New Guild Starfire with singe DS-style pickyp?!?

[Pilgrim]

Jack was/is the master of constant fiddling with basses.  I'm amazed he can remember much about any of them, because so many of them were in a constant state of ongoing mods.

[Mungi]

It is something of a cliche but I do think it is true that much of the Jack's tone comes from the right hand. It is certainly more true about Jack than about other players. I don't think the electronics that they put in had very much to do with it. According to the guy on TB, that was all passive controls. It was a battery in there but that was for the thingy that lowered the impedance of the pickup. So it was not active low-z pickups and not active tone controls according to him. To my experience, a SF bass with bisonics sounds similar to Jack's modded SF, but it does not sound like Phil's EB-3 with bisonics. My Dearmond SF with darkstars sounds closer to Phil's sound than my Guild SF with bisonics. But my darkstarred Dearmond does not sound anywhere close to Jack's SF. I think a Epi JC or a Ric 4001/4003 with only the bridge pickup comes closer to Jack's SF than a darkstarred bass does.

What's your experience here? People can have very different ideas about sound. To me, Jack's sound, while having a wide frequency, has a lot to do with the focused mids, while Phil's sound has flatter frequencies, perhaps even wider frequency rate.

[4stringer77]

Steve Boone from the Lovin Spoonful played an un modified starfire on all those early albums. So there's another usable reference point.

[Mungi]

Steve Boone from the Lovin Spoonful played an un modified starfire on all those early albums. So there's another usable reference point.

Didn't know that. Chris Hillman played on also, but I don't know if he used it on recordings.

[saltymonkey]

I pulled this from TB. Justin Meldal-Johnsen's take on the Starfire after playing it at Namm:

Played it. Enjoyed it, seems pretty well made, sounds good. My time was brief, and the surrounding noise prevented a deep scrutiny. Neck size is a bit smaller in than the originals, with a shallower profile and a flatter radius.

It is a Korean instrument. So, while this helps price point, there's a certain feeling in its build quality that just doesn't compare to one of my USA reissues from '98. First thing I noticed in this regard was the thickness of the finish, for instance. WAY too thick. The next thing I noticed was the thing that seems endemic to quite literally every single Korean instrument I've ever held, which is the slightly marginalized quality of the fret work. All that said, it felt very solid (certainly as good as an Epiphone Jack Cassidy, for instance).

I'm a little miffed that Fender didn't consult with me on it, only because they have promised such things to me over the years in several attempts to get the Starfire project off the ground. Each time it was brought up as a possibility, I had made it abundantly clear that this project needed a lot of TLC and careful management and expert artist consultation from myself and others, and that I would of course had helped out happily with no compensation required. Alas, it was not to be. However, when I saw the instrument today, my immediate thought was that I was glad that they didn't completely f*&k it up. I would just have far preferred a different pickup position as well as a more true-to-form neck profile, more thoughtful finishing, and USA manufacturing.

That's my report from the field. Otherwise an extremely uneventful and boring NAMM show, with the only exception being the very excellent sonics demonstrated by the Prophet 12 and Moog Sub Phatty, both of which I'll own in short order. My daughter came with me and was very patient, and we had a good time together. But jeez: do I really need to go to every NAMM show? Unless I REALLY need to, I just don't think I need to.

Back to an insane work week.

Best,
JMJ

[4stringer77]

Didn't know that. Chris Hillman played on also, but I don't know if he used it on recordings.

Check out this vid. You can see the Guild logo on the headstock at around 22 seconds in.

[4stringer77]

Maybe jmj will get brought in to consult for USA production in the future.

[Pilgrim]

I appreciate the concerns mentioned above, but manufacturing in the US would probably add $1000 to the price - not a good thing IMO.

[chromium]

I appreciate the concerns mentioned above, but manufacturing in the US would probably add $1000 to the price - not a good thing IMO.

I noticed on that Canadian site posted earlier in this thread that there is an "American Patriarch" series that appears to feature US-made versions of a few of the guitars (M-75, etc...).  Price on those was ~$5K, compared to around $1K for the MIK version. 

Yeowch!

[Dave W]

I like Justin and his concerns may be justified, but it sure sounds like it could be a case of sour grapes on his part. I'll have to check one out in person to see if I agree. Fender's US fret work is nothing special either, and the 90s US Guild reissues had thick finishes. In any case US production of these would be well over twice as much.

Back to the case of what was done to the Bisonic by Rick Turner. I looked at several sites and conversations and all I can say is, opinions vary. Some insist that the Bisonic neck pickup always had two magnets, others that it was added by Rick, it may or may not have been rewound, etc. Memories get confused. Nobody has a definitive answer as far as I can see.

[Pilgrim]

The 60's and early 70's are not notable for the clarity of memory on the part of many musicians.

"What decade? Did someone notice a decade?"

[vates]

The 60's and early 70's are not notable for the clarity of memory on the part of many musicians.
"What decade? Did someone notice a decade?"

you nailed it

[wagdog]

The 60's and early 70's are not notable for the clarity of memory on the part of many musicians.

To be fair I'm sure neither Jack nor Rick realized at the time that they were producing what would become an iconic instrument.  It was more like "Let's try this!  Yeah!" and off they'd go.

Another factor in Jack's tone at the time was his use of Pyramid flats.

[Dave W]

To be fair I'm sure neither Jack nor Rick realized at the time that they were producing what would become an iconic instrument.  It was more like "Let's try this!  Yeah!" and off they'd go.

Another factor in Jack's tone at the time was his use of Pyramid flats.

Right. They had no idea what kind of nostalgia the future would bring.

[hieronymous]

Right. They had no idea what kind of nostalgia the future would bring.

Remember the future! (one of my favorite prog albums, by Nektar, though that had Rickenbackers on it - oh, never mind...)