
Examining the other-worldly aesthetics and Music Man-esque flavors of a futuristic single-pickup bass.
All clips recorded direct into Avid Mbox into Logic X.
Clip 1: Passive mode with volume at 100 percent.
Clip 2: Passive mode with volume at 80 percent.
Clip 3: Active mode, slap riff with onboard EQ flat.
RatingsPros:Daring design. Solid tone. Fair price point. Cons: Fewer tonal options with a single-pickup design. A little heavy on the neck lacquer. Street: $1,599 Vox Starstream 1H Artist voxamps.com | Tones: Playability: Build/Design: Value: |
Vox was just a few years old when the U.K. company began making their mark with low-enders in the early ’60s, producing creatively designed and stylized models like the ultra-hip, irregularly shaped Phantom IV and the teardrop-shaped Mark IV and Constellation IV models, just to name a few. Several of their early models even featured a 9V-powered active preamp that provided distortion. Vox produced models reminiscent of both Gibsons and Hofners back in the day as well, but the company deservedly garnered a reputation for starting trends rather than following them. When I pulled the new Starstream 1H Artist out of its shipping box, it was more than apparent that is still company policy.
Plastic Makes Perfect
Before I even played a note on the short-scale Starstream 1H, I couldn’t help but appreciate its weight. The bass is very light, at just shy of 7 pounds. The 1H’s interior body is a solid piece of maple, but the parts of the bass that actually make contact with the player are made of plastic. That said, the instrument doesn’t feel cheap in any way. The most alluring feature of the plastic frame is that it has a sort of reverse-Strat-esque belly cut, where the front of the plastic frame angles inward and downward like the back of a Strat’s body. I later found these angles to be very comfortable for several playing styles.
The look of the plastic outer shell is striking: It follows the shape of the wooden body closely at the top, almost merges with it behind the bridge, and then strays far from the center part of the inner body on the treble side. It’s a cool, interesting look, though one can only assume it will prove to be a love-it-or-hate-it design with players whose tastes lean towards a more traditional direction.
The electronics package of the 1H features an Aguilar OBP-2 active 2-band preamp that works in concert with the single Aguilar AG-4M humbucker. When I first plugged the bass into my Mbox interface, I was impressed that the volume level remains very close in both active and passive mode, which is selectable by the Starstream’s push/pull volume knob.
Small Dog, Big Bark
Because I typically favor passive basses, my first tone test was in passive mode. I was also simply eager to hear the sound of the wood (and plastic) rather than the sound of the active electronics. We’re dealing with a Music Man-style humbucker here, and even though the Starstream 1H could not be any more different in look and feel than a StingRay, this bass does an absolutely fantastic job of sounding like an older Music Man.
While it’s never been my favorite tone, the Starstream nails it beautifully, and to say I was pleasantly surprised by this out-of-the-gate tonal starting point would be an understatement. The Starstream 1H proved right away that it has a mainstream, highly useable tone that I am certain many of us would be very comfortable with on most gigs.
I wanted to see if I could get a softer, warmer sound next—wondering if the bass could do more than just sound very close to a StingRay. There is, however, no option to change the tone in passive mode since the 1H isn’t equipped with a passive tone control. “It could really use one for us passive guys,” I told myself before I (without thinking) turned down the master volume from 100 percent to about 80 percent. A drastic tonal change occurred, and it was almost like the tone genie had heard my wish for less of the “click-y” Music Man-style pickup’s top-end. This move with the master-volume potentiometer delivered a much darker tone and different character without really losing any volume to speak of. With a single-pickup bass, this is a great asset that certainly makes the instrument more versatile.
When I engaged the preamp and moved into active mode, the Starstream 1H projected a slightly deeper low-end and a shinier high-end, without me boosting or cutting any bass or treble on the onboard controls. The change was noticeable, but didn’t turn the instrument into something completely different, which a lot of active preamps tend to do.
