Author Topic: Alembicize a Guild Starfire ll (Read 5510 times)

dr_z · « **on:** August 12, 2011, 09:43:50 AM »

I am looking to modify a starfire ll reissue to get more tonal variation and punch. I would love to reproduce the godfather but I am sure I could not afford it, so does anyone have input on where to begin this project?
Where can I get specific info about what was actually done to Phil's bass when it was alebicized> Thanks, Z

edwin · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2011, 12:10:52 PM »

There are several steps along the path. My first step was to put a badass bridge on mine and Bartolini pickups (triple coil GBs. Took them 18 months to finally get them to me) with a Bart preamp. That sounded OK. Very versatile and it became several engineers here in Boulder's favorite bass. Killer slap tone with roundwounds.

Step two was a pair of Dark Star pickups. Great sound, but sort of a sideways step, as it gave me more of a Live/Dead sound than a Europe '72 tone.

The next step was Alembic style hardware. Mine was a custom one-off that pretty much fell into my lap. This made a huge difference as every note now couples with the body in a much stronger fashion.

After that, I moved from the Bart pre to an ACG filter based preamp. It's got a lot of good features to it. It has a deeper reach than Series I or II (down to 70hz) but I don't find myself using it down there much. It doesn't go as high, which is a little frustrating sometimes and the sweep covers a lot more ground which makes it hard to tune in exactly the right frequency on the fly. My Series I is much much easier in this regard.

My next step (where I am currently) is with early 70s Series pickups installed. This brought me way way closer to the E72 tone. I have it installed with the ACG preamp (mine is an early version with filters for both pickups) but I haven't installed the humcanceller yet. My next step is to pull the ACG and then install a full Series setup with no filters but stereo out to run through an SF2. I've got almost all the parts together to do it, so I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the week. After this settles in, I intend to put in SII filters.

As far as the evolution of Phil's Starfire, it looks like it's been through 2 major steps and several minor steps after that. The first was the installation of additional magnets to the pickups and preamps. The next step was the new hardware, new headstock, and superfilters (essentially). After that, it seems like minor mods were made with a new fingerboard, a different tailpiece, etc.

As far as the actual electronics that were installed, I think they are fairly unique. There are state variable filters with each pickup and one of the crucial aspects of this setup, like the SF2, is the ability to blend in the straight signal with the filtered signal. I tried to get this happening with the ACG filters with no luck.

Anyway, there's some food for thought. Let me know if you have any more specific questions. Remember, two avenues of mods: 1) physical mods, with a new bridge, tailpiece, etc. and 2) pickups and electronics. They both make a big difference.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #2 on:** August 16, 2011, 12:53:31 PM »

Phil's Starfire also got an Alembic quadrophonic p/up in the center position.

Peter

dr_z · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2011, 06:05:21 PM »

Thanks for the info guys. Steve

sonicus · « **Reply #4 on:** August 17, 2011, 07:06:44 PM »

Hi Steve (dr z)

Click on the link and you will see my two Guild Starfires as well .
I sold the Maple long ago but I still have the Mahogany.
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/1926.html?1283131832

Sonic Regards __________

sonicus · « **Reply #5 on:** August 18, 2011, 12:44:18 PM »

Hello Steve , here is an explanation for the Maple Starfire that I posted here in the Alembic club ; http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/2792.html?1262960781

The remaining Mahogany is not for sale.

Happy Starfiring !

pasewark · « **Reply #6 on:** October 17, 2011, 07:28:20 PM »

For what it's worth I have a maple '96 starfire II reissue with Dark Stars installed, I run my SF2 through the effects loop on my Mesa and I can get pretty damn close to an early 70s Phil sound than any other setup I've had in the past. I'm thinking I'd like to put a Alembic Blaster in the bass and replace the circuit with Alembic pots and wiring as the stock pots and wiring is just okay. I run everything on the bass wide open and then adjust the amp. An Alembic bridge would be nice at some point too.

edwin · « **Reply #7 on:** October 19, 2011, 06:58:43 PM »

Maybe try a blaster for each pickup and then you'd have active summing. I think that sounds better to my ears.

pasewark · « **Reply #8 on:** October 19, 2011, 07:31:32 PM »

Yes, I think they talk about a similar setup in Phil's EB3, using a Darlington Emitter soldered to each pickup. Here is a list of all the mods I'd like to do to the Starfire:
Dark Star Pickups w/ a blaster connected to each pickup - Maybe a bypass switch for the blasters for each pickup? A better wiring harness than what comes stock, so an Alembic Vol & Tone controls for each pickup with a Master Volume. Use a 5 pin connector to power the blasters. Add a brass nut, alembic bridge and tail piece. Am I missing anything?
Oh, I have this going into my SF-2.

