The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: Chris P. on January 18, 2021, 02:17:48 AM
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https://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-i-bass-cherry-red/
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Not an enhancement, imho...
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I'm wondering if Guild are trying to break into the corner of the market the Jack Casady basses occupy? Double cutaway hollow-type bass with single pickup in the 'sweet spot'?
The regrettable thing is that they could have used a standard P pickup, which would make these a potentially versatile modding platform. A Dimarzio Model P is going to sound nothing like a Bartolini in the same position on that bass, which would draw a wider audience to this model. As it stands you're hamstrung with those proprietary pickups unless you can get Curtis Novak to wind a drop-in replacement. The harp tailpiece and separate bridge remind me of those Hagstrom Viking basses, and the binding on the neck isn't true to the original Starfires either.
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I was shocked first, but I like it. It reminds me a bit of the Eccleshall basses of Peter Hook.
I think such a bass with a middle pickup is a good thing. The succes of the JCS - I think - is partly because every player of a Fender/Yamaha/Ibanez or whatever 'normal' bass, doesn't have to adjust. Put down your P, grab a JCS and it's an easy change. Different if you pick up an SG Bass.
Same with the LP Jr Tribute and its middle pickup. And it will sound good.
About changing pickups: My two reissue comp Mustangs have Nordstrands. All my other basses have stock pickups. Not everybody has the urge to change pickups.
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I like it!
The chrome casing round the split pickup works great for this bass.
The Tune-o-matic bass bridge looks a bit cheap(ish), but it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me (provided that it's placed correctly)
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I like it!
The chrome casing round the split pickup works great for this bass.
The Tune-o-matic bass bridge looks a bit cheap(ish), but it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me (provided that it's placed correctly)
This is my response as well. I have no problem with a single pickup variation on this very attractive bass, and the chrome accent appeals to me.
The bridge puts me in mind of the Gretsch basses, and I'm a fan of them - So I would expect it to work very well.
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I'm wondering if Guild are trying to break into the corner of the market the Jack Casady basses occupy? Double cutaway hollow-type bass with single pickup in the 'sweet spot'?
The regrettable thing is that they could have used a standard P pickup, which would make these a potentially versatile modding platform. A Dimarzio Model P is going to sound nothing like a Bartolini in the same position on that bass, which would draw a wider audience to this model. As it stands you're hamstrung with those proprietary pickups unless you can get Curtis Novak to wind a drop-in replacement. The harp tailpiece and separate bridge remind me of those Hagstrom Viking basses, and the binding on the neck isn't true to the original Starfires either.
Is it not standard size - are we sure; I don't see any dimensions/specs for it? I admit that the metal frame makes the pup look really skinny/long, but it probably is standard (it would be sooooo stupid if not, totally agree).
They are obviously not trying to be a true to the original reissue with this (P pup) so the binding doesn't bother me. Its an attempt to bling it up a little. What's a turn off to me is that scarf joined headstock (money badly spent - give me no scarf joint and hold the binding is a better choice IMHO). We've debated those before and though most people aren't bothered, that is literally the worst place to put it in terms of robustness/stability. At least when it's down the neck at the 2nd-4th fret it is stronger. I had to fix one like that on a friend's acoustic.
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Is it not standard size - are we sure; I don't see any dimensions/specs for it? I admit that the metal frame makes the pup look really skinny/long, but it probably is standard (it would be sooooo stupid if not, totally agree).
They are obviously not trying to be a true to the original reissue with this (P pup) so the binding doesn't bother me. Its an attempt to bling it up a little. What's a turn off to me is that scarf joined headstock (money badly spent - give me no scarf joint and hold the binding is a better choice IMHO). We've debated those before and though most people aren't bothered, that is literally the worst place to put it in terms of robustness/stability. At least when it's down the neck at the 2nd-4th fret it is stronger. I had to fix one like that on a friend's acoustic.
I was just about to say I don't like the look of that scarf joint on the back. The headstock also appears to be a different shape, the 12th fret markers are also more tightly spaced, you can see another seam at the base of the neck where it joins the body, and also seems like that connection is now flush instead of slightly stair-stepped. Weird to have so many changes in the basic build for what should just equate to a pickup swap. Can't make a comment about them being good or bad either way, but seems odd.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Vk4smBv.jpg)
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I really like it.
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Like it with binding. . . not so much without.
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Works for me , always loved shortscale hollowbodies .
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Works for me , always loved shortscale hollowbodies .
True! That's a generally true statement for me as well.
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It's that P pickup that spoils it for me. Looks completely out of place.
But hey. there just aren't enough basses with split P pickups, we need more, more, more...