The aggressive nature of the MM-style pickup really shone through beautifully in active mode, and I was quickly inspired to play a Louis Johnson-influenced, old-school slap lick for one of the sound samples included with this review. Boosting the low end ever so slightly allowed the Starstream 1H to bark a bit more like a big dog, and made the small body and short scale somehow seem even more of an optical illusion. If I owned this bass, I’d likely switch it to active mode more frequently than I do with my other basses that have the same option.
The Verdict
The Starstream 1H is way more than a conversation piece. It is surprisingly well built and a whole lot of fun to play. I hope Vox continues to think outside the box and bring us retro-cool mixed with hyper-modern influences. Both tonally and visually, it is a brave gamble. No other company makes a production bass like this, and it is certainly worth a test drive, even if it might look to be out of your aesthetic comfort zone at first glance.
Create, layer, and jam with the BOSS RC-1 Loop Station and BIC cable! Enter the I Love Pedals giveaway now and come back daily to increase your odds!
Boss RC-1 Loop Station Looper Pedal
The RC-1 Loop Station is the most intuitive looper pedal from BOSS. Its compact layout provides all the essential functions—record, playback, overdub, and undo/redo—encouraging instant creativity right out of the box.
The BIC 10-A cable from BOSS delivers uncompromising performance that faithfully transfers every nuance of tone and adds a vibrant touch with color options inspired by the brand's most iconic compact pedals.
The National New Yorker lived at the forefront of the emerging electric guitar industry, and in Memphis Minnie’s hands, it came alive.
This National electric is just the tip of the iceberg of electric guitar history.
On a summer day in 1897, a girl named Lizzie Douglas was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, the first of 13 siblings. When she was seven, her family moved closer to Memphis, Tennessee, and little Lizzie took up the banjo. Banjo led to guitar, guitar led to gigs, and gigs led to dreams. She was a prodigious talent, and “Kid” Douglas ran away from home to play for tips on Beale Street when she was just a teenager. She began touring around the South, adopted the moniker Memphis Minnie, and eventually joined the circus for a few years.
(Are you not totally intrigued by the story of this incredible woman? Why did she run away from home? Why did she fall in love with the guitar? We haven’t even touched on how remarkable her songwriting is. This is a singular pioneer of guitar history, and we beseech you to read Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnie’s Blues by Beth and Paul Garon.)
Following the end of World War I, Hawaiian music enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity. On their travels around the U.S., musicians like Sol Ho’opi’i became fans of Louis Armstrong and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, leading to a great cross-pollination of Hawaiian music with jazz and blues. This potent combination proved popular and drew ever-larger audiences, which created a significant problem: How on earth would an audience of thousands hear the sound from a wimpy little acoustic guitar?
This art deco pickguard offers just a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise demure instrument.
In the late 1920s, George Beauchamp, John and Rudy Dopyera, Adolph Rickenbacker, and John Dopyera’s nephew Paul Barth endeavored to answer that question with a mechanically amplified guitar. Working together under Beauchamp and John Dopyera’s National String Instrument Corporation, they designed the first resonator guitar, which, like a Victrola, used a cone-shaped resonator built into the guitar to amplify the sound. It was definitely louder, but not quite loud enough—especially for the Hawaiian slide musicians. With the guitars laid on their laps, much of the sound projected straight up at the ceiling instead of toward the audience.
Barth and Beauchamp tackled this problem in the 1930s by designing a magnetic pickup, and Rickenbacker installed it in the first commercially successful electric instrument: a lap-steel guitar known affectionately as the “Frying Pan” due to its distinctive shape. Suddenly, any stringed instrument could be as loud as your amplifier allowed, setting off a flurry of innovation. Electric guitars were born!
“At the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.”
By this time, Memphis Minnie was a bona fide star. She recorded for Columbia, Vocalion, and Decca Records. Her song “Bumble Bee,” featuring her driving guitar technique, became hugely popular and earned her a new nickname: the Queen of Country Blues. She was officially royalty, and her subjects needed to hear her game-changing playing. This is where she crossed paths with our old pals over at National.
National and other companies began adding pickups to so-called Spanish guitars, which they naturally called “Electric Spanish.” (This term was famously abbreviated ES by the Gibson Guitar Corporation and used as a prefix on a wide variety of models.) In 1935, National made its first Electric Spanish guitar, renamed the New Yorker three years later. By today’s standards, it’s modestly appointed. At the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.
