I had one on mine, and it was a huge improvement over the stock bridge.
Guild Starfire opinions
- Telliot
- Mods
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Re: Guild Starfire opinions
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.
- Don B
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Re: Guild Starfire opinions
My Starfire:
- Debaser
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Guild Starfire opinions
A little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Bridge: ABM Roller bridge, great ‘solid bar’ tone. I also converted the ‘secured’ bridge to a pinned one and sanded the base to match the top.
Bigsby: The NS Bigsby appears to be die-cast, but it was one of the worst licensed jobs I’ve encountered. Probably b-stock. Anyways I removed the tension bar and it had a 7 degree break angle. Perfect, IME with Gretsch guitars. Still, the needle bearings sucked. I found a MIA Guildsby and it was a drop-in fit at the hinge plate, and it covered the top screw holes perfectly. The Chet Atkins arm (which only fits MIA Bigsby) has better reach and range, and the 360 degree bracket means I can use my forearm to pre-bend while playing. Dont’ ask.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Bridge: ABM Roller bridge, great ‘solid bar’ tone. I also converted the ‘secured’ bridge to a pinned one and sanded the base to match the top.
Bigsby: The NS Bigsby appears to be die-cast, but it was one of the worst licensed jobs I’ve encountered. Probably b-stock. Anyways I removed the tension bar and it had a 7 degree break angle. Perfect, IME with Gretsch guitars. Still, the needle bearings sucked. I found a MIA Guildsby and it was a drop-in fit at the hinge plate, and it covered the top screw holes perfectly. The Chet Atkins arm (which only fits MIA Bigsby) has better reach and range, and the 360 degree bracket means I can use my forearm to pre-bend while playing. Dont’ ask.
50,000 watts out of Mexico, this is the BorderRadio...
- Musjagjazz
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 447
- Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:57 am
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
If you go on the Let's Talk Guild forum, there is a thread on how Fender (before they sold Guild to Cordoba) messed up the Bridge pickup on the LB-1 mini buckers as the Neck pickup is hotter than the Bridge.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Guild even have a disclaimer on their website saying they are using different types of wire for each pickup so it "balances" out.
You can see the difference below between Vitnage and the new NS models:
1968 Starfire III
Neck: 7.29K resistance
Bridge: 7.23k Resistance
Newark Street Starfire lV
Neck: 7.25K resistance
Bridge: 5.08K resistance
There is a company in the UK, Radioshop Pickups, who will rewind to vintage specs your pickups.
Below is a video on how they do it, I guess they have made a cottage industry out of this mismatch issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQL3lKU ... e=youtu.be
- Musjagjazz
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 447
- Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:57 am
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
Musjagjazz wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:17 amIf you go on the Let's Talk Guild forum, there is a thread on how Fender (before they sold Guild to Cordoba) messed up the Bridge pickup on the LB-1 mini buckers as the Neck pickup is hotter than the Bridge.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Guild even have a disclaimer on their website saying they are using different types of wire for each pickup so it "balances" out.
You can see the difference below between Vintage and the new NS models:
1968 Starfire III
Neck: 7.29K resistance
Bridge: 7.23k Resistance
Newark Street Starfire lV
Neck: 7.25K resistance
Bridge: 5.08K resistance
There is a company in the UK, Radioshop Pickups, who will rewind to vintage specs your pickups.
Below is a video on how they do it, I guess they have made a cottage industry out of this mismatch issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQL3lKU ... e=youtu.be
- Debaser
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 417
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: Phoenix AZ
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
Thanks. I’ve visited the site, and read GADs site as well. Seems to be a controversy over there. I used my ears to decide and I didn’t have a problem balancing the two pickups. 5k vs 7k on paper seems like a big difference, and I’m sure I would of noticed. The manufacturer says the bridge is wound with 41AWG. If so, then the bridge coil resistance (5.06k) is roughly equivalent to a 42AWG pickup at 6.35k, all else being equal. This is close enough to adjust by pickup height alone, and my ears roughly confirm this.Musjagjazz wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:17 amIf you go on the Let's Talk Guild forum, there is a thread on how Fender (before they sold Guild to Cordoba) messed up the Bridge pickup on the LB-1 mini buckers as the Neck pickup is hotter than the Bridge.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Guild even have a disclaimer on their website saying they are using different types of wire for each pickup so it "balances" out.
