Guild Starfire I - The BEST Semihollow Bang for the Buck? Let's find out! - LowEndLobster Review
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2021
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Hey everyone! Today we're reviewing the Guild Starfire I, Guild's entry level semi hollow bass. Freshly strung with some LaBella Deep Talkin Flats 45-105 (full scale!), this Starfire is ready to light up some funky licks. Featuring a split coil pickup with a hidden trick up its sleeve, is this Guild the best bang for your buck semi hollow bass? Let's find out!
This bass (isn't) and all my other basses with rounds are strung with MJC Ironworks Nickel Plated Stainless Steel 45-105(125) unless otherwise noted. Check them out at www.mjcironworks.com
Info on my signal chain, setup and more: • FAQ: My Signal Chain, ...
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@LowEndLobster, I received mine last week (thanks for the video!)
I MANAGED TO GET RID OF THE HUM!
I found that the noise issue on mine was due to the fact, that the installed P pickup was both the same polarity (checked with a compass), and phase wired - essentially 2 single coils wired in either series or parallel will hum if one of them is not reverse wound. Reverse polarity on magnets is normally used to keep the reverse wiring in phase between 2 pickups / pickup sections. Maybe a QC issue, that the guy installing the pickups took the 2 parts from the same bucket, and this didn't turn out at final checking.
For an easy fix, I removed the part responsible for the D-G strings, cut the blue and black wires long enough to have wires left on both sides, soldered them in reverse (blue to black, black to blue), insulated it, installed the pickup in its place, and the HUM IS GONE!
This in theory puts the D-G string out of phase compared to the E-A pair, but there's no other pickup installed to have problems with phase, the sound and usability remained the same at the end.
If you have a noisy instrument, check the pickups first with a compass (you should see south for one and north for the other ideally), and if you also got the issue I had with 2 identical parts, and one of them not wired in reverse , do (or ask someone to do) the above fix!
By the way Guild managed to ground the magnets of the pickups without using the 2 wires of the pickup, so touching the magnets is not heard even in series mode, where the negative of one pickup goes in the middle of sound - nice touch!
Sometimes all you need are the meat and potatoes. Excellent bass for the money. That Vintage mode off with the tone knob all the way down is my favorite sound!
Thanks Joe!
I actually like the vintage mode tone, and definitely prefer the Guild over the Epihone, thanks for that comparison!
Thanks Simon!
@lowendlobster
I bought one of these Guilds because of your praise for them Lobster, and you know what?
It makes me "buzz" everytime I play it! It's my favourite bass and sounds amazing with the band. Thanks for the signpost my friend 👊
Enjoy :)
One of my favorite channels. I trust your judgement and enjoy your presentation. Take care my man.
Thank you! You too!
I love the guild bass headstock. Back in the late 70s, a friend had a guild B302-A. A real beauty.
Nice! I like it too
I don’t know but that brilliance of the Starfire fits more my taste and musical ideas. Thank you very much for the review, and the useful advice of buying full-scale strings...
I really appreciate that you demonstrate Basses with a pick. Thanks! 🎻🙂😎
Love your reviews. Very happy to hear the distorted tone on reviews, maybe a pick in there too would be amazing. 👍
Thanks Stevie!
Fantastic demo! Thanks for posting. 👍
Oh my god. You had me at ‘Salutations, Crustaceans.’ Best sign-on ever. Instant subscribe.
Great demo! Nice playing too 😎
Really digging this! Good point about the difference in scale length between this and the Cassady. Kinda GASing for a semi-hollow and/or shortscale. Also very interested in a Höfner Ignition Club bass, would be great to see a demo of that at some point!
That fuzz was extra fun. Thanks to whoever had the idea. You are having a bunch of fun doing these vids and it shows. Until we message again.
