NBD Guild Starfire Chris Hillman

[Duroc17]

Got from fellow BCer yesterday - who did an extra mile in packing it to me

 

i love the Byrds so to get a Hillman bass is for me brill - I don’t like signature bass’s per se - did have Bruce Thomas and keep looking at the Bass Centre possible Deacy PB. Also I find the necks on most semi acoustic basses too narrow- and this is 38mm but the curve of the neck is really great. 
 

The position of the pick up is perfect - the bass is woody thump but clarity of the notes is just super with a touch of growl. The stock flats let you glide around. The action is low. Intonation pretty good. The E string struggle a wee bit past 12th note but I don’t play notes there - it’d be on the A string

on a strap there’s a fair bit of neck dive like the Jack Casady but with a leather strap it’s fine

 

the looks of this bass are a dream - attention to detail and build quality are superb- I’ve owned a few semis and this is the best

 

[Shaggy]

Really good score 👍 - much more authentic with the big Hagstrom / Darkstar humbucker, the reissues with the split P bass pickup look just plain wrong to me.  And the Byrds inlay is pretty funky

[Duroc17]

Just now, Shaggy said:

Really good score 👍 - much more authentic with the big Hagstrom / Darkstar humbucker, the reissues with the split P bass pickup look just plain wrong to me.  And the Byrds inlay is pretty funky

Cheers Shaggy - I was looking at getting a Starfire 1 - and Lobster really likes the new one - and watch the promo videos but kept looking at the natural Starfire 2 as bassist from Cactus Flowers was in session on KEXP and it sounded awesome but then when this came up it was an immediate yes. Bisonic pups are great

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Nice! — the byrds inlay looks great. Despite the appearance, the bisonic pickup is actually a single coil. The four screwheads are for adjusting the height of each adjacent pole piece. I have a flamed natural maple starfire II and the pickups have a wonderful tone.

[Duroc17]

1 minute ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Nice! — the byrds inlay looks great. Despite the appearance, the bisonic pickup is actually a single coil. The four screwheads are for adjusting the height of each adjacent pole piece. I have a flamed natural maple starfire II and the pickups have a wonderful tone.

thnaks for info - good to know - it has a very balanced sound across all of the strings - i'm impressed with it

[grayn]

Very tasty bass, congrats.

I have a Starfire I bass and love it.

Looking for a Starfire II now.

Gotta luv 'em.

[Duroc17]

used it at recording session yesterday - Guild on seven tracks PB on one

[Grahambythesea]

Fab buy, Mr. Tambourine man!