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It's that P pickup that spoils it for me. Looks completely out of place.
Looks perfect to me. Thanks to the chrome ring/casing.
Simple, classic.
Bass sounds the part too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUEIq8vNcVs
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Looks perfect to me. Thanks to the chrome ring/casing.
Simple, classic.
Bass sounds the part too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUEIq8vNcVs
Wow, color me impressed with her playing. Very cool. Bass sounds pretty decent as well.
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I asked four of my friends what they thought about a split P in a semi hollow bass.
(https://i.imgur.com/wrVdTqj.gif)
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You forgot to ask Peter Hook!
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or New Adventures 8)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8OY-8azVqA
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Cool and new to me. Who's the bass player in this line up?
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Co-founder Harry de Winter!
He has always used strange hybrid basses with a split p pickup.
I remember an Explorer body with P neck and split P pickup
And he also had some sort of modified Thunderbird.
(https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s1080x2048/47321056_2124642024242252_6828810748655828992_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=yf2mD-lesGgAX8dyGDr&_nc_ht=scontent-amt2-1.xx&tp=7&oh=f4b9405d330ad8c227667e2a37e27211&oe=60349B11)
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Wow, color me impressed with her playing. Very cool. Bass sounds pretty decent as well.
Its okay, but it isn't really how most of us ever get to play bass in a band. Its acoustic guitar playing, with some bass-isms thrown in; fidgety finger-picking where each note comes out with a different tone or timbre. Still, I've gigged to nobody but my cats in the last year so maybe this is what the future of music looks like?
I wonder if our resident Dutch Lothario Crispy Decker has caught wind of this video yet? :mrgreen:
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resident Dutch Lothario Crispy Decker
:rimshot: :mrgreen:
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
I have caught wind of the splendid vid, and about my lotharioism: it has been me and my he-cat in my household for a long time. Any encounters with the female kind feel like ages ago.
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You forgot to ask Peter Hook!
I'm not a fan.
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You forgot to ask Peter Hook!
In all fairness, Hook's stuff that really mattered (IMO) - aka Joy Division - was played on a Hondo Ric copy and a Yamaha BB1200...
I like Starfires in general - my main 6-string is a '66 SF II - but have absolutely zero interest in this one.
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In all fairness, Hook's stuff that really mattered (IMO) - aka Joy Division - was played on a Hondo Ric copy and a Yamaha BB1200...
Peter Hook is lucky that Joy Division had Stephen Morris behind the drums. Peter got away with listlessly twanging away through a chorus pedal because the drums were rock solid. I think a lot of Peter's aggressively Mancunian divorcee-Dad bluster comes from the fact that deep down he knows he's a crap bassist who got very very lucky.
There's a glib, pseudo-intellectual streak about Joy Division's music that annoys me. They were crap at their instruments (except Stephen Morris), but were picked up by a producer who gave their rink-a-dink garage band sound a big spacious, dark tonality that made them sound brooding and experimental. Parallels are often drawn between Joy Division and genuinely gifted German bands of five years previous, such as Neu!, Cluster et al.
And all of this is before we discuss the clumsy dabblings with Nazi imagery to try desperately to give themselves a bit of an edge.
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...the fact that deep down he knows he's a crap bassist who got very very lucky.
That sounds about right. With that said, I still like some of his lines.
They were crap at their instruments (except Stephen Morris), but were picked up by a producer who gave their rink-a-dink garage band sound a big spacious, dark tonality that made them sound brooding and experimental.
Yep, compared to their neighbours from Magazine JD sounds outright childish. I would venture a guess that for a lot of people - myself included - it was Curtis' lyrics and/or delivery that made a world of difference between them and a zillion other not-so-well-prepared outfits.
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I'm not a big New Order or Joy Division fan, but I do like his bass lines and I think he became a (very) proper bassist. And he just has a cool attitude on stage and I cool, decent, melodic rock players often better than other bass players.
He had succes with at least four bands (Monaco and now his solo outings) so I guess he faired quite well.
Having said that: I met him several times and he's a real gentleman. A polite, soft spoken and witty man.
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Peter Hook is lucky that Joy Division had Stephen Morris behind the drums. Peter got away with listlessly twanging away through a chorus pedal because the drums were rock solid. I think a lot of Peter's aggressively Mancunian divorcee-Dad bluster comes from the fact that deep down he knows he's a crap bassist who got very very lucky.
There's a glib, pseudo-intellectual streak about Joy Division's music that annoys me. They were crap at their instruments (except Stephen Morris), but were picked up by a producer who gave their rink-a-dink garage band sound a big spacious, dark tonality that made them sound brooding and experimental. Parallels are often drawn between Joy Division and genuinely gifted German bands of five years previous, such as Neu!, Cluster et al.
