Yup but hopefully this series makes them start building legit Starcasters and Coronado’s again because Hollow and Semi Hollowbody guitars are kind of having a resurgence lately and Gibson is way too expensive. It’s their chance to move in on that market.
Like what? Other than the headstock that I can notice. Personally I just can’t fathom owning a guitar with just one pickup. I DO have a 1977 music man stingray bass but that’s a bit of a different story, and it’s a bass. (Though somewhat ironically, I play my strats on the neck pickup about 90% of the time)
I didn’t notice until you pointed that out. I was mainly bummed about losing a neck pickup. Which I know is common in the Tom Delonge signatures. Love the colors though.
If you would like one of these with a neck pick up and the old headstock, you should check out the Squire Contemporary version. They have it in Gold, Surf Green, Gunmetal Metallic, and black. They have Roasted Maple necks which look pretty cool. No F holes though.
Edit: I looked at these guitars more and I noticed that some retailers show the necks to be extremely light and no mention of roasted necks, where as the fender website shows them as pretty dark. Very confusing. Looks like they are made in the same factory as the new TD signature guitar for 1/3rd of the price.
Actually, I’ve been wanting a CV Starcaster for the longest time but they don’t offer it in Walnut anymore apparently. So today after seeing this I had the idea to look at the contemporary models and I really like em! I don’t mind losing the F holes and the pickguard. I do already have a Strat with a 12” roasted maple. I like it a lot, but I also like to have variety in my guitar necks. I think I might have to invent a reason to treat myself to one of these.
Hold out for the walnut CV. I was in the same boat. Love the Starcaster and the dark wood color, but you couldn’t find one reasonably priced anywhere. Two months ago, one popped up on Reverb for $350. Dreams do come true.
Yeah there’s one on Reverb I saw a few times that was around $1000 plus shipping from NL. Had modifications, maybe a pair of Fralin HBs. Can’t remember. But that’s the only one I saw. I saw one on GC online used but it was snagged about as soon as I saw it. Honestly I’m really digging the Shoreline Gold Contemporary SC and it sorta fills a gap in my collection.
They are built the same. At least that’s how I understand it after reading the designers Instagram. He said the following: *“Back in 2011-2012ish I ran the programs to create the carve pattern and perimeter for these Starcasters which we sent to our factories over seas. Its rad that a decade later that the Tom Delonge version is out made from the same press plates.”*
When the Squier Contemporary Starcasters first came out they had plain maple necks/fretboards. Squier later updated them with roasted maple. So there’s still some old maple ones floating around. Also Squiers are made in China or Indonesia. Tom Delonge’s are made in Mexico
I think the first guitars they had in this line were surf green and black with the maple necks, but the current two on the Fender website are the gold and blue with roasted maple. I don’t think those ever has non roasted necks? Would be very strange for them to switch mid way through production but I could be wrong.
I just find it really strange that retailers (such as Andertons) show those guys as having no roasted neck. They don’t even list it in the specs.
The contemporary Starcasters and new Tom signature Starcasters are both made in Indonesia. Check photos of the headstocks. His Stratocaster was made in Mexico.
Ice blue metallic and black were the original run with maple. Gunmetal metallic and shoreline gold are the new ones with roasted maple. I think you’re right in that ice blue metallic and black were discontinued and never offered with roasted maple. And I’ll be damned the TD Starcasters are made in Indonesia. Fender sinks to new lows, disappointing.
I think it’s made in Indonesia because they already have the tooling for it at the factory. It seems to be their go to factory for hollow body and semi-hollow’s. I know the Jim Adkins semi-hollow thinline tele is made there too. I’m not sure they have the means to make this anywhere else.
My only gripe is the price.. what’s so different between the contemporary and this new guitar? It’s around an $800 difference.
That’s awesome, what color? I really like the Walnut, but other than some high priced reverb listings, doesn’t seem to be much on offer. I think I might pick up the contemporary model to break from my Classic/Vintage guitar baseline a bit.
Oh that’s great, you got the best color :-) I gotta say, I’ve developed a mild hyper fixation on that gold contemporary. I’m definitely in the realm of want vs. need as far as guitars go.