Thank you Rick :)
The bass sounded absolutely awesome with that fuzz. I'm seriously considering a semi hollow for my stoner rock band, and clips like that are convincing me it is not an absolutely stupid idea
Cool review. I personally love the Guild. I have the now discontinued Korean made Starfire bass with the Guild BS-1 BiSonic, and of all the hollow body basses I’ve played through the years (Gretsches, Gibsons, Epiphones, Hofners, Hagstrom and more), none can compare to the Guild. I haven’t tried these new cheaper models, but I expect brilliant build quality. I string mine with La Bella flats for medium scale, those are perfect and I don’t get too much winding on the pegs. Thanx for this review, I’ll order up a few of these basses to the store 🙂
Thanks Affen! This is my first Guild that I've played and was very impressed. Hoping to check out some more in the future!
Thank you for this. I’m looking tor but my very first bass, this was really helpful
Perfect timing! I got the email about this one and was wondering how it sounded
:)
Those flatwounds are a perfect match for that bass. They sound KILLER.
Thanks Jonathan! I agree, they really work well with this bass
@@LowEndLobster I just picked up a beautiful Guild/DeArmond 1999 Starfire reissue. It’s got flats on it now but it needs a setup and I am thinking about restringing with half rounds. Any thoughts?
Nice review as always. I'd love to hear it w/ some TI flats !
I actually bought one of these when they came out in April. Love this bass! It is now my go-to instrument. I play in a 60's band and have two Hofners, a Dano Longhorn and an Ibanez. This bass outdoes them all and fits my music and the 60's look perfectly. I play with a pick 90% of the time and just tweak the tone on my amp a bit to not give such definition with picking. I did make the same mistake with the strings. I bought a set of medium scale and those didn't work either so I went with D'Addario long scale flats. I use flats on all my basses. I only wish that Guild would tell you ahead of time that short scale strings don't fit. Great video!
Thank you! Awesome, so glad you're enjoying yours :)
Awesome, I appreciate the insight!
40+ year old Hofner Beatle bass now with LaBella flats👍. Looking to add a backup. Thx for the review!
Just wanted to thank you for this wonderful and thorough review! I’ve only been playing a little over a year and wasn’t sure if I wanted to drop so much on a new bass, but man, I couldn’t resist the Starfire! I’m so thankful I had your vid to help with my decision, and am glad to report that I loooove my new bass. I put some flats on and now I’m really in business! Hopefully my playing will improve enough for me to do this bass justice 😂 Thanks again Lobster! I give you 5 out of 5 claws!
Thank you Bebe! They just came out with a pelham blue limited edition, and I think it's about time to revisit this bass hahaha. So glad you're enjoying yours!
@@LowEndLobster uh oh, that’s mighty pretty! Are there any rules against owning two of the same bass? 🤔😬
@@bebemadchen If there are, I'd be in prison LOL
Just bought one in Pelham blue and I love it.
Have had the Epiphone JC for a good long while, and just yesterday picked up a Starfire I, could say I now have all my semi-hollow “basses” covered so to speak 😂
Both fantastic bits of kit 👍
Nice bass... Great review Lobster!!!
Thanks Marcio!
Almost purchased one, very fun bass to play. Ended up with the G&L Fallout.
Thanks John! Both are definitely great choices. Different vibes but both bring the booty
A great sounding bass! The "standard" mode is much better than the "vintage" one with the tone control all the way up but with tone rolled down that "vintage" setting does get some of that early 60s sound so it does have some sense. But the standard mode with tone at 100% is where it's at - really punchy! I like it a lot. And yes, flatwounds really fit here.
Thanks BD! Yeah man, the flats really woke this bass up!
I prefer the Guild! Sounds so nice, especially in the vintage mode.
Has a really nice old school slap tone. Full of little surprise quirks like a cool, cheap bass ought to be. 😊
That Guild sounds great and I think the label for vintage mode is accurate. It is my favorite setting.
Thanks Meyers :)
If I had to cut down to only one bass, the Guild would do everything I need. To my ears, the Vintage (parallel) setting sounds like a Jazz bass on the front pickup, which is the sound I use when accompanying a single guitar or piano. The series setting is, of course P-bass, which I would use for any setting involving drums or percussion. If they'd make the fretboard switchable with a fretless surface I'd be in one-bass heaven! Thanks for the demo!
