OffsetGuitars.com

i borrowed one from a friend and it was a fantastic guitar. the pickups were pretty loud through my rig. but you can do much worse for the money

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:14 am

Objectively, they're great. Mine was bedeviled by electronics problems and was about as reliable as a Civic tuned to within an inch of its life.

Pretty guitars, and I was not expecting the DeArmonds to be so loud.


1961 Guild Starfire III, June 07, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

I wish we'd gotten on better.

God, it's so beautiful. Looks like it was a good one, shame you had so many issues. I'm hoping this one isn't riddled with problems as well. I just found out today from the guy who bought it in that it was a one owner guitar, so hopefully it's a real good one. Surprised to hear the pickups were so loud! Can't wait to try them.

Btw, love that photo and a big Leica fan myself. The M9 colors are so great! I've seen you over on rangefinderforum a number of times, so cool to see another offset/guitar lover/photographer on here.

s_mcsleazy wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:15 am

i borrowed one from a friend and it was a fantastic guitar. the pickups were pretty loud through my rig. but you can do much worse for the money

Sweeeeet. I guess I'll find out next week just how loud these are.

One of my favorite bands is Tindersticks. The lead singer uses a 1966 Guild Starfire III, while the left-handed guitarist is playing a DeArmond Starfire Special (not sure of the year).

Such cool guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDElU3szwww

rbrcbr wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:15 pm

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:14 am

1961 Guild Starfire III, June 07, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

I wish we'd gotten on better.

God, it's so beautiful. Looks like it was a good one....

Yeah, that would be the one for me (minus the aluminium bridge base - sorry, nitpicking - but Guild Bigsby FTW!!)

This is the one I almost pulled the trigger on.



They even have a decent soundclip.

It was almost perfect. A decent, solid but ugly body repair meant it was selling for a great price too.

Oh, I forgot that the Tindersticks used one. I think he just sang when I saw them, but it's been a while (1999, scenic Osnabrück, Germany).

I'm not sure if it's true for the earlier models, but the SFs with Guildsby always seem to have the aluminum bridge. The ones with a harp tailpiece (SFI / SFII / SFIV / SFXII) have wood.

cestlamort wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:43 am

I'm not sure if it's true for the earlier models, but the SFs with Guildsby always seem to have the aluminum bridge. The ones with a harp tailpiece (SFI / SFII / SFIV / SFXII) have wood.

Interesting. A quick Google Images search seems to back this up.






* I need to get off this thread. It's putting stupid ideas in my head!

PorkyPrimeCut wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 12:37 am

rbrcbr wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:15 pm

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:14 am

1961 Guild Starfire III, June 07, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

I wish we'd gotten on better.

God, it's so beautiful. Looks like it was a good one....

Yeah, that would be the one for me (minus the aluminium bridge base - sorry, nitpicking - but Guild Bigsby FTW!!)

This is the one I almost pulled the trigger on.



They even have a decent soundclip.

It was almost perfect. A decent, solid but ugly body repair meant it was selling for a great price too.

FWIW, the aluminum bridge was one of the things I really loved about it. Don't dismiss it out of hand.

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:42 pm

FWIW, the aluminum bridge was one of the things I really loved about it. Don't dismiss it out of hand.

What about it was it that you loved? That was one of the first things I noticed that I don't think I've ever seen on a floating bridge guitar.

rbrcbr wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:01 pm

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:42 pm

FWIW, the aluminum bridge was one of the things I really loved about it. Don't dismiss it out of hand.

What about it was it that you loved? That was one of the first things I noticed that I don't think I've ever seen on a floating bridge guitar.

It gave the guitar a twang that was a cool mix of woody and metallic. And it just plain worked well.

I’ve come to prefer aluminum bridges most of the time, and plan on using the Bigsby bridge base on a SF-V coming my way. I don’t think the base material matters as much as the bar material does, but it certainly looks ‘right’ to my eyes.

Debaser wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:22 pm

I’ve come to prefer aluminum bridges most of the time, and plan on using the Bigsby bridge base on a SF-V coming my way. I don’t think the base material matters as much as the bar material does, but it certainly looks ‘right’ to my eyes.

That's the other thing- the Bigsby worked better with that aluminum bridge than any other.

I’ve got an aluminum bridge on my Yamaha and love it! I affirm that this works on this kind of guitar!

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:26 pm

rbrcbr wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:01 pm

Maggieo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:42 pm

FWIW, the aluminum bridge was one of the things I really loved about it. Don't dismiss it out of hand.

What about it was it that you loved? That was one of the first things I noticed that I don't think I've ever seen on a floating bridge guitar.

It gave the guitar a twang that was a cool mix of woody and metallic. And it just plain worked well.

Just realized the question was sort of phrased weird, as I have definitely had an aluminum bridge on a Gretsch previously, but the aluminum bridge base is what I was curious about/never seen before.


Finally got my hands on the one I was planning on checking out, and it's mine now. I know exactly what you mean by woody and metallic. Loving it so far. Look out for a NGD post here in a bit!

Thanks for all the help you guys!

I have a 2001 Starfire V and I believe that the Westerly Starfires are some of the true values still out there. You can get a Starfire II, III, IV or V for stupid money these days. They are impeccably made with some of the prettiest maple you are going to find. The one fly in the ointment can be which pickups are used. Until the early 90s, they used the Guild HB-1 which is a great humbucker. Beginning about '93-4 they went to the Seymour Duncan built SD-1 that was pretty close to their 59er. About 1998-9, they started to use a Fender designed humbucker which, just to confuse things, they called the HB-1. The Fender HB-1 is not as highly regarded as the Guild HB-1 or the SD-1 and is more of a generic humbucker. Some really like them and I was able to get some good tones out of them but replaced them with TV Jones Power'trons. Great pickups but they don't look like Guilds.

But the guitars are really well made and the necks are wider than the earlier Guilds. Another one you might look at is the X-170 which is a single cutaway with a 2.5" hollow body. I have one of those as well.

The only Newark Street model I have spent any time with was a Starfire III and I was really impressed. Fender/Guild really screwed up the mini humbuckers and ended up with an underpowered bridge pickup but everything else about it blew me away. If I had one, I would be very tempted to put either DeArmond Dynasonics in it or DeArmond 2000s, like the ones in the Gretsch 512x series, the Gretsch Historical series or the Guild X-160 Rockabilly. They are sometimes referred to as Dynasonic light. Nice pickups.

Don B wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:20 pm

Fender/Guild really screwed up the mini humbuckers and ended up with an underpowered bridge pickup but everything else about it blew me away. If I had one, I would be very tempted to put either DeArmond Dynasonics in it or DeArmond 2000s, like the ones in the Gretsch 512x series, the Gretsch Historical series or the Guild X-160 Rockabilly. They are sometimes referred to as Dynasonic light. Nice pickups.

I don’t find the bridge underpowered at all, and if the bridge is wound with another wire gauge, it is pretty close to the neck in output. My ears say that much anyways. My issue is that the neck pickup is kinda muddy, but that’s mostly my personal preference. I want it to sound like a Filtertron not a mini HB. Thinking about having it rewound or replacing with an extra NS bridge pickup.