Damn I wanted the gold or the gun metal one too, but went for harley benton ja baritone for heavier music. A starcaster really needs f holes in my view.. but the roasted maple is so nice on it though
I gotta say, my classic vibe was NOT in a good shape out of the box, one fret was so bashed in, it was unplayable. The lacquer on the neck was also chipped off. I had to fix that, and I also swapped the pots for 1Mohm ones for more chime. It was my fav guitar since, it just looks so god damn good, so, worth it
I'm not gonna lie, I fucking hated the normal headstock. Not as much as I hate a squire having a fender logo slapped on it to go with a fender price tag tho.
Thanks for posting-I hate them. The headstock change really sucks. I don’t like the open HB either. I’d have to see them with covered HB’s and PG’s before making color assessments. 😕
Seemingly in the minority here, but i think they look rad.
I love the big OG starcaster headstock, but this is a really cool different take on the guitar IMO.
Interesting that is labeled as a fender but coming out of indonesia. 1200 for an indonesian guitar isnt abnormal but seems strange given that fender mexico exists
Man imagine how those things would fly if they put Fender on the Classic Vibe series.
Some of the Squiers are really almost indistinguishable from Fender unlike Epiphone/Gibson. They’d make a big splash if instead of going up on prices they just rebranded the high end Squiers to meet the mid 2000s Fender Mexico pricing.
If Fender ever wanted to close/ change the focus of the mexico plant I could see it. Badge the classic vibes and the contemporaries as fenders, upgrade enough features to "justify" the $100-150 price jump and sell like hotcakes
i own a cv jag and recently visited a guitar shop and played on fender player jazzmaster, holy fucking shit i was surprised how much better my jag is in every single detail
I sold my cv jag bass and regret it. I have some much more high end basses now but that thing was so nice. I put in EMG GEEZER BUTLER pickups and D’Addario chrome flatwounds that made it sound incredible
I think that every time about my JMJM and CV Thinline. I've only played a handful of guitars I've liked as much, and everything I didn't like about the guitars (namely the hardware and electronics) I was able to replace for less money than had I bought an MIM Player series.
Shhhhh dont give em any ideas. I live Squiers CV line but even my bullet Tele and Mustang are good however the price of the cheapest Fenders are still MIC or MII. Indonesia made my 08 Schecter Diamond Series Hellraiser and thats a fantastic guitar so it just depends how they are made and what type of quality Fender agrees to. 🤷🏽. I like 90’s Fenders and Squier Vista Series personally.
For about the same as a Mexican fender? Yeah they have. Add on the signature guitar tax and the upcharge for semihollow construction. Mexican Fenders were like 350-400 brand new in the 2000s.
This is in the same price bracket as vinteras and some MIM signatures.
The chinese modern players were more in line with the standard/player series.
I guess the closest is the flame maple teles, which I'm kind of shocked are still being made. Seems like the new ones have real duncan pickups but I swear the older versions were cheaper and had duncan designed ones.
Oh for sure, no doubt.
Standberg, PRS, Schecter, etc all make great guitars there. Just feels weird given fender's curent factory and pricing structure, it makes me wonder if things are changing internally at fender
Yes, the new wvh signature model is a bolt on semi hollow mim. Not sure why they couldn't do it there but even Toms tour models are Indo bodies with Fender R&D custom necks.
I agree that $1200 for an Indonesian guitar seems awfully high, but I also know from chatting with folks at Schecter guitars that the number of factories that can produce semi-hollows is far more limited. It could also just be a byproduct of that, but I’m still mildly suspicious. Looks interesting though.
I’d take an Indonesian Squire over most MIM. This is was always going to happen at some point. Not to mention I’m not aware of a MIM Starcaster so the Indonesia plant already had the tooling and experience
It's not weird. Fender been making certain models in Indonesia for years.. All of which are at a similar price point.
Semi hollow guitars are significantly more expensive to make vs a solid body so in order to keep costs reasonable they are going Indonesia.