You can see the difference below between Vitnage and the new NS models:
1968 Starfire III
Neck: 7.29K resistance
Bridge: 7.23k Resistance
Newark Street Starfire lV
Neck: 7.25K resistance
Bridge: 5.08K resistance
There is a company in the UK, Radioshop Pickups, who will rewind to vintage specs your pickups.
Below is a video on how they do it, I guess they have made a cottage industry out of this mismatch issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQL3lKU ... e=youtu.be
I considered those folks based on the video, but wasn’t keen on shipping overseas. I asked Novak to give me a quote instead. But before I did anything that pricey, I reversed pickup positions. I got the wild idea to flip the blade coils based on experience with Hilotrons and CC pickups. I’m glad I did because it’s now what I call clear, clean and loud.
50,000 watts out of Mexico, this is the BorderRadio...
- Musjagjazz
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 447
- Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:57 am
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
Also read recently in Guitar Magazine that a reviewer had his pickups rewound by Radioshop to vintage specs but missed the original specs, so he bought another pair that are stock but raised the Bridge pickup to balance it against the Neck.
That was his way to adjust for the mismatch.
Your guitar looks great - enjoy!
That was his way to adjust for the mismatch.
Your guitar looks great - enjoy!
- TeenageShutdown!
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 449
- Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 10:06 am
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
I have a Newark T-Bird & I agree with what you say about the pickups. I flipped the pickups, but I never thought of changing the blade orientation. I’m gonna have to try that.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Were you able to rotate the toggle switch, or did you have to rewire it? That’s a beautiful guitar btw!
- Debaser
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- Location: Phoenix AZ
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
Hey thanks for saying. I dunno about the T-Bird, but these semi-hollows fortunately have molex-style connectors on the pickup leads. No soldering for the swap and flip. I had to stretch the bridge pickup lead a bit, but it worked out fine.TeenageShutdown! wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:44 pmI have a Newark T-Bird & I agree with what you say about the pickups. I flipped the pickups, but I never thought of changing the blade orientation. I’m gonna have to try that.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Were you able to rotate the toggle switch, or did you have to rewire it? That’s a beautiful guitar btw!
50,000 watts out of Mexico, this is the BorderRadio...
- TeenageShutdown!
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 449
- Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 10:06 am
Re: Guild Starfire opinions
So my pickups are swapped & I rotated the blade orientation today & what a tremendous difference! It went from sterile sounding (in the original configuration) to having some spank & chime in this new configuration. I still have to tweak the pickup heights, but this is so great. Thanks for posting this information. It was a huge help!Debaser wrote: ↑Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:03 amHey thanks for saying. I dunno about the T-Bird, but these semi-hollows fortunately have molex-style connectors on the pickup leads. No soldering for the swap and flip. I had to stretch the bridge pickup lead a bit, but it worked out fine.TeenageShutdown! wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:44 pmI have a Newark T-Bird & I agree with what you say about the pickups. I flipped the pickups, but I never thought of changing the blade orientation. I’m gonna have to try that.Debaser wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pmA little update on my Newark St. SF-V.
Pickups: So they were not cutting it against my single-coil mind. Bridge was great, but that neck, kinda muddy. I reversed the positions: the bridge pickup was placed in the neck position, and the neck in the bridge’s place. I also went ahead and inverted the orientation. This places the bladed coil at the opposite extreme. I like it. If anything, I might get another stock bridge pickup down the line.
Were you able to rotate the toggle switch, or did you have to rewire it? That’s a beautiful guitar btw!
Edit: Today I countersunk the pole screws for the low E & A string on the neck pickup by about 1/64” & tweaked the pickup heights some more. Wow! The mud is completely gone! I’m really impressed with the middle position. It has chime for days! And I generally don’t like in between pickup settings at all. Thanks again!