And all of this is before we discuss the clumsy dabblings with Nazi imagery to try desperately to give themselves a bit of an edge.
Erm, no, he's reeeeeeeally full of himself. Like there was one interveiw (recent, like within the last decade) where he listed off how "even" his son was starting to notice and remark to him at the sheer number of bassists in popular bands today who owed him or were ripping off his style. Sure, they say that behind every superiority complex is an inferiority complex, but still. Also the nerve of that dude to do some of the shit he does (riding off the back cataloge via endless covers with his current 'solo project' band and remixes; his DJ tour which sucked and where he just kept getting the crowd to jerk him off).
The point is, he wasn't the first to make bass a lead or melodic instrument, nor did he write the songs. I fell into a similar style (and according to lore, for similar reasons), but In addition, and higher in priority, I give credit to Steve Severin (who is similarly leady/melodic, just not all the time like Hooky; some songs need to go another way) and Reggae in general, among others. Steve is much more my kinda bassist; quiet and unassuming (the bassist with mystique, to borrow and modify a phrase)- rarely spoke in interviews, but when he did it wasn't bullshit; (co)wrote many of the songs (including lyrics, a la Dee Dee Ramone) and was the peacemaker in the band (see Siouxsie mad at Robert Smith when he left the band to focus on The Cure - Steve did The Glove side project with Smith after that).
Morris was pretty solid as a metronome, but you could see (in the BBC footage and other vids) that the 2 hand 16ths on the high hat had him riding the edge of the cliff as regards his ability (which is fair enough; keep that up for a 40 minute set). Props to him that he never tumbled and gave us those offbeat rack tom hits in the bargain, but Steve had Budgie, who, hands down, is a better drummer, easily more versatile (see also his time with The Slits) and makes crazy shit look like he's barely trying. This is a guy who blew Stewart Copeland's mind enough to comment publicly/on the record about it, which is saying something.
I love Joy Division, but it's got little to do with them being great musicians or people, and I've never been one for the cult of celebrity; the whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts in that case. Also, a lot of credit needs to go to Martin Hannet (compare the proper albums to the live/BBC stuff). I just wince every time someone comes along pumping Love Will Tear US Apart, because it's their worst song and overplayed at that (relatively to the rest of their catalogue).
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Earlier this year the I came out in Pelham Blue. I played it on a fair and I compared it to the normal 2-pickup Starfire. Three things are worth mentioning:
- A binded neck with dots looks cool!
- This bass has a thinner body than the normal Starfire. I'm not good in American sizes but I think it's around 5mm / the widt of one binding / three layers of Quarterpounder cheese thinner.
- It's much lighter, having to do with a thinner body, so a thinner center block and of course less pickups. This feels as a light bass, my maple II is not light
I could get one for a very sharp price and it'll arrives next week.
https://youtu.be/3QY9Gd1CNE8
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It sounds good. OTOH I can't get past the look of a split P on that body.
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It sounds good. OTOH I can't get past the look of a split P on that body.
I got used to it, and I like the new white inserts.
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I'll be interested to get a user report. I like the look, but I do have a weakness for (1) semi-hollows in that body style, and (2) blue.
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Same here with colour and body style. It should've arrived friday, then wednesday, and now the courier says today. We'll see!
I had to get used to the split P, but after seeing basses from Peter Hook and some other ones, I got used a bit. And as said, the ones with the white inserts are really different and fresh looking.
A review will follow!
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I'm wondering if this is meant to go toe-to-toe with the Epiphone JC basses.
I would be interested if you could put any P Bass pickup in there and ditch the chrome trim rings. They look a little fussy and make the pickups look too small, somehow, to my eyes.
I also hope they generally use a dark wood for the fretboard. I saw an Epiphone Joe Pass for sale with a Pao Ferro fretboard and it was too light for a stately hollow body instrument.
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I think one of the strengths of the JCS (and the DCJr.) is that it's easy to get used to it, if you normally play a more Fender-style bass. The necks, the middle pickup. It's easier changing from P top JC than changing from P to SG Bass.
This bass is quite easy too, with a very narrow J-style neck. The JCS is more P. Also your thumb 'falls' on the split pickup immediately and you feel at home. Having said that, the JCS is hollow and long scale, while this one is semisolid and short scale, so soundwise it's very different.
The pickups are wider than P's, but I can imagine the chrome cover will fit a normal split P. You still have the rings then. So active EMG's might suck all the character out of it if you want.
This example has a beautiful dark fretboard with a fine stripe. I like the binding/dots combination.