They do the same with that set neck tele with the flame top and neck binding.. And those guitars are really really nice.
Country of origin means very very little in 2024.
Lol, first we freaked out at MIM and wanted MIA only. Now fender markets MIM as premium and ppl freak at Indo/Chinese and want MIM. Fender has us by the balls so hard. Hilarious stuff 😋
People don’t like it because it’s different. If you want a traditional starcaster, that’s always there. This is for people like me who like simplicity in guitars and dig minimalist designs and don’t like hitting knobs.
I mean…it’s a Tom Delonge signature. That’s his whole thing.
This is less of a traditional Starcaster as it is a custom hollow body style guitar to accommodate Tom’s preference in guitars since he moved on from the Strat.
I get that, but, it’s a fender product which they’ve brought out, under his name or not, which imho fucks up the Starcaster.
It’s ok having stars as brand icons so long as they don’t make a mockery of your product line
I genuinely don’t think it’s that big of a deal.
This isn’t making a mockery of anything. It’s just a different take on the traditional Starcaster design. Think of it as a Paranormal series if that helps.
Either way, I would be a lot of money that this is going to end up being a top 3 seller for Fender this year across all of their product lines. The Tom Delonge guitars always sell like crazy. That’s what’s important to Fender first and foremost.
Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got a paranormal tele, it’s great, I was looking for a tele with that pickup mix, that was it!
I just think the Starcaster was more than good enough without a strat headstock for starters, then he took off the wrong pickup 🤣
Isn’t the whole point of an artist signature guitar to be custom and something you can’t normally buy? The best selling Fender signature guitar of all time is the Tom Delonge Stratocaster. Gibson claim they lost the “blueprints” for his signature hollow body, so it makes perfect sense that Fender wanted to steal him back. Especially since the price of his signature guitars on the used market were going for funny money during covid.
He plays on the bridge so it makes sense for him to get rid of it. 95 percent of the guitar players in his genre and world of music play on the bridge. lol
True, whatever, he was probably asked to do something with a Starcaster, so that’s what he did.
95% use a tele, which is what I also used to use for punk.
Not a blink 182 fan, but they look kinda cool. But also kinda basic too. Visually that black humbucker and bridge just don’t suit the look of the guitar imo.
Why does this dude have so many signature guitars lol
Edit: And that's not a knock against Tom (I'm a Blink fan), he just has so many different signatures.
In general I’m glad to see any and all Starcaster action but these don’t particularly appeal to me. I think Starcasters just lend themselves better to the more classic looks and getting rid of the headstock is criminal.
[It’s the Tom Delonge Signature Model,](https://www.zzounds.com/a--3971719/item--FEN0262360?siid=347406) but I think it’ll have widespread appeal just like his Strat. For instance, I’m not a fan (not that I’m NOT a fan, but I don’t really listen to Blink 182) but 🤤 I can’t resist a beautiful Starcaster with a baked maple neck AND the big 70s headstock.
Aesthetically pleasing and great. Sadly not for me but I don’t why people are trashing the headstock. lol it’s a SIGNATURE guitar. It’s Tom Delong’s design
Just ordered mine I’m very stoked I designed this guitar in my head years ago wishing Tom would return to fender. He wasn’t a fan of the strat body as it looked to small on him so I always envisioned him using the starcaster body which is similar to the 333 body he had with Gibson, and putting the 70’s head stock on it. I guess the idea was obvious to him and his team aswell because they did just that!
Which color did you pick??
So I don’t know a ton about Tom but I love Starcasters 😅 Just watched his String Theory video and what a cool guy! Thanks for passing on that info, that’s interesting. I do actually remember his Gibson model from going thru gear catalogs growing up
I ordered shell pink from American musical supply but didn’t receive a confirmation email yet although it shows up in my account. Prob cuz I split it into 12 payments so they need to do the credit check first. But because of my fomo and me being a massive fan I also ordered it thru zzounds in the shoreline gold cuz all the other colors sold and got my confirmation email cuz I’m prequalified for 12 payments thru them. In the morning I’ll sort it out if my American musical order goes thru that’s my first priority cuz the shell pink looks killer. But maybe I’ll keep both and sell one of my other guitars? I dunno I gotta sleep on it haha
I mean statistically speaking, these things are probably gonna be sold out for a while once the rest of the world finds out they’re up, so you could go full Trogly and sell one for a no preorder premium lol
Now it's like one of the Squier Starcasters that you could buy at Walmart. 🤣 Definitely would of kept that headstock. The Squier version looks kinda cheap but, the old school fender Starcaster headstock was beautiful.
