Love the clarity, string separation and sound of the Starla core pups. Anyone ever tried them in something other than a Starla? Something with a maple top?
I had Starla's in my Custom 22. They are bright and pretty unforgiving. They weren't designed for a ham-fisted hack like me, they are for people who can actual play well.
Curiosity got the better of me and I did a thing.... It sounds incredible in this guitar!!! Gives more oomph in the bridge than the 58/15LT but still has ridiculous clarity and chime. Also has a fatter/tighter bottom end and split sounds terrific as well. It's the first pickup I've mixed with the neck that has actually retained close to the same sonic footprint as both 58/15LT's in the middle position. Wonderful surprise!!
Yes, put them in a CUST24, I liked them, very clear. Actually have a pair of core Starla pups, I’ll pm you.
How about no and yes? In other words a maple top Starla: And, Hans seems to think these are the only gold ones, but I don’t know.
Yeah, I've 2008 Starla; my number one player. The Starla pickups, I've tried them in a SC245, they didn't sound the same at all. They sounded quite stiff actually. I think that the more open sound of the pickups lends itself well to the warmer sounding guitar, but I've moved on from those pickups. After 10 years with them and not knowing why they weren't perfect I thought about it - The pickups are too compressed for me. There's no kick or punch, they're too warm for a pickup with less output. Made them feel 75% PAF, 25% single coil, I always felt like I wanted them to sound 50/50. When you ran it through pedals, that high end 'sparkle' was lost, but it didn't thump to make up for it either.. It's like it was too hot to be a filtertron but too weedy to be a PAF. The highs were nice, but there wasn't enough, neck pickup was too bassy. I had Sunday Handwound make me a set of Firebird pickups in full sized covers and it's a total improvement for me. More present, more punch, less output but WAY more dynamic and lively, no mud, Fender cleans and Angus Young type overdrive sound. The Starla pickups are in the case - they're staying there.
Well that explains why my son, who's an obviously better player than me, makes my core Starla sound so damned good. Still, I love playing it anyway.
Is the consensus that the Starla Pickups are good in hollowbody or semi-hollow guitars? I just picked a set up for pretty cheap and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to put them in. CE Semi-Hollow/Reclaimed Semi-Hollow S2 Semi-Hollow Vela Reclaimed Hollowbody Any other ideas?
I put a set in a First Act Sheena. Go ahead and laugh, but it's actually a pretty bad ass guitar now. https://imgur.com/ixPSUX9
The Starla pup in a Reclaimed Vela is a fantastic match. It takes the semihollow mids and drops a balanced spread of highs, similar to a P-90 but more refined. Mine currently sports a Duncan Antiquity humbucker to match my needs for now, but if...err...when that changes, the Starla is going back in. I’d be very compelled to find core Starla pups.
Hmm, never thought about a Starla pickup in a semi hollow. At first when you mentioned a maple top guitar, I was hesitant... I could see them being very plinky and stiff, but semi hollows are a whole other thing. Hmmmmmm....
