Guild Starfire Bass II

This is a 2000 model, made in USA, trans red finish. Pickups are dual Seymour Duncan designed humbuckers. There are seperate controls for pickup volume and tone as well as a master volume knob and a pickup toggle switch. Body is Mahogany. Grover tuners. Neck is thin and fast. I own both the DeArmond model and the Guild so I will try and comapre both a bit in the review.

The sound is average. These aren't the Hagstrom pickups of the 60's. The reissue stock pickups have a very dull sound to them, not a lot of range. Flat. They sound so forgettable, I ended up swapping these pickups with the ones in my Korean model DeArmond Starfire, since those are USA goldtones, which I think are a great sounding pickup.

The action is pretty good, not the best I have ever played, but better than most. The flaw that stands out for me is the position of the Grover tuners means it is just about impossible to string the D string without have the string then rub against the E string on the way down towards the nut.

The hardware is top notch, no complaints here, couldn't be better.

I own this and the DeArmond Starfire model made in Korea. The Guild looks better, because it has a nicer headstock, a Mahogany body, and premium tuners... but the DeArmond sounds better, and is also more fun to play, because the neck is binded, which is something I prefer. It also costs only about 1/3rd of the Guild, making the DeArmond a better machine overall. But if you need something for the stage, than the DeArmond is no substitute for the presence of the real thing.

Manufactured 10/17/72, USA, I purchased it "used" in spring of '73 in new condition. The original owner didn't care for the tone. He traded it in for a Fender Jazz. I have always played hollow body basses and I considered the Guild SF II the "holy grail" of that line. I still own and play it. It has a maple body with a natural (now yellowing) finish, two humbucking pickups (uncertain of manufacture), passive electronics, two volume, two tone, 3 way switch, master volume, bass "booster" switch for the neck pickup. It is a four string, semi hollow body, double cut away with f holes. The neck is mahogany with rosewood fretboard, 21 frets, 31" scale, four individual rosewood bridge adjustable saddles. The original strings were flatwound Guild "flexcore", which I hated. They were replaced with, if I remember right, Fender flatwounds. I have tried various gages of flatwounds when I was playing regularly, using mostly "light" guage. I remember trying round rounds and being very unhappy. The current strings are flat wounds and over 20 years old, kind of a "dead" sound but ok. I assume the tuners to be Guild. It came with a hard shell plywood case, which is now in what I consider "non traveling" condition. I want to replace it, but I am having a difficult time because this is not a popular bass.

This bass is perfect for "classic" tone for jazz, blues, rock. If you are looking for Chris Squire or John Entwistle tone, this is not what you want, get yourself a "cookie cutter" Precision. Don't get me wrong, Entwistle was one of my idols! (Long live rock...!) I was looking for the Jack Cassidy sort of tone. The sound for the SF II can run the full gamit. The pickups are very powerful. I use an Accoustic 370 bass amp with an 18" Cerwin Vega speaker (orginally in reflex cabinet, but now in a small frontloaded open back box), purchased new around 1972. I can get just about any tone from warm and subtle to deep and projecting. Maybe it was me but when the "slap" sound stated happening it sounded terrible on my SF II, even with someone experienced playing it.

The quality when I got it was first rate. I have had very little work on it since I have owned it. The pots are starting to get a little noisy after 30 years.

This is the only bass I have owned in 30 years. I have not played out on a regular bassis in the last 15, except the occassional jam session, or "get together". The neck is still straight, and all the hardware is still ok. The finish on the body is definately "aged" while the finish on the neck is still ok. The frets need to be polished up a bit, but I think that is from lack of playing. Yes, I can depend on it even today. I have always played it with a "back up", and can today. I need a "back up" case though!

I never dealt with the manufacturer, so I have no comment. Any guitar work that needed done, I would look for someone locally.

A semi-hollow body bass has its own special tone. I guess it's an acquired taste. If I were to lose my bass, I would be very upset as it is hard to replace. It has the tone that I prefer. Before this bass, I had a Hagstom hollow body, and before that a Japanese "Beatle" bass. I never cared for the Fender Precision (too limited) but did like the Jazz. A friend of mine had an Epiphone Jack Cassidy Signature (hollow body) and I liked it also. I have considered acquiring a solid body just to have one with round round strings, and have that type of "tone" but never did. I am not one for trying to get the same sound as the original recording. I have always had my own style and "personality" when it came to music.

I bought this bass new in 1999. It was made in Westerly,RI USA. It has 21 well-polished frets with 4 strings. This instrument is a Semi-Hollow Thinline mahogany body & top with two F-holes. There are 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, a 3-way pickup switch and a master volume knob. It features 2 passive Guild humbucking pickups made by Seymour Duncan to simulate the sound and look of the original Starfire's pickups. The (30-3/4")short-scale neck is also made of mahogany with a rosewood fretboard and jumbo frets. The neck is glued on. The body is a vintage dual-cutaway finished in a nice transparent cherry red with white binding. The chrome bridge was tooled by Fender for Guild and the tuners are Grover. It came with a deluxe hardshell case and all the case candy you'd expect.

This bass is suited for my 60's rock band. I especially love to use it when we play Byrds tunes. I play through Hartke amps and it can be mildy noisy when idle. It's got a very warm sound and it can get somewhat bright when the treble is turned up and the bridge pickup is selected. I've used it for both stage and studio with no problem. I like the vintage tones I can get with this bass...very woody.

The bass setup perfectly at the factory as were the pickups. The bass had no flaws. Everything was where it should be.

I think this bass would withstand live playing although I don't think it would hold up as well as a solid-body bass. The hardware is very sturdy as is the finish. The strap buttons are sturdy but could be a little wider to prevent the strap from slipping off. This bass is dependable...you could use it on a gig w/o a backup. I haven't adjusted the truss rod in two years and I think it's about due for a tweaking. The action is slightly higher now but I think it held up rather well in that time.

I've never dealt with Guild. I've never needed to repair this bass.
It has a Lifetime Warranty.

I've been playing bass for over 18 years and this is bass #8 in a series of 29 (so far). I own all the major brands and this bass holds it's own. If it were stolen, I'd be very upset as Guild no longer makes basses! I'd have to find one used which wouldn't be easy. I mainly love the vintage vibe and the short-scale neck. It's a very cool bass and one you hardly ever see. I think it's worth more than what I paid for it!