sonicus · « **Reply #9 on:** October 19, 2011, 08:51:55 PM »

HI Donald,

In a nut shell I think that would work. Of course there will be specific circuit design details such as a power attenuation supplying the blasters via your 5 pin connector concept as I believe the blaster requires 9 volts DC as apposed to the +/- 15 to 22 Volts DC from an Alembic DS5 type of power source. As well there might be tone control/ capacitance issues & potentiometer issues and choices specific to your design. I believe the stock blaster circuit already has a bypass switch . I would wire it stereo out and then to an Alembic SF-2 or F-2B or 2 Furman PQ-3's or a combination of all the above. I think connection of the Blaster circuit directly to each pickup before any secondary circuit might prove quite satisfactory for the playing experience you might desire . Alembic Bridge & tail piece and nut are the way to go.

My your thunder be joyous !______

Wolf

edwin · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2011, 02:37:34 PM »

I wouldn't bother with the bypass. I like the making the leap and deciding that an instrument is what it is (I made that decision for Nick aka afrobeat_fool when I had the mothership carve an omega into a Series I that necessitated the removal of the battery box. I think the plug they made looked great!). My Starfire with Series guts has no battery option. It's fine. I always bring a backup bass, so if there's a problem, just swap it out. But, primarily, make the electronics bulletproof, which is pretty easy with Alembic circuits.

Im not sure, though, that I would go with an outboard power supply with the blasters. They don't draw a ton of juice, so a battery would power them for quite some time. If you do want to power them externally, it wouldn't be hard to built an appropriate power supply, although you'd only need 4 pins (Series electronics require + and - voltage, the blasters only need +9). You could probably even get away with adapting a wall wart or one of the commercially available supplies designed to power pedals and then just have a 4 or 5 pin cable to a breakout box on the other end for voltage and the stereo (switchable to mono, of course) outs.

I would definitely put a good size door in the back. It makes working on the electronics much easier and then you can also have access to the interior to shield it.

Good pots and wire will definitely make a difference. Get some of the mogami shielded wire designed for this kind of thing. You'll love it!

sonicus · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2011, 10:00:05 PM »

Blasters have a stock bypass and gain adjustment, right ? . Access doors come in many flavors, I prefer a front plate , wood or brass or what ever you like. I agree that adapting a wall wart is practical .LEMO connectors are also a choice to decide upon . But stereo wiring I think is KING.

moonliner · « **Reply #12 on:** September 19, 2012, 02:13:04 AM »

So, if I may join in the discussion....

I am finally moving forward on my own starfire/alembic project. I acquired a starfire that has already been stripped and made into a fretless. I'll be having the good folks at Alembic put on a new fingerboard (ebony with LED's) and a new headstock, bridge and tail piece. The bass will need to be built in stages as funds allow. I don't think I'll be able to do onboard super filter, but feel ok getting an SF 2 and running through that. I may start with anniversary electronics with the option to go series later. I should know this, but what are these blasters you talk about adding to pickups?
Europe 72 is my goal..

edwin · « **Reply #13 on:** September 19, 2012, 06:40:05 PM »

Nice! The blaster is a preamp that was developed for the strat that you can see at the Alembic store on the main website. If you are going to go series at some point (I highly recommend it, mine sounds great as a SII) and have a SF2 available, perhaps you might experiment with a passive stereo output for now straight into the SF2 with a channel for each pickup. My personal approach is to the SF2 as overall tonal shaping while the onboard SII electronics adjust the pick attack. It's a pretty good combination.

I'd love to see pictures, especially some before pictures now so we can see how it progresses!

pasewark · « **Reply #14 on:** September 19, 2012, 06:54:42 PM »

I have something to add - My '96 Starfire has the Darkstars installed. I have an SF-2 in the effects loop of my amp (mesa carbine 6). With this setup I can pretty much dial an early 70s Phil tone. Recently I aquired one of the early Alembic active cables. I've been using that without the SF-2 in the loop. I have to say this cable is fantastic. Basically it's a cable with a blaster built in. It sounds amazing with the darkstar pickups and I'm sure it would be awesome on any instrument. On my Guild it really pulls out that extra something that makes the pickups really sing. So I have a blaster in the signal chain without having to do any invasive work to the instrument - great! So far I haven't been able to get a great tone using the Cable and the SF-2 together and that's only because I haven't worked with it that much yet. Once I get it the way I want it, I'll report back. But the point I wanted to make is that active cable is awesome and worth the cost.