The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by 46346 » Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:56 pm

simonhpieman wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:17 am
...
That Star is beautiful, 43646!!
tanks! and way to go, keeping up the slang campaign all these months later :D

our blissful honeymoon was cut short after a few weeks when the switch disintegrated, and most of it fell into the body where i couldn't reach it! dead in the water, zero sound. way too soon! even though it lasted 45 years...

Image

the toggle half had completely separated from the contact/wiring half!

well, i had wanted to have a look at the innards anyway, so my friend and i went for it.

first things first, though. it was not easy to find a suitable replacement switch from the typical sources.
i was hoping for en exact match but figured i might have to make do with what they use on the current Stars. i only found one source for the switch, but luckily - it was a good match based on their photo (bottom of their webpage):

www.guitarpartsresource.com/electrical_ ... itches.htm

when the switch arrived, i was stoked to see that it was an exact match to the unusual shape of the toggle. when we got the old switch out of the body i could tell that the entire switch is an exact match!
almost like a NOS part, but i guess they are somehow still making them. price was right, too!

pulling the switch out was made easier by these cool RCA connectors on the pickup leads:

Image

and the guitar remains 'more original' since i didn't have to break any solder joints by the pups ;)

imagine my surprise when we found the contact half of the switch was encased in a metal can!
must be a shielding/noise thing. at first i though tit was overkill, but it's no joke - this guitar *is* quieter than the other full humbucking guitar in our current show, even though it's 40 years older.

but i think that may be why the switch broke. there is a nut for the underside to mount toward the body,
but i'm thinking they may loosen up over time, and then when you occasionally tighten the top nut as needed, it eventually starts pulling the top of the switch from the metal can... just a theory.

Image

Image

getting the switch/can back into the bout of the body and toward the switch hole TOOK FOREVER!
we knew enough to wrap some thin wire around the shaft to pull it toward the hole, but we were both stumped for a very long time, until i realized you had to keep the switch/can at an angle as it travels through. the can makes the whole thing so tall that it will not fit in the narrow bout when upright. nor will it fit if you try to slide it through sideways. you have to slide it through with the whole thing at a 45 degree angle - that's the only way to fit it through that narrowest part of the bout. THEN when you can see the top of the switch through the hole, about a half-inch away, you can start pulling it slightly upright and into the hole. that is the only point, with the switch tip poking out of the hole at an angle, that you can begin to shift the assembly into an upright position! knowing that in advance would have saved us an hour of serious head scratching. that hour had turned our Mai Tais from pure pleasure toward near-headaches.

i'm super happy with the replacement switch. it's the OEM part, and it feels great - even better than many other American switches!

Best part is - the switching is totally silent! you can rock that thing like a tone-shifting rhythm tool, and even with a good dose of clean gain, there is no popping or clicking in the signal. my friend compared it to his vintage 335 and was knocked out!

i've been playing it all month, for a run of 12 stage shows, and the guitar has been absolutely quiet, even when playing the tiniest ambient sounds with a compressor on, and all that theatrical fader lighting, motorized props, etc. going on.

anyway, i wanted to finally post about replacing that switch, cuz it was definitely the trickiest switch replacement that either of us had done over the decades. hopefully this helps other Star People ;)
Last edited by 46346 on Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by sal paradise » Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:05 pm

Great work! I get frustrated just changing a mustang pickguard. Getting that switch through the body is super impressive.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by 46346 » Tue Dec 13, 2022 1:10 am

sal paradise wrote:
Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:05 pm
Great work! I get frustrated just changing a mustang pickguard. Getting that switch through the body is super impressive.
tanks. yeah it was real puzzle! also i forgot to mention that the switch can is soldered shut, so you de-solder the edge of the two halves to get it open and get to the switch lugs. pretty sure there are cans around the pots, too! luckily i didn't have to mess with those.
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by simonhpieman » Thu Dec 15, 2022 2:48 am

Great description of the switch debacle! Gish may confirm, but I'm pretty sure the pickup connectors had cans around them on my one, too... I'm getting old, my brain is starting to lose the ability to remember the more trivial details of life these days.

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by gishuk » Thu Dec 15, 2022 7:34 am

I went and looked at the photos I took when I took it apart to have a poke around and it does have cans on the pickup connectors and pots. They really work too, the guitar is the most electrically quiet one I own.

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by 46346 » Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:33 am

gishuk wrote:
Thu Dec 15, 2022 7:34 am
I went and looked at the photos I took when I took it apart to have a poke around and it does have cans on the pickup connectors and pots. They really work too, the guitar is the most electrically quiet one I own.

Really!! i'd love to see a foto of the can around the pickup connector if you get a chance.

man, they really went all-out on these electronics.

but there was no can around my bridge pup RCA connector, as pictured.
i haven't peeked at the neck pup connector...

i wonder if they had ditched the cans at the connector by '77?
or maybe mine's been monkeyed with...

i do see cans around all the pots through the F-hole.
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by 46346 » Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:14 am

46346 wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:33 pm
i guess by 1977 Fender wondered, "so, what's it gonna take to get folks excited about the Starcaster"
maybe something like this?

ImageStarcaster magazine ad by echoparkguitar, on Flickr
here's another one from that era that GGJaguar posted on HNB's Starcaster NGD thread.

Image

these ads are pretty nutty, but actually manage to convey something of the guitar's character in the process. it's almost like they had the musicians and designers take a shot at the marketing, too.
but i doubt it, this was big business by now, so it's more likely it came from some cocaine fueled sessions at an ad agency...
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by 46346 » Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:31 am

got some psychedelic funk gigs in the new year and the Star remains my main axe.
here we are in one of the tightest stage spaces yet, but i love being 'monkey in the middle'!

Image
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by RBJM » Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:45 am

Great work - and I admire the patience it would take to thread that switch.

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by simonhpieman » Fri May 12, 2023 5:18 am

So, there might just be an impending NGD coming this evening... Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what it might be? :whistle:

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by Pacafeliz » Fri May 12, 2023 5:36 am

...don't make my jealousy turn into PURE HAET :wtf:
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by JSett » Fri May 12, 2023 5:42 am

simonhpieman wrote:
Fri May 12, 2023 5:18 am
So, there might just be an impending NGD coming this evening... Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what it might be? :whistle:
Squier Meteora Bass?
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by simonhpieman » Fri May 12, 2023 6:38 am

Gibson SG :wacko:

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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by JSett » Fri May 12, 2023 8:36 am

Whatever it is, it better be Candy Apple Red
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Re: The Big (?) Vintage Starcaster Thread

Post by MattK » Fri May 12, 2023 3:11 pm

Washburn Hannah Montana

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