Muddy sounding Starfire 2.

[Crabby]

With the volume control on 10 I can use the tone controls and get some good sounds but when I get the volume control below 8 the sound just turns to mud. Even with the tone controls turned all the way up it gets pretty much the same results when I turn the volume control down past 8. Nothing but muddy, unusable tones. I replaced the volume pot (500k) on the neck pickup to see if it would change anything and got the same results. It's the same with both pickups. Is it the pots? The pickups? The wiring?
It's a 98 Starfire 2.

I'd like to add that I'm new here and have really enjoyed the posts, pictures and comments I've read here. Glad I found this site!

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Crabby and welcome to LTG! Did you try cleaning the pots with lubricating-type cleaner? If your pots are in their normal factory position, the open part of the housing faces the lower F-hole. You can squirt cleaner into the body of the pot without taking the pots out. De-oxit and the like won't stain the bare wood on the inside or harm the finish on the outside if you're a little sloppy.

Otherwise ... ????

 

[dklsplace]

Is this when the pickup selector is in the middle position, or do you get the muddy sound when on either pickup individually? If it only happens in the middle position, it's the way it's wired.

I had a thread somewhere regarding the wiring when I was finishing up the restoration of my old Starfire. Original wiring seemed kind of funky & wasn't to my liking.

 

[Crabby]

Thanks for responding to my question.

As far as cleaning the pots goes, I haven't tried that yet so I'll give it a try and see if anything happens.

It doesn't matter what position the pickup selector is on either, it responds the same way weather it is on the neck, bridge, or middle.

I talked to a local repair guy in my area to see if he could fix it and he told me that he'd experienced this problem before on other Guilds and that he wasn't able to fix the problem, even after replacing the pots and wiring harness. Could that mean that there are some defective pickups that came from the Guild factory? Maybe I need to check the pickups as well.

 

[matsickma]

Your description sounds pretty common for most Guilds I have played. The volume control tends to have a significant influence on the fidelity of the pickups. It is best to keep them above "8".

M

 

[Default]

Check this page for the capacitor and resistor treble bleed mods. That should fix your problem!

 

[Crabby]

Thank you!

 

[Guest]

Check this page for the capacitor and resistor treble bleed mods. That should fix your problem!

Yep, Cap and Resistor Job.
Had the same problem on both my '59 T100 and '67 Starfire IV.

However...there's an easier way.
Buy a Volume Pedal and leave Your treble max'd and pre-set the Volume Pedal to where You want it to be on the low end. Then just step on it to break on through.

FWIW Dept; I'm Guildless at the moment for the first time in what seems like forever.
Probably close to 30 years.
Got into Guilds originally because of Son Seals.
I'm looking for either a Starfire 2 Reissue or Starfire 3 Reissue with the short-lived Duncans.
Either Red or Tabac will do just fine.

 

[GAD]

The Guild's lack of useful tone knobs is what taught me to always keep my tone knobs dimed. It wasn't until I got a completely rewired Les Paul that I learned that tone knobs could be useful. I still rarely use them. The pickup selector is about as subtle as I get regarding tone.

 

[iismet]

You could try this. On the neck pickup, lower the bass side of the pickup until it is even with the top of the pickup ring. Lower the low E pole below the top of the pickup. Set the A string pole even with the top of the pickup. Play away - if it get's better, adjust to taste then go after the bridge in a similar fashion.