Warwick has been making that bass for at least 3 or 4 years now, never played one but sure love the look.  
 
as far as the Guild, it'd be a lot cheaper to grab one of these reissues and have it Alembicized if they are decent instruments without the loss of the vintage/collectible value. could be something to look into for those interested
 
~Taylor

I think the Warwick model is long scale . I bet you would get awesome results if you were to have the Warwick Alembicized. Have some custom Activator Pickups  made !  That's it , nothing else. Just the pickups.   Even perhaps BETTER then the Bi- Sonic pickups or DARKSTARS ? How about Activator replacements on a GUILD STARFIRE ? Better yet perhaps!  
 
    Nick you might be able to get Activators for the Guild Starfire that you just purchased from MIke !  What do you think ?  
 
 Wolf

I just had that conversation w/ Nick Haas, Wolf. I also talked to Mica and Ron about this.
 
 My original solution was shot down by Ron. The idea was to make a box and put some stratoblasters in it and run that thru my amp chain. If the battery is not right on top the p-up = no good. Then we went to 'how about a stereo blaster cord. Doable, but it does not exist (yet)!  
 
Now, I'm thinking about finding some p-ups and making a new mounting plate as per your suggestion. Either way it will be running thru a SF-2.
 
I am excited about trying to make this bass sound good. The fact that it is so light is very appealing.
 
 
Nick

Nick , yes the pickup rings to mount the pickups. These can be tricky on a Guild  Starfire because of the contour of the top surface of the Starfire. The wooden ones on my remaining Starfire were made for me by Doug Irwin when I installed the  then experimental Hi-A (now called Bartolini) pickups back in the mid 1970's. I now wish I would have kept my Original Guild  Bi Sonics around. I would really like to get hold of one to build a Berry Oakley Tractor Bass!
 
 Wolf
 
(Message edited by sonicus on January 25, 2013)

Peter, interesting mention of Hagstrom. I was considering a Viking (Concord) bass for a while. Is there a possible connection between these two companies again?
 
Maybe it would be good to wait an see if the pups are available separately, as they are rumored to be.

Well the links that Wolf offered up surprised me, mainly because the non-bisonic US/New Hartford ones ARE NOT as pricey as the some of the other models (the Patriarch Line) built there... So maybe I jumped the gun by assuming these are foreign, but in comparing the GSR Starfires to the Newark St. Starfires, I don't see a $2k cost savings in materials alone.

Pace,
GSR are made in New Hartford. Let's Talk Guild & Talkbass have pretty much confirmed Newark St. is MIK. That's where $2K comes from, saving materials is what make the Newark St. series $1500 instead of $2000ish (probably).
 
On the Hagstrom thing again, the new Guilds look a LOT like the new Hags...

I have a pickup ring or two lying around, if anyone is interested.