Which 60s Starfire bass pickup position?

Zelja

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Is there any consensus on which Starfire bass pickup position is considered the most useful?

Of the Starfire Is do you prefer the one with the neck PU or the bridge PU?
 

fronobulax

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Google searching LTG is your friend. "sweet spot" is one good term.

Three positions: Neck, which is the same on a SF I and I; Bridge which is the bridge position on a SF II; and "sweet spot" bridge which is slightly closer to the neck and occurs on early vintage SF I's and the Newark Street SF I. "Early vintage" is generally '65 and '66.

I prefer the sweet spot to the neck position on a SF I. But I prefer a vintage Bisonic in the neck to a Newark Street Bisonic in the sweet spot. There are several folks with SF II's who are quite happy with the "bridge" position. Some have reported that they use the neck PU most often.

Someone, and I want to attribute this to mellowgerman and mavuser, did some photo analysis and decided that the bridge position on a Starfire II did vary but neither position made it into the sweet spot.

"useful" leads to the question "useful for what?" Just by picking the hollow body, bisonic combination, you have eliminated the possibility of certain tones. Of the "remaining" tones, I can get a lot of variation by moving my right hand position so position is an ergonomic as well as tonal variable, but the difference is not especially significant to me.

If I were able to jettison the emotional baggage and replace an instrument I have had for decades, my one bass to rule them all would be a '66 (sweet spot) Starfire I. But non-musical factors make me quite content with my '67 neck SF I.

How's that for too much information that really doesn't answer the question?
 

gilded

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I have a '66 Bisonic 'sweet-spot' Starfire I bass. At the same time, I briefly owned a '60's SF II with the master volume and maybe a suck switch. It sounded strange to me and I sold it in 2 hours. I definitely prefer the SF I, but that doesn't mean that someone else would agree, or that I wouldn't change my mind with different instruments.

FWIW, the location of the sweet-spot pickup on a 30" scale Guild is about where the P-Bass pickup is located on a Fender Bass with a 34" scale.

Again, these are my opinions. I have never tried any of the new pickups, either. Your opinions might be different after listening to the same model Guild basses.

Good luck, gil'
 

mellowgerman

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As for Starfire I models, with only one pickup: I currently own a 1970 SFB-I with the neck position Bisonic that holds a whole lot of sentimental value. I used to own a 1966 SFB-I with the "sweet spot" more-toward-the-bridge position Bisonic.
I think that there is no "better" between the two. One test that I would suggest that may help you determine which you would like more, is listening to a bunch of Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead recordings (both studio and live) from 1968-1970. If you like Starfires and Bisonic pickups, you will likely find all of the bass tones to be excellent, but if you prefer the Dead bass tones, you're probably more of a neck position Bisonic guy, as Phil seemed to lean more in that direction. On the other hand, if you dig the Airplane bass tones more, you are probably more of a "sweet spot" Starfire guy, as it seems like Jack Casady had a tendency to dial in more bridge than Phil... but that's not by any means a perfect science, since both had various modifications, crazy/unique amplifier setups, and variables in the mix, but I'd say it's a good starting point.
Of course, the best case scenario is having both 1960's variations in front of you to A/B them, but that is a very rare opportunity for most.
In regard to 2-pickup models, I have played several Starfires and owned a JS-II bass with dual Bisonics. They undeniably have more flexibility in tone than a single-pickup model, but that's not to say they can nail the exact tone of one of the single-pickup models... and I'll stop myself there before I ramble on and on
 

Zelja

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Thanks guys. I asked the (somewhat general) question as a 67 Starfire I came up for sale down here at what appeared to be a reasonable starting price and it piqued my interest. It had the pickup in the neck position.

It seems the sweet spot single PU Starfire has more fans. As alluded to it's pickup position is similar to the P-bass which has been the most popular bass of all time so maybe that makes sense (though I have often affirmed that sanity is not statistical). I will search the forum for more "sweet spot" bass opinions & have a listen to some Dead & Airplane tones as suggested.

Very unlikely that I would ever get to play a number of vintage basses side by side so have to take on more educated opinions and then take a punt. In fact the only time I have bought any of my Guilds after actually having the chance to play it was when I bought forum member Hagmeat's Newark Street S-100 earlier this year.

Thanks again for your input, it has helped and is appreciated.
 

mavuser

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there are actually many, many more variables than just the pickup location when evaluating Starfire bass tone, hence the reason I have not commented to this point, even with all else equal (strings, amps, settings etc.)

but to answer your question- In short, I am a big fan of the neck pickup, especially on a maple example.
 

fronobulax

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Thanks guys. I asked the (somewhat general) question as a 67 Starfire I came up for sale down here at what appeared to be a reasonable starting price and it piqued my interest. It had the pickup in the neck position.

You do know you asked the wrong question? If the choice is buy a '67 or wait the answer is going to be "jump on it' if it is playable and affordable. Most of the answers are more along the lines of "if I am considering an upgrade...."

there are actually many, many more variables than just the pickup location when evaluating Starfire bass tone, hence the reason I have not commented to this point, even with all else equal (strings, amps, settings etc.)

but to answer your question- In short, I am a big fan of the neck pickup, especially on a maple example.

mavuser and I have often agreed that there are many variables but there is less agreement about which ones are most important and just how useful an answer, that does not account for "all" variables, really is. But, as he correctly reminds us, maple vs. mahogany is significant.

But back to the question, if you don't have a Starfire bass and have a chance to change that by getting a '67 then you should do so. If you don't like it then you probably are just not a Starfire person to begin with. If you do like it, you may never ask if another pickup or position would be an improvement :)
 
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