There’s buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but that just goes to show how well-loved this guitar has been.
Memphis Minnie had finally found an axe fit for a Queen. She was among the first blues guitarists to go electric, and the New Yorker fueled her already-upward trajectory. She recorded over 200 songs in her 25-year career, cementing her and the National New Yorker’s place in musical history.
Our National New Yorker was made in 1939 and shows perfect play wear as far as we’re concerned. Sure, there’s buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but structurally, this guitar is in great shape. It’s easy to imagine this guitar was lovingly wiped down each time it was put back in the case.
There’s magic in this guitar, y’all. Every time we pick it up, we can feel Memphis Minnie’s spirit enter the room. This guitar sounds fearless. It’s a survivor. This is a guitar that could inspire you to run away and join the circus, transcend genre and gender, and leave your own mark on music history. As a guitar store, watching guitars pass from musician to musician gives us a beautiful physical reminder of how history moves through generations. We can’t wait to see who joins this guitar’s remarkable legacy.
SOURCES: blackpast.org, nps.gov, worldmusic.net, historylink.org, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, “Memphis Minnie’s ‘Scientific Sound’: Afro-Sonic Modernity and the Jukebox Era of the Blues” from American Quarterly, “The History of the Development of Electric Stringed Musical Instruments” by Stephen Errede, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.
In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.
Featuring torrefied solid Sitka Spruce tops, mahogany neck, back, and sides, and Fishman Presys VT EQ System, these guitars are designed to deliver quality tone and playability at an affordable price point.
Cort Guitars, acclaimed for creating instruments that exceed in value and quality, introduces the Essence Series. This stunning set of acoustic guitars is designed for musicians looking for the quintessential classic acoustic guitar with fabulous tone all at an exceptional price point. The Essence Series features two distinct body shapes: The Grand Auditorium and the OM Cutaway. Whatever the flavor, the Essence Series has the style to suit.
The Essence-GA-4 is the perfect Grand Auditorium acoustic. Wider than a dreadnought, the Essence-GA-4 features a deep body with a narrower waist and a width of 1 ¾” (45mm) at the nut. The result is an instrument that is ideal for any number of playing styles: Picking… strumming… the Essence GA-4 is completely up for the task.
The Essence-OM-4 features a shallower body creating a closer connection to the player allowing for ease of use on stage. With its 1 11/16’th (43mm) nut width, this Orchestra Model is great for fingerpickers or singer/guitarists looking for better body contact for an overall better playing experience.
Both acoustics are topped with a torrefied solid Sitka Spruce top using Cort’s ATV process. The ATV process or “Aged to Vintage”, “ages” the Spruce top to give it the big and open tone of older, highly-sought-after acoustics. To further enhance those vintage tones, the tops bracing is also made of torrefied spruce. The mahogany neck, back, and sides create a warm, robust midrange and bright highs. A rosewood fingerboard and bridge add for a more balanced sound and sustain. The result is amazing tone at first strum. 18:1 Vintage Open Gear Tuners on the mahogany headstock offer precise tuning with vintage styling. The herringbone rosette & purfling accentuates the aesthetics of these instruments adding to their appeal. Both acoustics come in two choices of finish. Natural Semi-Gloss allows the Sitka spruce’s natural beauty to shine through and classic Black Top Semi-Gloss.
A Fishman® Presys VT EQ System is installed inside the body versus other systems that cut into the body to be installed. This means the instrument keeps its natural resonance and acoustic flair. The Presys VT EQ System keeps it simple with only Volume and Tone controls resulting in a true, crisp acoustic sound. Lastly, Elixir® Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze Light .012-.053 Acoustic Strings round out these acoustics. This Number 1 acoustic guitar string delivers consistent performance and extended tone life with phosphor bronze sparkle and warmth. The Essence Series takes all these elements, combines them, and exceeds in playability, looks, and affordability.
Street Price: $449.00
For more information, please visit cortguitars.com.