Guild Starfire Bass ?

[fronobulax]

Hi fronobulax, thanks for the welcome. Do I remember your name from the Dudepit?

I had a De Armond Starfire with two Hammon Dark Stars from 2005 to 2008 and did many many gigs with it in a 60s style band. It worked very well in that context. After that band folded, I sold the De Armond to fund a Lakland Decade with chisonics, which I still have.

I would definitely like to try the new Guild Starfire, but something will have to be sold to make money and space if I'm going to buy one because I have a maximum five bass rule. So, we'll see what happens.

I was fronobulax at the Dudepit although I shudder to think what I might have done there that makes me memorable :wink:

If or when things get slow it would be interesting to hear your comparison of the Chisonics and your memory of the Dark Stars.

I think that the five bass rule is overrated although the breakthrough came when Mrs. Fro, realized that just because she could only play one guitar at a time, that was no reason to only have one guitar. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

[mgod]

Since we are posting Starfire clips, and I am mgod's hosting service

And I appreciate it very much. It saves me an enormous amount of trouble figuring things out I don't need to know otherwise. My brain is full.

 

[krysh]

here is a soundclip of my 1965 SF1 and here a video

 

[mellowgerman]

...the dearmond is widely acknowledged to be a 32" or "medium scale" bass...

My De Armond was 30.5".

Mine too was NOT a medium scale. My suspicion is that the 32" rumor was started on the talkbass.com forum... I see it a lot over there. I'm convinced the reason why people are mislead to think it's a medium scale is because it does in most cases "need" medium scale strings since there is more combined space between [the bridge saddles and where the strings are anchored] and between [the nut and the tuning pegs] than on most short scale basses (ie hofners, danelectros, etc.)
And I place the word need between quotation marks because I always used the old-formula Fender longscale flatwounds on my starfires and it worked beautifully. I would simply strip a small amount of the outer wrapping of the E string to get it to pass through the tuning peg. This doesn't work with some types of longscale flats, specifically LaBellas which will break quicker because they are made differently; more fragile and less flexible as a result.
And, while we're posting SFB soundclips, here are a few of my old demo videos of both my 66 SFB and my 90's DeArmond

66 SFB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tF10YO91M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q31FAkvZphc

90's DeArmond with Dark Star pickups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debuRbwVM-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8PrqW0JtE

 

[dlenaghan]

"Mine too was NOT a medium scale. My suspicion is that the 32" rumor was started on the talkbass.com forum... I see it a lot over there. I'm convinced the reason why people are mislead to think it's a medium scale is because it does in most cases "need" medium scale strings since there is more combined space between [the bridge saddles and where the strings are anchored] and between [the nut and the tuning pegs] than on most short scale basses (ie hofners, danelectros, etc.)..."

Oh, dammit. I've passed on the DeArmond RIs more than once because I believed this was the truth. Oh well, now it seems i might have a shot at a better option, albeit for twice the price..

 

[mikko]

As an owner of a 90´s DeArmond RI, I can confirm it is a short scale bass (31"). BUT, medium scale (32”) strings are a perfect fit for it. Short scale (30”) strings are too short.

 

[mavuser]

Well I am happy this subject came up because it sure seems everyone out there selling one thinks it is a medium scale/32". I know people that have passed on buying one because they were "better off just getting a short scale bass." And Mellowgerman I checked out ur bands tunes a while ago u guys sound great.

 

[fronobulax]

Since we have veered to a discussion of "scale length" let me just make the obvious observation that there is no universal definition of "short", "medium" or "long". Short generally means 31" or less but some of the Hofner "short scale" basses are shorter than the Guilds at 30" (and change) and some strings will fit a Hofner, but not a Guild. "medium" most often means "more than short but less than long" and the term is vague enough to be useless. "long" tends to mean 34" which leads to the question of what to call a bass with a 35" scale? "Sir?"

In addition to the vague, non-standard definitions, there is also the sad fact that there are several ways that honest, well intentioned people can take a measurement and claim it is the scale length but are in fact wrong.

 

[mellowgerman]

In case anybody has renewed interest in a 90's DeArmond Starfire... there is a black one over at guitar center's used gear site for $585.99
If you type in "starfire bass" in the search it pops up. This is the link for their site: http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm

Also, mavuser, thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the tunes

 

[mavuser]

Also, mavuser, thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the tunes

I'm always looking to listen to something new I havn't heard before. You guys are great. if you ever play a show in New York definitely let me know or just post it here. also your youtube vids and I are old friends, nice!

seems like the Dearmond SF is a great deal after all...if u all say its the same spec as the Guild, that's where the debate ends for me. I THINK I was right about the rest of it...they are all maple with (Dearmond?) humbuckers. I think that would sound great but no comparison to Mellowgerman's "DADS" especially with him playing it.

Mellowgerman should also be credited for rollin the dice on the new Chisonic pup and reporting back here, in his other thread about the "Starfire-ish" bass he built...seems like someone could get in the game with a Dearmond SF bass, and sniff out one/pair of the new pups that are starting to surface, without getting into a bidding war or going too crazy. might end up flirting with the street price of a Newark Street, especially if you have to pay someone for the pup swap labor...but in the end it would be a SF 2 and maple so a bit of the apples and oranges when next to the Newark St.

also want to add the question of the string length vs. scale length as many of u know has been discussed in great detail on this forum, and at best is somewhat confusing. My opinion only-the crux of the STRING length confusion is that the popular TI Jazz flats "short scale" are 32 inches and the popular Daddario Chrome flats "medium scale" are also 32 inches...Daddario also has a "short scale" string which is only for some Gibsons, Epi's, and Hofner/McCartney basses as far as anyone knows. Even the Fender Mustang...possibly a "shorter scale" than the Gibsons, takes 32' strings due to the way the instrument is set up/configured (through the body).

 

[mavuser]

I also think the less electronics, controls and switches on the instrument the better.

clearly, this opinion is not shared by all