Pretty sweet! For semihollow I went with an Ibanez AGB200 and love it! 🦞
Nice! I should check one of those out.
Just found out they make these in lefty. Really happy about that.
That's great! Southpaws always get the short end of the stick when it comes to instrument selection
After watching several times your review on it and the 3 best and worst basses of 2021 video, I décidée to get one.
Thank you so much lobster, it's such an awesome bass, I owned nearly 40 basses, fender us, ibanez, status(great), sandberg, human base(also great bass) and this one is one of the best I ever had.
I didn't have the noise problem you had. As you said the neck feels so great .
Very light, well balanced, beautyfull, easy to play, nice sounding vintage bass.
Thanks for your advices 😉👍👏
Thank you! The noise was my lapel mic. I've since moved to a different mic setup to prevent this. So glad you enjoyed the video and love the bass.
With flats, it is excellent. Best regards, Cedric.
Compared to the Epi JC, that Guild sounds way better to my ear but I'm sure it's all personal preference. LowEndFuzzter was a nice touch there lol Well done.
Thanks Snibborwocky!
Bridge replacement on the JC definitely changes the tone character. Stock bridge which has shortcomings does add to that JC tone.
Ah.......... I love starting my Sunday morning with a Lobster review as my first liter of coffee kicks in. Really nice bass, but with that pickup size I think it would be hard to find an exact replacement - like an EMG - to clean up that bothersome noise issue. By the way, I love those 60's bass lines you played on the demo! All you needed was some smoke, a strobe light or two, and a few go-go dancers. Perhaps you could train one of your cats?? Cheers Lobster!
Thanks Chris! I bet you could get a regular sized P pickup in there (maybe sans the metal pickup surround). A little catnip and some flashing lights ;P
@@LowEndLobster exactly, the size is a P-bass under the metal cover. But I found the issue on mine today - the 2 pickups in mine are the same magnetic polarity and wired in phase, so it didn't act as a humbucker. I cut the wiring for the D-G strings, soldered them in reverse, and voila, noise is gone! First check with a compass if you have the same issue - you should see north for one pickup, south for the other ideally. If not, try wiring one of them in reverse. As there's no other pickup on the bass, you can't get funky things with signal being out of phase for 2 strings, and it solves the noise issue.
I was waiting for this review to decide between this bass and the Ibanez agb-200. I'd prefer to have Guild on the headstock over Ibanez for a semi-hollow bass, but that noise issue took it out of the running. Thanks for the great review!
Thanks Nathan! Honestly, I wouldn't call the noise issue a real issue. I don't think it would be too common for someone to be wearing something like a lanyard mic while playing this bass, or something else with current in it.... That being said, it still could happen hahaha.
@@LowEndLobster that's true, but some of the places I play at have a pretty extreme amount of interference and I'm nervous to get a bass with any sort of sensitivity like that. I've found that humbuckers help a lot in those situations. I also don't want to get a more expensive bass to play in bars haha.
It sounds wonderful.
I'd say those 2 basses are for different roles.
I hear you about ergonomic nitpicking, I have three 30 inch short scale basses, five 34 inch scale and a Rickenbacker 4001 33.25 inch scale. They each have their strong and weak points.
I use 32 inch medium scale GHS Precision flats on one of my Mustangs, a good choice for the string through body. I use Labella Deep Talkin 760F-MUS for my other Mustang, they have the extra length to accommodate the string through and would be perfect for the Starfire.
I'll take those short scale Labella's off your hands if you want to unload them for some cash. Thanks for the great review Lobster 🦞
Thanks Sparks! If you're on the discord, hit me up on there and I'll give you a deal :)
"Medium" scale strings should work, if you can find them in your desired gauge and winding type. Also, I found the Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Bass strings (JF324), which are labelled "Short Scale" but are actually long enough to accomodate 32 inches, and that's what I have on my Starfire. I got mine from "Strings By Mail".
thanks a lot for your infos!! 👍🏼
Fell in love with the sound and look of the Guild Starfire 1, especially in blue. The TI “short scale” are unique in that they are actually slightly longer than most medium scale strings and should be a perfect fit on the Guild. Haven’t tried them myself, but I’ve heard good things. I got the Jim Dunlop medium scale flats, and the E and A silks just overlapped the nut slightly because of the asymmetrical tailpiece, so I trimmed the silk a few mm on those strings. I think next time I’ll get the D’Addario XL Chrome flats in long scale, which have blue silks to match the blue body. LOVE LOVE LOVE the Guild. It’s the sound I’ve been chasing and has a LOT more punch than my Mustang bass. Guild finally got back to me after an online inquiry, and confirmed that long scale strings are recommended, though the TI “short scale” might work perfectly.
