Guild Starfire Bass

[tmoney61092]

Warwick has been making that bass for at least 3 or 4 years now, never played one but sure love the look.  
 
as far as the Guild, it'd be a lot cheaper to grab one of these reissues and have it Alembicized if they are decent instruments without the loss of the vintage/collectible value. could be something to look into for those interested
 
~Taylor

[sonicus]

I think the Warwick model is long scale . I bet you would get awesome results if you were to have the Warwick Alembicized. Have some custom Activator Pickups  made !  That's it , nothing else. Just the pickups.   Even perhaps BETTER then the Bi- Sonic pickups or DARKSTARS ? How about Activator replacements on a GUILD STARFIRE ? Better yet perhaps!  
 
    Nick you might be able to get Activators for the Guild Starfire that you just purchased from MIke !  What do you think ?  
 
 Wolf

[afrobeat_fool]

I just had that conversation w/ Nick Haas, Wolf. I also talked to Mica and Ron about this.
 
 My original solution was shot down by Ron. The idea was to make a box and put some stratoblasters in it and run that thru my amp chain. If the battery is not right on top the p-up = no good. Then we went to 'how about a stereo blaster cord. Doable, but it does not exist (yet)!  
 
Now, I'm thinking about finding some p-ups and making a new mounting plate as per your suggestion. Either way it will be running thru a SF-2.
 
I am excited about trying to make this bass sound good. The fact that it is so light is very appealing.
 
 
Nick

[sonicus]

Nick , yes the pickup rings to mount the pickups. These can be tricky on a Guild  Starfire because of the contour of the top surface of the Starfire. The wooden ones on my remaining Starfire were made for me by Doug Irwin when I installed the  then experimental Hi-A (now called Bartolini) pickups back in the mid 1970's. I now wish I would have kept my Original Guild  Bi Sonics around. I would really like to get hold of one to build a Berry Oakley Tractor Bass!
 
 Wolf
 
(Message edited by sonicus on January 25, 2013)

[sparechaynge]

Peter, interesting mention of Hagstrom. I was considering a Viking (Concord) bass for a while. Is there a possible connection between these two companies again?
 
Maybe it would be good to wait an see if the pups are available separately, as they are rumored to be.

[pace]

Well the links that Wolf offered up surprised me, mainly because the non-bisonic US/New Hartford ones ARE NOT as pricey as the some of the other models (the Patriarch Line) built there... So maybe I jumped the gun by assuming these are foreign, but in comparing the GSR Starfires to the Newark St. Starfires, I don't see a $2k cost savings in materials alone.

[sparechaynge]

Pace,
GSR are made in New Hartford. Let's Talk Guild & Talkbass have pretty much confirmed Newark St. is MIK. That's where $2K comes from, saving materials is what make the Newark St. series $1500 instead of $2000ish (probably).
 
On the Hagstrom thing again, the new Guilds look a LOT like the new Hags...

[edwin]

I have a pickup ring or two lying around, if anyone is interested.