St.

Thanks!
 
#71
arepa_funk said:
Hey everyone question here about the new Starfires I and II. Are the current production basses exclusively Newark St.? On dealer websites I'm seeing some described as Newark St. and others with no description at all, but the Guild site only lists Newark St.

Thanks!
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It seems all the electrics are Newark St collection, and the acoustics are called Westerly collection. Except the high end acoustics made in USA are called Guild USA. As far as I can tell, Newark and Westerly just means made in Korea or similar.
 
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#72
Doug4321 said:
It seems all the electrics are Newark St collection, and the acoustics are called Westerly collection. Except the high end acoustics made in USA are called Guild USA. As far as I can tell, Newark and Westerly just means made in Korea or similar.
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Thanks that's really helpful! I'm def thinking about it, would be my first non-34" bass. On demos it looks like it sounds great with flats, wonder how it is for non-rock tones. RnB, jazz, fingerstyle funk.

Also read about neck dive. Is that true for folks who have or have played one?
 
#73
arepa_funk said:
Thanks that's really helpful! I'm def thinking about it, would be my first non-34" bass. On demos it looks like it sounds great with flats, wonder how it is for non-rock tones. RnB, jazz, fingerstyle funk.

Also read about neck dive. Is that true for folks who have or have played one?
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I have a II. Seems fine all around except kind of narrow string spacing for slap. Anything with flats. They’re rather bright basses but can put out a ton of bass too.
I’ve not been bothered by neck dive, any bass.
 
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#75
Doug4321 said:
I have a II. Seems fine all around except kind of narrow string spacing for slap. Anything with flats. They’re rather bright basses but can put out a ton of bass too.
I’ve not been bothered by neck dive, any bass.
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kineticdg said:
I have the I, if I let go it definitely has neck five but the body is big enough that my right arm rests against it and neutralizes the dive while playing - but I'm still a beginner so ymmv.
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Thank you both, def considering going for it!
 
#77
arepa_funk said:
Thanks that's really helpful! I'm def thinking about it, would be my first non-34" bass. On demos it looks like it sounds great with flats, wonder how it is for non-rock tones. RnB, jazz, fingerstyle funk.

Also read about neck dive. Is that true for folks who have or have played one?
Click to expand...

I play a '67 with different pickups and bridge and it does a fantastic slap tone, if you can get used to the string spacing. It's a pretty versatile bass. Remember that Alembic Series basses are essentially hollow bodies without f holes. Different beasts, for sure, but they share some similar aspects.
 
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#78
edwinhurwitz said:
I play a '67 with different pickups and bridge and it does a fantastic slap tone, if you can get used to the string spacing. It's a pretty versatile bass. Remember that Alembic Series basses are essentially hollow bodies without f holes. Different beasts, for sure, but they share some similar aspects.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Appreciate your reply. Have seen you active on the Phil Lesh thread, so think I know where you're coming from. :)
 
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#79
Just curious - I'm thinking about changing the tuners to reduce the (mild) neck dive, but I don't know which ones fit. The Gotoh GB640 looks similar but is larger with different screw spacing. The Gotoh GB528 is smaller, would expose screws, and has different screw spacing. Hipshot are different designs altogether and would expose all the screws & wood that is currently hidden (hopefully the finish is okay). Any recommendations?
 
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