To my ears the tone of this bass blossoms once you start dialing back the tone knob but nice in all settings and it sounded killer played with a pick.
Thanks Keith!
I was not prepared for it to sound like that at all. Great thump!
Thanks Griz!
surprisingly aggressive soundin!
Nice! Def want to get something like this for a Steve Swallow vibe!
Ah yes….Steve Swallow, the thinking man’s bass player. 👍
In "Vintage"/parallel mode, I feel like I can detect a sort of scooped/out-of-phase thing happening. I really dig that.
Thanks Tim! Me too. They did a really nice job with this bass
Beautiful sound.
Beautiful instrument. In a surprise turn of events I like the sound of a P pickup on this bass, especially with the fuzz. A set of D'Addario XL half rounds would sound great.
Thank you :)
I play a Starfire II with the XL half wounds, great for the Phil Lesh tone I am seeking. Always searching for the sound, so appreciate this video. Thanks
I will buy this one, definitely!
Thanks Late Night :)
I like the tone down in vintage mode w/ the pick.
In this demo, I greatly preferred the Guild to the JC, it sounded much more defined. I know the strings made a difference, but I can't imagine that was the only factor.
Thanks Johnny! Indeed, though the strings definitely played a factor, the guild definitely sounded awesome and clearer
I agree. I really like the throaty tone to the Guild. Better ballooning from the start too.
Nice lobster excellent review 👍
Thanks Paul!
Great sounding bass.
Thanks Redjet!
Can't decide which tone I like more. The Jack Casady has a nicer neck aesthetically but I love the big red hollow body on the Starfire. My favourite look is the big orange Gretsch Electromatic bass. Can't seem to lay my hands on one now though.
I have an Epiphone Rumblekat Allen Woody semi hollow bass that is also great bang for the buck. (I also have a JC). It sounds great and is easy to play (short scale)
Love that bass
Thanks Frans!
That series / parallel switch confirmed my thoughts on a future mod....
:)
I was gonna pick the Jack over the Star, but due to the difference in strings, I can't make my mind up. I love semi hollow basses, but the Starfire seems to be lacking treble. I know you lose some treble with flat wounds, but I've also seen semi hollow and solid basses keep a pretty good amount of treble with flats on.
I don't know, the Jack sounds nice, but I wish it had the same strings as the Starfire. The Starfire (although not as boomy as the Jack with it's old flats on) seems a bit too boomy for me, would be nice to have a bit more treble whether that may be the strings or maybe adding more treble in the EQ. Over all really good review. Looking forward to a Chowney semi hollow vs Jack vs Star (I forgot it Chowney's semi hollow is low end/low price)
Thanks Cedrick! I too wish I had a spare set of the LaBella DTS for the JC. I do not like the low tensions as much.
This was exactly the demo/review I needed...the JC comparison sold me. How would it stand up to a Rivoli?
Cool red vintage hollow bass .
sounds great 👍
another great review . Maybe a review of the Rev Dub King would be cool , ugly as sin but great tone .
Sounds good!
I like that tone.
Me too!
How many of us have a mic cable clipped to our shirts? If that's the only source of noise, I'm in.
A bit off subject, but I have some other semi-hollow basses that did not respond to the anemic OEM tone control circuits There are folks on the Internet that will build custom varitone 6 position switches that have by-pass and 5 varied value caps to dial in the tone you like best. I've not been disappointed. Good vid, great information. Subscribed.
