Fender Tom Delonge Starcaster

[BoringPostcards]

The Starcaster looks weird when it’s stripped of its parts, as said above.

My CV Jaguar is great and I have had it a year without mods. I will probably swap the pickups for no good reason someday, but so far I’ve no complaints.

[mekhem]

I believe that the mexico plant produced the Modern Player Starcaster?

China. I remember that causing a minor (or maybe not-so-minor?) controversy at the time.

Ahhhh - Yes. I remember that now....

[mekhem]

Also...

If Indonesia is the only place that can make the bodies - does that mean TDL's Custom shop version is an Indonesian body?

[Rob]

If Indonesia is the only place that can make the bodies - does that mean TDL's Custom shop version is an Indonesian body?

Maybe the only place that can mass-produce the bodies. But as far as I know, the Custom Shop can make Starcasters. At least, last time I looked into it, they were willing to do it. The only caveat was that the Starcaster was not one of the base models available for a Custom Built (formerly Team Built) order. A Custom Shop Starcaster had to be ordered at the Masterbuilt level.

As Fender seems to increasingly position itself as a luxury brand, I'm not really surprised that selling this model as a "Fender" instead of a "Squier" will justify the 279% increase in MSRP over the the Classic Vibe version. I also agree with the assessment that most Blink-182 fans are now 40-somethings that are in a better position to pay extra for the Fender logo.

[Unicorn Warrior]

This is the most pretentious thing I’ve seen in a while. Hate it

[ldp54002]

I'll be the first to admit I'm out of touch anymore, but I can't really reconcile who this guitar is for from a mass market perspective.

From what I can tell, Tom only started playing the Starcaster maybe 3-4 years ago? As mentioned earlier, those who could justify dropping $1k+ on this are likely older fans, and thus wouldn't have the built-in nostalgia for the Starcaster the way they would with the reissued Strat from last year. So I guess that leaves die-hards who will buy anything with Tom's name on it, younger fans with the disposable income, and maybe those who remember his Gibson days and figure this is close enough? That can't represent a large group of consumers.

So stepping back and just treating it as another guitar choice in Fender's catalog. As just a guitar, I agree with the general assessment that it just doesn't really work aesthetically. I liked the Delonge Strat back in the day; the stripped down single pickup/single knob thing was fine, and I think the standard Strat pickguard helped with that. The lack of anything to break up the large swaths of solid color aren't doing the Delonge Starcaster any favors. Even some competition stripes or a logo/sticker would help.

[scole]

Honestly, I think the point was to give people a blank slate to either sticker it up or refinish it like Tom’s fans would want to do.

[interceptör]

I just noticed they are advertising the Tom Delonge Collection with straps and picks and shit on Fender's US frontpage and it makes me feel like, well, I don't think there even is a word for what I'm feeling right now.

[Futuron]

Honestly, I think the point was to give people a blank slate to either sticker it up or refinish it like Tom’s fans would want to do.

Too sensible, get out.

[JSett]

I just noticed they are advertising the Tom Delonge Collection with straps and picks and shit on Fender's US frontpage and it makes me feel like, well, I don't think there even is a word for what I'm feeling right now.

...and all of it is ugly as hell

[crazyzeke]

For me the Delonge Starcaster is notable because it's one of the few Fenders I can think of that comes with a Gibson/Epi style speed knob for the single volume pot, correct me if I'm wrong but it's pretty rare.

Other than that it's kinda cool I suppose, but as someone who uses the neck pickup more and more as the years go by, not having one rules it out. I'd rather have a Marrguar in LPB and change the pickups.

[X-Ray Spex]

It would've been cool in a hotrod kind of way if it had the real Starcaster headstock, but the strat headstock just looks atrocious on it.

[F15hface]

I think it's cool, I'd play one but wouldn't buy one at that price. I think the pickup, roasted maple, and locking tuners together push it out of what fender see as Squier territory, regardless of country of manufacture. If I see one in a shop I'll certainly be giving it a go.

[wrath]

Personally I think these models are gorgeous.

I'm a fan of minimalism, so the solid colour and lack of pickguard and hardware looks great. I'm also a fan of pastels, I really like the pink and shell green although there white and gold look splendid.

I also think the baked maple neck matches the colour scheme and body shape well.

As far as price goes - perhaps it's the Australia tax I'm used to, or the fact I have disposable income, but I don't think it's prohibitive. I'm always of the opinion that a fair price is whatever someone's willing to exchange for something of value to them.

I've also appreciated the original Starcaster, but for reasons I can't really put my finger on, the recent Squier models really don't do it for me.

[wrath]

Personally I think these models are gorgeous.

I'm a fan of minimalism, so the solid colour and lack of pickguard and hardware looks great. I'm also a fan of pastels, I really like the pink and shell green although the white and gold look splendid.

I also think the baked maple neck matches the colour scheme and body shape well.

As far as price goes - perhaps it's the Australia tax I'm used to, or the fact I have disposable income, but I don't think it's prohibitive. I'm always of the opinion that a fair price is whatever someone's willing to exchange for something of value to them.

I've also appreciated the original Starcaster, but for reasons I can't really put my finger on, the recent Squier models really don't do it for me.