New two-pickup Starfire by Guild

[Chris P.]

http://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-bass-ii/

[Droombolus]

 Cool but what I'm really waiting for is an affordable 2 PUP version of the M-85 

[Granny Gremlin]

Sooo perdy. 

[Dave W]

I like the natural finish.

When Fender sold Guild to Cordoba last year, I wondered if they were going to continue the electrics long-term, since their core business is acoustic guitars. Good to see that they have introduced a new electric model.

[Pilgrim]

Wow.  That qualifies as definite bass porn.  The wood in the bass shown is lovely!!

Anyone know much about the "Guild® BS-1 BiSonic Bass" pickups?  Shows as the same pickup used on their M-85 single pickup model...and the single pickup sStarfire...  http://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-bass/

[Rob]

That used to be my dream machine.
Natural two pup tone crammer.
Funny thing is my first bass (which I still have) is a C Neck Precision.  Sort of ruined me for narrow necks except for Guilds.

I'm drooling and thinking. . .

[hieronymous]

Wow.  That qualifies as definite bass porn.  The wood in the bass shown is lovely!!

Anyone know much about the "Guild® BS-1 BiSonic Bass" pickups?  Shows as the same pickup used on their M-85 single pickup model...and the single pickup sStarfire...  http://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-bass/

I was extremely skeptical about them since they haven't put out much concrete information. One person I talked to said they heard from the company that they are Fred Hammon's Dark Star design but built in Asia. One would think that they would make that information more available - maybe something contractual? Maybe they don't care that much?

For a while on their website on their page of Guild users they had a picture of "Phil Lesh" except it wasn't - it was a much less well-known musician playing a Starfire - they took it down within a week but come on...

[Chris P.]

I do know Cordoba bought old Guilds as study material and new electric (guitar) reissues will follow.

[Dave W]

Back when it was introduced (still under FMIC ownership) they said it was a recreation of the Bisonics, not the Dark Stars.

[hieronymous]

Back when it was introduced (still under FMIC ownership) they said it was a recreation of the Bisonics, not the Dark Stars.

Good catch Dave - I misspoke - here's what my friend said: "I found out that the pickups are made from Hammon's spec but they are made offshore." The Dark Stars were recreations of the modded Bi-Sonics, maybe he helped them recreate the Bi-Sonic itself? He definitely seems to have worked with Guild on them, I should have spoken more clearly. Dang, I was trying to be careful too!

So that seems like a possibility, doesn't it? Fred Hammon designed, built overseas. (Darn, I even interpolated "Asia" for "overseas" - should have just gone back to my friend's original statement.)

[Dave W]

Sure, it's a possibility. Or they could have given an original to someone like Artec. We really don't know if it's an accurate recreation of either. It could all just be marketing speak.

[Happy Face]

There has been a lot of discussion about the relative differences and merits of the original Bisonics, Darkstars and the new Bisonics over on LTG.

The general consensus has been that they all sound different and the new ones were the least popular. To the point where there was no rush to buy them when they were offered at about $100 each recently.

But sound varies so much instrument to instrument.

[Pilgrim]

So the current Bisonics are a copy of the Dark Stars which were a copy of the original Bisonics?

There's a certain circularity to that.

...OM....OM...   

[dadagoboi]

So what's the price on the Starfire II?

What I've read on TB is that the new Guild  Bisonics aren't up to snuff compared to Hammons, but nothing definitive from anyone who actually did a side by side comparison  either using test or equipment or installing both in the same bass and recording.  My guess is they're probably close enough, especially for the price.

On a happy note I sold my Hammon Darkstar on Talk Bass for $300 in about 4 hours last month.  I seriously thought about buying that JS II that was available a few weeks ago to harvest its Hammons but have enough on my plate.

Very seriously doubt that Guild, FMIC or anyone else consulted Hammon on the current Bisonics...pickups aren't rocket science, especially to people who design and manufacture them.   Novaks production does look a little cleaner then Hammon's

[Dave W]

So what's the price on the Starfire II?

$1640 list vs $1520 list for the single pickup Starfire

http://guildguitars.com/basses/newark-st-basses/

Since the single-pickup model has a street price of $1099, this ought to wind up at only $100 more.

What I've read on TB is that the new Guild  Bisonics aren't up to snuff compared to Hammons, but nothing definitive from anyone who actually did a side by side comparison  either using test or equipment or installing both in the same bass and recording.  My guess is they're probably close enough, especially for the price.

On a happy note I sold my Hammon Darkstar on Talk Bass for $300 in about 4 hours last month.  I seriously thought about buying that JS II that was available a few weeks ago to harvest its Hammons but have enough on my plate.

Very seriously doubt that Guild, FMIC or anyone else consulted Hammon on the current Bisonics...pickups aren't rocket science, especially to people who design and manufacture them.   Novaks production does look a little cleaner then Hammon's

I also seriously doubt that Fred had anything to do with these or that they're modeled after Dark Stars. If they were based on Fred's modifications, it makes no sense that Guild would specifically call the pickup a Bisonic without any other description.