Starfire II/III and IV/V - differences in sound

[spiff1970]

Hiya,

I have been interested in owning a Starfire. I love the look and enjoy the sound although I haven't been able to ever play one - they are not available in Portugal. Unfortunately, my judgements on sound rely solely in what I hear in music clips on YT etc. So I would appreciate any feedback on the difference in sound between the models and pick ups. I understand the III, IV and V all came originally with the same humbuckers. I understand that all became available later with larger HBs and made by different brands (guild, fender, SD). I also see that the II and III have a different body and are more hollow than the IV/V. So all in all, what are the key differences in sound? What changes with the pickups and with the formats?

thanks

Pedro

 

[jcwu]

Just chiming in because I've got the same question too!

 

[GAD]

Starfire IIs and IIIs are full hollow bodies.

Starfire IVs and Vs are semi-hollows, with a wooden block down the middle.

Hollowbodies can be very lively guitars since they behave more like an acoustic, but they can also feed back like crazy. It's fun if you learn to manage it, but lots of people don't like it. To my ears, they can have a more airy sound, but with distortion, you might not be able to tell. They're very light in the sizes we're talking about.

Semi Hollows are a bit smokier - bluesier. They're much heavier, and don't feed back nearly as much.

Guys like Ted Nugent played hollow bodies, as do a lot of surprisingly hard rockers. A lot of hard rockers play semi hollows too.

Here are a couple of articles I wrote on the subject(s) that may be of use:

http://www.gad.net/Blog/2010/06/24/guil ... c-guitars/

http://www.gad.net/Blog/2011/11/25/guil ... ariations/

 

[reilly18]

Newbie here. Came across the post under my first search for pup differences in the Starfire III and wanted to say thanks for the links to the great articles. Never owned a Guild, mainly the usual smaller solid body electrics, but once had a Gretsch Country club in my teens. Picked up a Starfire III from the 1990's and had forgotten just how big this type of guitar can seem but nostalgically taken back by the fun I am having with it. A quick question on what gauge and types of strings you are all using. Thanks,

Reilly18

 

[reilly18]

Of course after reading GAD's article I went down and popped the pups out. Approx. 1997 Starfire III and with the help of the article it has SD-1 s with the NL and BL labeling as well as the Guild USA stamps. Now I get to re oil the neck, polish/dress the frets and reset the bridge. Have any of you tried a wood based TOM on one of these or is that sacrilege ? or doesn't really make a difference ? This will be my first surface bridge intonation as all else I own, including acoustics, are fixed. Again thanks for the help

 

[fronobulax]

Newbie here.

Welcome.

Dunno about your string question.

Now sure what a "wood based TOM" is.

But I'm sure people who can be helpful will be along, Real Soon Now.

 

[GAD]

Now sure what a "wood based TOM" is.

I took it to mean a Tune-O-Matic bridge on a wooden base.

 

[fronobulax]

Now sure what a "wood based TOM" is.

I took it to mean a Tune-O-Matic bridge on a wooden base.

Got it. Never seen a bass with a Tune-O-Matic which explains why it didn't ring any bells.

 

[reilly18]

Sorry for the confusion. Tune-O-Matic on a wood base was what I wondered about. String gauge/type was because I am always open to trying ones I haven't. I'm mainly a Blues, Blues/rock originals player. I've been using Nickle Rockers 10-46 on a lot of my solid bodies but was interested in what others here were using on the Guilds. I also came across a thread about Compton Bridges and wondered if any of you had heard or tried one.

Reilly18

 

[Boogie92801]

I prefer the aluminum bottom bridges on these. make sure you get the right bridge for either a plain or a wound third and forget thetom go with the precompensated aluminum stock brige they work and sound great. Intonate at the 12th fret harmonic versus open on each E string and your good to go. I think the toms ratle and steal some of the tone from these SFIIs and IIIs.

I like 11s on both the SFIIIs Ive had (late 60s and a 90s westerly) I used 12s on my old X170 and X500 and with a good set up the 11s are softer and slinkier than 10s on strat or tele since the scale is shorter. lastly dont worry about feed back its controlable and fun.

 

[GAD]

I play 10s on all my Guild/Gibson scale guitars, and 9s on all my Fender-scale guitars. They feel the same to me this way.

Since I love SRV's music, I tried beefier strings, but after a few months put the 9s/10s back on and was much happier.

 

[krysh]

my 2 cts:
a wooden TOM on any starfire isn't neccessary.
I'd suggest min. 11th on the sf 2/3 to receive the huge woody sound.
I do and I love it. fatter strings would even give more tone, but I also love to bend them and easily got used to 11th.
I'd also suggest to experiment with strings first, before thinking about a PU swap.
I get a great tone with the fenderbuckers in my X-175T but I fell deeply in love with the HB-1's I put in my nightingale...

try the cheaper things first, there is so much to discover...