Picked up a new Starfire V yesterday. I'm primarily a Telecaster and SG guy but wanted something different and mix it up a bit. Didn't have the coin for an ES335 and had an Epi Casino in the past and although it was nice, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Enter the Guild Starfire V!
It's a wonderful guitar. Maybe a tad overpriced for a Korean made instrument, but nonetheless seems like a quality build with a great fit and finish and I've seen USA Gibsons and Fender with worse finishes, crooked tuners, sloppy neck joints, etc. The nut slots are a bit high, but that's also an easy fix. The hard shell case that came with it is fairly low quality as well and a touch flimsy, but again, it obviously doesn't affect the sound of the guitar! I strung it up with some D'Addario11-49 EXL115's, raised the action (5/64" bass side, 4/64" treble side since I like slightly higher action), added a touch more relief (neck was basically dead flat and now it has .010" of relief in it) and tweaked the intonation.
I do have a few questions for the expertise here. Where is a good starting place for pickup height for these pickups? The string spring for the neck pickup seems to line up with the pole piece screws perfectly but are off a bit for the bridge pickup. String spacing and nut slot spacing is fine as well. As they are now the pickups sound fat, round and a touch dark, but not really muddy and think this is just the nature of the guitar, which is great since my Teles and SG's are obviously more bright and twangy.
So aside from the nut slots needing some attention and the string spacing over the bridge pickup (which I doubt really matters all that much) it seems like a decent guitar. It's a little quirky, great to look at, great to play, and a nice change of pace from what I'm used to. Sounds fantastic though my 1981 Princeton Reverb. Still think these are a touch over-priced but I'm pretty happy with it, so there you go! Looking forward to some suggestions regarding the pickups and thanks in advance for your replies!
It's a wonderful guitar. Maybe a tad overpriced for a Korean made instrument, but nonetheless seems like a quality build with a great fit and finish and I've seen USA Gibsons and Fender with worse finishes, crooked tuners, sloppy neck joints, etc. The nut slots are a bit high, but that's also an easy fix. The hard shell case that came with it is fairly low quality as well and a touch flimsy, but again, it obviously doesn't affect the sound of the guitar! I strung it up with some D'Addario11-49 EXL115's, raised the action (5/64" bass side, 4/64" treble side since I like slightly higher action), added a touch more relief (neck was basically dead flat and now it has .010" of relief in it) and tweaked the intonation.
I do have a few questions for the expertise here. Where is a good starting place for pickup height for these pickups? The string spring for the neck pickup seems to line up with the pole piece screws perfectly but are off a bit for the bridge pickup. String spacing and nut slot spacing is fine as well. As they are now the pickups sound fat, round and a touch dark, but not really muddy and think this is just the nature of the guitar, which is great since my Teles and SG's are obviously more bright and twangy.
So aside from the nut slots needing some attention and the string spacing over the bridge pickup (which I doubt really matters all that much) it seems like a decent guitar. It's a little quirky, great to look at, great to play, and a nice change of pace from what I'm used to. Sounds fantastic though my 1981 Princeton Reverb. Still think these are a touch over-priced but I'm pretty happy with it, so there you go! Looking forward to some suggestions regarding the pickups and thanks in advance for your replies!
