New Cordoba Starfire IVs: Opinions

I'm in the process of selling a Gretsch I don't like and plan on buying a new Cordoba Starfire IV in cherry w/Bigsby. I'd like some opinions on these guitars, please. I watched Cordoba's video demo and was knocked out by the tone. It sounded like they nailed Clapton's Disraeli Gears sounds perfectly. I'd also like to know about the thickness of the neck. One of the reasons I'm selling the Gretsch is the skinny little pencil neck.

DrumBob said:

...and plan on buying a new Cordoba Starfire IV in cherry w/Bigsby.

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So you want to buy a Starfire V, not IV (IV has no Bigsby). http://guildguitars.com/g/starfire-v/
The Newark St. line is made in the same factory in Korea as before under FMIC ownership. A couple of people already own a 2014 one: http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...ild-Starfire-V-with-Bigsby-Newark-Street-2014
I don't know if any spec was changed on the 2015 Starfire guitars vs 2014 after CMG took over ownership from FMIC.

Ralf

What Ralf said. The SF V has the bigsby, and Cordoba technically has not yet produced any electric guitars. The production of all current Starfires that are new began under FMIC ownership and come out of Korea. Aside from a few new color options I am not aware of any spec changes either post FMIC. I like how they sound as well, and would not be surprised if I own one some day, specifically the green Starfire IV.

guildman63 said:

Aside from a few new color options I am not aware of any spec changes either post FMIC.

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CMG already has introduced a few new models in the Newark St. Collection that were not available under FMIC. Like the Starfire IV ST (with stop tail piece) and the T-50 Slim and the two new basses. So there is progress.
Ralf

DrumBob said:

I'm in the process of selling a Gretsch I don't like and plan on buying a new Cordoba Starfire IV in cherry w/Bigsby. I'd like some opinions on these guitars, please. I watched Cordoba's video demo and was knocked out by the tone. It sounded like they nailed Clapton's Disraeli Gears sounds perfectly. I'd also like to know about the thickness of the neck. One of the reasons I'm selling the Gretsch is the skinny little pencil neck.

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Winnie has one, added a Guildsby and loves it. There are some problems with the OEM pickups, but Winnie bought a bridge pickup and installed it in the neck position which resolved the pickup balance problem. I did the same thing with my T-400 and am very satisfied with the results.

I have a Starfire III and am delighted with it. It has the brightness of a Gretsch, but a somewhat more complex sound as well.

Synchro said:

Winnie has one, added a Guildsby and loves it. There are some problems with the OEM pickups, but Winnie bought a bridge pickup and installed it in the neck position which resolved the pickup balance problem. I did the same thing with my T-400 and am very satisfied with the results.

I have a Starfire III and am delighted with it. It has the brightness of a Gretsch, but a somewhat more complex sound as well.

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Some people are buying neck pickups and installing it in the bridge position. Some are buying bridge pickups and installing it in the neck position.

Maybe we should set up a pickup swap connection website?

SFIV1967 said:

CMG already has introduced a few new models in the Newark St. Collection that were not available under FMIC. Like the Starfire IV ST (with stop tail piece) and the T-50 Slim and the two new basses. So there is progress.
Ralf

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True. I was just referring to the Starfire IV/V, and was not considering simple hardware changes like putting a ST on in place of a Bigsby. That alone will change the tone and playability, but can be done by anyone with a model from FMIC days and will achieve similar results to the new ST version as the underlying guitar is exactly the same.

jcwu said:

Some people are buying neck pickups and installing it in the bridge position. Some are buying bridge pickups and installing it in the neck position.

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I thought the issue for some was the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup. Originally in the 60ies both were in the 7 kohms range and now Guild advertises the 5k ohms bridge pickup as special feature. So an error is now a feature and I guess 90% of the buyers couldn't care less anyway.



Ralf

Not to harp on this, but '60s Guild HBs vary in DC resistance. 5KOhms or so is not out of line while I've personally never measured one at or above 7K. Which isn't to say they don't exist…

In another thread Default suggested that folks owning guitars with '60s "mini-buckers" take DC resistance readings and post them here in the thread created for such info. IMO more data from more guitars would be a good thing!

-Dave-

Quantum Strummer said:

.. '60s Guild HBs vary in DC resistance. 5KOhms or so is not out of line while I've personally never measured one at or above 7K.

