Crappy Cell Phone Photos

[hagmeat]

The case candy gave it away. Congrats Frono, enjoy mate.
Cheers. Rob

 

[southernGuild]

Cool! Congrats Frono!
I love Sandys idea of a same string etc. comparison of the two. Not that one has to be 'better' than the other, but just what sonic differences become apparent to you.
Very Cool:love-struck:.

 

[gilded]

frono, put some Thomastik strings on it quick. I want to hear what you have to say about the pickup then.

All the best, Harry

 

[Thunderface]

Let's remember here that we are guitar players and guitar aficionados, not professional photographers (except for Joe, of course ... and if you're not officially a pro by definition, Joe, you could be and should be). The important thing is not the quality of the photo but the quality (and quantity) of the subjects in the photos that matters. And in the above examples, those photos are things of beauty.

And excellent score, Frono!

 

[fronobulax]

If you are talking about this guitar, it ain't Newark St. It's from '66!

FWIW, the folks at Action have a vintage Starfire III (that is the single cutaway version, with Bigsby, right) in stock right next to the Newark Street one. Obvious differences are the pickguard profile and orange switch tip on the new one. The staff there know of my interest in Guilds and everyone took the time to tell me how well the Newark Street compared to the vintage model. They also pointed out that the NS Starfire IV was in the store for about 5 minutes before it sold.

 

[fronobulax]

And here's a wacky question,
if this NS bass was converted to left handed, would there be enough travel in the bridge to intonate it properly?

I'd guess no but the bridge is due for a photo shoot as one of the obvious differences so interested parties can speculate once I take and post pics.

 

[fronobulax]

On the string change - I am going to hold off a bit. There are some fit and finish things I want to look for and as long as I have a bass teacher, it seems that a second pair of hands on it might turn up flaws too subtle for me to notice. So I want to be 100% sure it is a keeper before I change strings. But I share the impatience so i might do it anyway.

 

[Happy Face]

On the string change - I am going to hold off a bit. There are some fit and finish things I want to look for and as long as I have a bass teacher, it seems that a second pair of hands on it might turn up flaws too subtle for me to notice. So I want to be 100% sure it is a keeper before I change strings. But I share the impatience so i might do it anyway.

Since I change strings every six months or so, I'll send you a used set of TI flats at some point pretty soon.

As long as satisfies the demanding crowd here ... ?

 

[SFIV1967]

But the careful eye will notice the bridge is curved.

The change to this new bridge style happened most probably sometime during 1967 according to photos of basses from that time that I have found. The owner of this bass for instance claims it is a 1967: http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1967-Guild-Starfire-Bass-Cherry-Red-Big.jpg

And regarding Steve's question about left handed: They used the straight bridge for the left handed version: http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3079123/p2_un2ugn2az_ss.jpg

Ralf

 

[Default]

They also pointed out that the NS Starfire IV was in the store for about 5 minutes before it sold.

Lol!

 

[Default]

The change to this new bridge style happened most probably sometime during 1967 according to photos of basses from that time that I have found. The owner of this bass for instance claims it is a 1967: http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1967-Guild-Starfire-Bass-Cherry-Red-Big.jpg

And regarding Steve's question about left handed: They used the straight bridge for the left handed version: http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3079123/p2_un2ugn2az_ss.jpg

Ralf

I was more interested in converting a Newark Street(hypothetically) and I don't expect a lefthanded model from Guild for a while.
It's more a idle curiosity question, Ralf.

 

[fronobulax]

The change to this new bridge style happened most probably sometime during 1967 according to photos of basses from that time that I have found. The owner of this bass for instance claims it is a 1967: http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1967-Guild-Starfire-Bass-Cherry-Red-Big.jpg

*snicker* Ralf, I have tremendous respect for your memory and your encyclopedic memory of things LTG so I don't know whether you are answering coyness with more of the same or whether you don't know you are preaching to the choir.

In case it is the latter, I became obsessed with when the switch occurred from straight to curved and whether the addition of the "suck switch" happened at the same time. My collection of photos, which need to be updated, is here. With the usual caveats about relating Guild serial numbers to dates I note that the highest serial I have seen with a straight bridge is BA-1459 and the lowest with a curved bridge is BA-1472. I have never seen a curved bridge without the suck switch on a vintage bass. So the bridge change happened in 1967, a statement that I have made many times without contradiction by Hans.

The bass you have pictured is BA-1662. My records are incomplete but say that it was sold on eBay to a collector in France for $3500 which set the record price for a Starfire I bass as far as I can tell. I'm thinking that sale may have been in 2007 or 8. I don't know whether the Rock and Roll vintage listing pre- or post-dates that sale but it is the same picture I snagged from eBay. I'll also note that this bass is the example I always pull out when someone is talking about headstock overlay shrinkage. I don't know whether the bass was repaired to look like that or whether the shrinkage is somewhat uniform, but it is a clear example of what the shrinkage can look like.

 

[fronobulax]

Since I change strings every six months or so, I'll send you a used set of TI flats at some point pretty soon.

As long as satisfies the demanding crowd here ... ?

You realize that the flats that are on the '67 were also a generous gift from you.

I may have a spare set of flats around because of the Pilot but I just have too much help to want to change strings often.

 

[SFIV1967]

...so I don't know whether you are answering coyness with more of the same or whether you don't know you are preaching to the choir.

I really had no idea about your "obsession" about the bridge style! :frog: Interesting collection of Bass pictures, I had done similar for Starfire IV models till 1967, because at some point in time I was interested to see the changes that happened from 1964-1967 on the Starfire IV.
Ralf