Of course neither Phil or Jack used stock Starfires either. Guild should do a 'San Fran' special issue with brass hardware and most of the treble side of the body filled with hardcore filter-based preamps built up from military NOS components, topped off with chunky Raytheon knobs.
Well said! Casady practically tore apart his basses and turned them into Frankensteins with metal plates, different pickups, switches, etc. He was anything but a purist, and I've seen pictures of his basses that look like something a Road Warrior movie.
I don't quite get the popular focus on "vintage" pickup sound. Pickups are about as simple as pounding clothes on a rock by the stream to wash them; they're magnets with wire wound around them. Many of the pickups from the 50's and 60's were made as best guesses, some of which worked and a few of which didn't. I've seen back-side pix of the Darkstars and it looks like they have some extra "stuff," but I wouldn't place a bet on whether I could hear much difference between them and a TV Jones Thundertron.
If someone would like to explain what the electronic particulars are for the "original" pickups with "extra stuff" that were the genesis of this type, I'll be glad to read and learn from it - but it probably won't make a difference as to whether I'd buy version A vs. B vs. C.
To me, what matters is not so much the derivation of the pickups, but whether they sound good or not to me. There are few things more individual than people's judgments (or lack of them) about pickups, and what I like, some others won't. For that matter, I know that I'm not very good at hearing distinctions between pickups.
I care about the overall ergonomics and balance of the instrument, and whether the combination of strings and pickups gives me a sound I like. Most of the time, if I don't like it the answer (for me) is changing the strings, not the pickups.
The Guild Starfire looks really nice to me, has a 30.75" neck, and overall looks like something I'd like. But it's awfully close in look to my medium-scale Gretsch 5123, the price is pretty high, and as a noted cheapskate, I doubt I'll be tempted to buy one.