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5k ohms is out of line I'd say. If they are still healthy they still should be both in the high 6 to almost 7k ohms range. The 5k ohms bridge pickup which FMIC's contractor in Korea copied was damaged as FMIC already had committed in year 2013. Mind that in 60 years the magnets lose some magnetism. I talk about measuring the pickups unsoldered, not through the output with pots in the circuit.
Ralf

It's not a huge sample size, this thread suggest that most were around 7k, though there are two examples of Bluesbirds around 5k.

Both my pups in my '68 SFlll are over 7k. They exist. It sounds dramatically better that my T-400 and my NS 4.

Posted before, but Starfire V's rock! Especially at 13:17!



Ralf

OK, the one I really want is the one with the stop tailpiece, the SF-IV ST. So, can anyone tell me about how they play? About the neck thickness?

I wonder if Guild's coil suppliers always used the same gauge of wire for the anti-hums… The neck pickup in my Bluesbird (5.24KOhms), for example, isn't noticeably different in output level to the DiMarzio neck p'up in my Nightbird (7.51K). Thinner wire in the Bluesbird's pickups could account for this. (I use the same strings—GHS Burnished Nickel Rockers, 11–50 with a wound 18 G—on both guitars.) Of course wire thickness can vary from batch to batch, and within a batch, but surely not by that much. ??

DrumBob said:

OK, the one I really want is the one with the stop tailpiece, the SF-IV ST. So, can anyone tell me about how they play? About the neck thickness?

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I too would like to give one of these a tryout. I've played lots of nice SF-IVs, old and newer, but have never been able to pull the trigger on one. Gotta do it at some point while I can still play decently!

-Dave-

I'm really somewhat amazed that I can't get a straight answer about the new SF-IV guitars here at the Guild forum. Thanks for hijacking the thread to argue about pickups. :uncomfortableness:

threads on any kind of forum veer wildly in different directions. Don't take it personal.

All of the Korean-made Newark Street guitars are really great value for money, and looking at body and neck shapes and other spec, it's 100% obvious that vintage Guilds were blueprinted to build these guitars. They're great playing guitars with nice necks and fretwork and beautiful cosmetics, and they consistently seem to be a cut above in quality than the typical Korean import guitar.

The one thing that is very odd about them is that while (at the time) FMIC went to the trouble of reproducing a pickup that hadn't been made for over 40 years, something went wrong, and they ended up producing a mismatched set with a lead pickup that has a lower resistance reading and resulting lower output than the rhythm pickup. This is something the vintage guitars never had, and doesn't make much sense.

It is the one little odd/negative thing about the current NS Starfire guitars. And it is not an unimportant piece of info about these guitars, and in that sense an answer to your question.

As for the stop tail version, they have just been released, and barely made it to guitar shops yet, so it's very unlikely anyone on the forum had a chance to play one yet.

Bob: Another reason is also that it wasn't clear what you wanted. You wrote "Starfire IV in cherry w/Bigsby" which we read as "with" bigsby. That's however the Starfire V (which was introduced 2014) and we told you that some members have one. You can contact them via private message if you like. Hence also the provious discussion about the SF V model. Only later you said what you really want is a Starfire IV ST. Now as Walter said, this new model just started shipping to the first shops and almost 100% sure nobody at LTG has one yet. However there are members who have the NS Starfire IV with harp tailpiece (which was introduced 2013), and there are previous threads in this forum that discuss that model. Again, maybe best to contact those owners by private message because not everybody reads every thread.
Ralf

DrumBob said:

I'm really somewhat amazed that I can't get a straight answer about the new SF-IV guitars here at the Guild forum. Thanks for hijacking the thread to argue about pickups. :uncomfortableness:

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Considering the pups are the only bone of contention when it comes to the Newark Street line, you should be informed going in. I really like my NS Starfire 4. It's a quality guitar in just about every aspect, except for the lead pup. As anybody here knows, I think Fender screwed the pooch when it came to reproducing the bridge minibucker. The pups are not balanced well, and you should be aware going in, particularly if you can't play one. Some people like the pup as is. I'm not one of them. YMMV.

Knowledge is power.

I am very happy with my Starfire IV. As Synchro said, I bought a US Guildsby on Ebay and put it on. The neck is nice, the weight is good, not too heavy, and the tone is really nice. I did out a neck pickup in the bridge. If anyone wants the old bridge pickup, I'd sell it.

I will probably pin the bridge at some time as I occasional pull on it by accident and I don't want to lose the intonation in the middle of a gig.