'72 - '79 Starfire 4s "The Best ?"

coastie99

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A fella has a '78 mahogany bodied SF4 for sale on Ebay, and he claims that SF4s made in the '72-'79 period are the best that you can get.
I have an '85 (maple bodied) SF4, and I can clearly understand that it's going to sound different to a mahogany body, but significantly different ?
Here in NZ one is not knee-deep in Guilds, so making a comparison is not possible. In any case, I dont like the aesthetics of mahogany, and I don't much care for cherry finishes.
My SF4 has a roller bridge, unfortunately, but since that's period-correct I'm leaving it as is.

Would anybody care to comment on this fellas claim, please ?
 

bobgoblin

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ya know, i've read over & over that guild didn't have the same "dark period" that fender & gibson had. I can't, obviously, make the claim that the '72-'79 period is the BEST, but i'm sure they're great guitars. I like mahogany-bodied guitars, they have a really dark, smokey sound to me. I own a maple-bodied guild (x-150d), & that is the best guitar i've ever owned. super versatile, great sounding, great looking, hands down, the cats' meow.
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Coastie,

I don't like the looks of mahogany, either. But it sure sounds good to me. A lot of people say that mahogany has more highs, and in an electric I think that's true. I used to play a mahogany Duane next to a maple one, and the mahogany was brighter. Same with startfire 5s.

I think the wiring in 70s startfires was different, so that might make a difference. But the thing about 70s startfires that can be different is if it has Dimarzio pickups. (I forget if they were available in the 70's or 80's or both.) More power and thinner highs than regular pick ups. I had a mahogany strtfire 4 with Dimarzios, and that thing screamed.

With submission,

I remain,

your 'umble sarvant

Desert Dog Darryl
 

parker_knoll

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Hold on, I thought maple was supposed to be brighter? And mahogany is dark?

Both my starfires are mahogany and I like the sound and the look. The only maple guitar I have is a Ric 330, which is very toppy, but that is part of the point with a Ric, I think.
 

parker_knoll

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completely genuine, mate. Played in front of a big portrait of the president. Check him out on wikipedia. He's quite a character.
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Parker,

Here's another reason why I think my ear is different (just like all of my appurtenances). About 15 years ago, I read in in the Mando Brothers news that tone woods from brighter to darker were mahogany, maple, and rosewood. But to my ear, mahogany in an acoustic has a wide spectrum of sound--the most highs, and with lows almost as good as hosewood. And to my ear, maple usually doesn't offer much (except in an F50 or D64). But Mando Bros has heard a billion times more guitars and Mandy Lynns than I have.

As for electrics, I only play maple starchtops. My mahogany Duane and startfire were really brighter (my weird ear again) than my maple Duane and startfire. But that's one old half-deaf hacker's ear against all of the real experience out there.

So I'd say the only wrong thing is to judge by the name on the label because it's what Rockin' Buddy King plays. I started out buying all of the Martins, Fenders, _ibsons, and Gretsches. Then one day Buzz Levine of Lark Street Music suggested I try a Duane. I liked it better than my Gibson and Gretsch thinlines, so I sold them and came out ahead. So I tried an X 175, liked it better than the _ibson, sold the _ibson and came out ahead. Golly, could it be that Son Seals was right and that a Guild semi was preferable to a _ibson? Yes! And could it be that Robert Juinor Lockwood knew something about electric 12s that Rickitybacker didn't know? So I kept on selling one and buying two. Well all of that wasn't so hard to believe because Guild, as the rumor went, was made up of Epi and _ibson employees.

But not Martin employees, so I was really sticking my neck out (along with other appurtenances) when I tried a 212XL, and you'll never guess the result: I liked it better than the Martin, and sold the Martin and came out ahead. So then I was thinking, could it be that I'd like a D50 more than a D28? Well, the rest is history. Or perhaps abnormal psychology.
 
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