Thank you! This video was a catalyst for a new mic setup for the channel that doesn't involve clip ons. Welcome aboard
The hell with the bass I want that shirt!
Hahaha thank you :)
Very nice demo and cool bass, so the strings are LaBella flats long scale ?,,,,,, it sounds really close to a PBass !!!!!
HE'S BACK! THANK GOD
Wha? No I'm not lol
@@LowEndLobsterdamn, this just popped up on my feed. Thought it was new. 😅😅😅
Your reaction still made me smile haha thank you!
Man that thing is clean in vintage mode
Thx for the info in your review, Lobsterman! I'm considering bying one, the walnut version. I read this one has a maple top instead of mahogany on the reviewed one. Would this make a huge difference in sound?
Nice! I've always had my eye on a Guild Starfire bass, glad to see it has the Lobster seal of approval!
If I had to get a semi-hollow bass though, it would probably be a Dipinto bass. Those things (from what I've seen) are baaaad basses!
Thanks M James! I need to check one of those out!
That thing sounds Awesome 😀😀😀
Thanks Coolaxe!
How does the Harley Benton stack up compared to this? Great review BTW man 🙌☺️
Hey Lobster! I watched your review on the Corsair and now this Guild. I'm curious if you've done a review on the Hagstrom viking? I really dig the looks, but would like to know how it compares?? Great videos!
Thanks Jack! I definitely need to check out the Hagstroms
I'm 65 and still working on the pick also.
It's so much fun exploring a new aspect of an instrument that you know so well! Good on you :)
The Epiphone is louder, which is great. So, playing the Guild its just a matter of the volume knob of the amp to get even with the Epiphone ? However, according to sounds and not loudness, I think I fell in love with the Guild ❤
Great rundown! Do you have any issues with low tension on the low E?
Would like to hear a comparison with the Epi Rumblekat Short scale semi-hollow.
I’d like to see you review the Epiphone rumblecat.
I like that Bass!
The Guild is the winner in this comparison. It just sounds more punchy and upfront. I own the Starfire II. I was going to consider the Starfire I but I didn't buy it because it didn't have the bi- Sonic pickup in it. The necks on the guild basses are extremely comfortable to play. I find the neck on the Jack Cassidy to be somewhat of a log.
I have a 335 style guitar, and I think the issue with noise is that the wires run through the open chamber to the knobs. Normally you'd shield the cavity, but on a semi hollow it's the whole chamber. So the wires themselves need to be sheilded instaed of the standard pick up wire. I''ve consider wrapping in foil. or only remoing half the paper backing off foil tape and wrapping in that.
I stopped using my lanyard mic because of this hahaha. It was an odd issue that wouldn't happen on stage or anywhere unless someone was playing this with a lanyard mic - which normally wouldn't happen lol
@@LowEndLobster I find my 335 picks up off my computer screen too. I haven't helped the situation by removing the humbuckers for p90 style pickups.
I would really like you to review the epiphone Allen Woody rumblecat. Thanks
I was able to A/B the Starfire & Cassidy at Sweetwater and my taste ran towards the Starfire. As a lead singer, I prefer a short scale, less hand travel and while singing and making eye contact with the crowd, the short scale is just easier. The Guild Starfire had the ability to go deep low, mid growl and higher end punch and spank. The Cassidy to me was stuck in mudville, virtually all very low end and zero spank to speak of.
Great video. Love the color and look of the bass. Just curious if it’s like the Gretsch where it’s super neck heavy when played standing with a strap. Did you happen to notice, if you played with a strap? Thanks!
He said it’s seems fairly balanced towards the end of the video
Nice shirt my dude
Another bass I didn't know I wanted.
Thanks James :)
beautiful review Lobster! I was not decided but I will go for a Guild Starfire I Bass LH Cherry Red. Your review convinced me! Do you know what type of strings come with the bass? I loved it since I saw Simon Gallup using Guild :D
Thank you! I think stock strings might be D'addario
@@LowEndLobster Excellent! Do you think it is suited for rock music, even a little bit of punk? Thanks!
Whenever a bass has hum, the cat is no where to be found. I'm waiting for you to play 'Livin In The Past' by Tull
I have been practicing that myself. My bass has LaBella DTFs and they sound great on that tune.
Haha true! I need to step up my tull game ;P
Phil Lesh played a camera/mic with his bass pick ups catching the interference signal (Winterland 74)
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing, D!
@LowEndLobster Hello! Got interested about this bass as soon as I heard the amazing raspiness of it. I don't believe I've ever even held a shor scale bass much less a semi-acoustinc one so I'm wondering how "playable" is it in the sense of ergonomy; as you mentioned, your left could get cramped after a while.. Any other issues of the sort? Suppose in short what I'm askin is, is it suitable for long practice sessions? :D Glad if you can answer this and if not, well, just gotta try and find one to test out before actually buying one! Coole videos btw! Definitely worth subbing! Keep 'em comin' mister!
Hey Karpo! It doesn't feel too short scale because of the large body, so it won't really be noticeable minus slightly less of a reach between frets on the lower end. This is a really nice bass for the money, and is definitely giggable and usable at rehearsals. I doubt you'll find one in a brick and mortar store, but I recommend purchasing from a shop/retailer where they have a solid return policy (and don't forget to ask for their best price!). So glad you're enjoying the videos :)
@@LowEndLobster Thanks for the fast response! I'm still weighing my options between this one and sterling stingray 5 hh. Sadly the color options on those are pretty bad to my taste, Olives? Really? :D Oh also; Not sure if you mentioned in the video but how much does the starfire weigh aprox? I once had a G&L L2500 and it was heavier than my sins :DDD Childhood memories dragging that piece of lumber to music lessons still haunts me lol.
Somebody call the fuzz police, this man is wild 👍🎸🤘 . Nice fuzz touch.
Seems quite capable with one tone that works. Any chance that shielding can help with that interference? Wonder what Guild-corp has to say about it. Also, you didnt comment but from the looks, should we assume you cannot swap a standard P pickup?
I'm not sure, I really didn't dive to deeply into that interference thing since it only really creeped up with the mic cable (that was hooked up to my camera that's plugged into the wall, separate from my power conditioner). I don't think it's be much of an issue though I haven't really taken this bass around outside of the house (not that there's any place to take it lol). I think you CAN swap the pickup out for something standard P sized and it should work, however soldering and stuff might be a bit of a challenge because there's no cavity cover to access the pots, so you'll be doing it the old school way hahaha
I'm not entirely sure who asked for a hollow body p bass but I want it. It's a cool ass sound NGL I wanna play vintage shit on it
Guild Starfire I, perfect for playing cool ass vintage shit ;P.
@@LowEndLobster *Glenn Cornick intensifies*
Really like the Starfire, has a better tone then the JC. The Guild was brite and had more treble, agreed more hum but I would choose it. I've lost a lot of highs in my hearing due to bass playing years but please tell me. Others have stated that the JC has more treble, I don't hear that. Am I deaf, thanks Lob
I think it's the strings. The deep talkins are a bit more defined than these low tensions on the JC (which are also over a year old)
I owned a JC and could never get a tone I liked out of it. This seems way more up my alley. Does it have a center block? Apologies if I missed you mentioning that in the video!
Thanks Dasher! Yes, it has a center block. Forgot to mention that, but great question
I wonder what this would do with a hotter p pickup like a DiMarzio or Duncan QP.
Very nice but Jack with the longer neck , I like more and the Price is the price .. Thanks very good .
A - B with a Fender P? Would love to hear the difference in a mix
The starfire has a real 60s vibe.
Thank you for the magnificent review.
Now, a big big question: why the hell Epiphone cannot reissue the mythical RIVOLI?
RIGHT!? Gibson/Epiphone have a ton of awesome historical models that they ignore in favor of T-Birds and SGs
@@LowEndLobster I think it's just that bassists are a complete afterthought for them. There are only a handful of bodyshapes from their catalogue that were only for bass; EB1, G3, Grabber/Ripper, and that may be it. All of the other ones are a guitar shape, but bigger.
They simply cannot be assed to make gear for the low-end