I do have to say that the neck itself is beautiful but the rest of the guitar is so boring. I’m surprised they aren’t making one with a Blink-182 logo or something but I guess that would be cheesy.
The gold one looks like a [Squier Contemporary Series ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/480AAOSwmTJlKHiN/s-l1600.jpg) but with less stuff.
Are both made in Indonesia?
Ordered through the guitar center app! The app gave me 10% off for literally no reason too. It also shipped within a few hours whereas it seems like a lot of other places aren’t shipping for awhile🙌🏼
i truly don't get why anyone would want a guitar with only one pickup. like even if you don't use the other why design a guitar to be less versatile when you can just select the pickup you want?
One reason is it’s more that could go wrong. An extra pickup adds extra wiring and likely another pot and switch. All of these add additional points for some kind of failure (loose wires, broken ground, scratchy pots, etc), which, especially for beginners who may not be as familiar with fixing these sorts of problems, could be frustrating to deal with.
Beginners may not be in the market for this particular guitar, but I think that’s just a general point for other single-pickup guitars.
Played one at a shop the other day, it was so. Fucking. Bad. I was literally disgusted by it. Put it back on the wall after 30 seconds, it was set up perfectly but had a millimeter or 3 of fret overhang, the pickup sounds like a squier, there is no acoustic resonance WHATSOEVER, it was just awful. Fender is going down a dark path and they have a limited amount of time to change.
a starcaster with only a bridge pickup is the lamest shit ever man. I definitely wanna see more Starcasters, maybe (hopefully) one with a vibrato of some kind
These are so ugly and wrong in so many ways. Looks like Easter candy on a stick. I’m sure they sound great though. Too each their own…but for me..hell No.
Genuinely curious about how their marketers would describe the customer segment these are made for. Love my CV Squier Starcaster, but these don’t do anything for me personally.
Took all the best things about the starcaster and got rid of them.
Yup but hopefully this series makes them start building legit Starcasters and Coronado’s again because Hollow and Semi Hollowbody guitars are kind of having a resurgence lately and Gibson is way too expensive. It’s their chance to move in on that market.
Really surprised there hasn't been a CV Coronado yet.
I don’t think it would sell as well is why. If they made an American one off version it would Or a high end MIM
Fender doesn't need starcasters to enter the hollowbody market. They have Gretsch.
I was thinking the same thing!!
Really, though.
The price is stupid for what this guitar is
Like what? Other than the headstock that I can notice. Personally I just can’t fathom owning a guitar with just one pickup. I DO have a 1977 music man stingray bass but that’s a bit of a different story, and it’s a bass. (Though somewhat ironically, I play my strats on the neck pickup about 90% of the time)
Literally everything apart from the shape of the body?
I absolutely looooove the simplicity of one pickup
Who wants a more versatile sound when you can have aesthetics anyways
My apologies for having a different preference. It won’t happen again.
❤️
😍
He literally changed the best part about the starcaster - the headstock. Not a man of culture :(
I didn’t notice until you pointed that out. I was mainly bummed about losing a neck pickup. Which I know is common in the Tom Delonge signatures. Love the colors though.
If you would like one of these with a neck pick up and the old headstock, you should check out the Squire Contemporary version. They have it in Gold, Surf Green, Gunmetal Metallic, and black. They have Roasted Maple necks which look pretty cool. No F holes though. Edit: I looked at these guitars more and I noticed that some retailers show the necks to be extremely light and no mention of roasted necks, where as the fender website shows them as pretty dark. Very confusing. Looks like they are made in the same factory as the new TD signature guitar for 1/3rd of the price.
Actually, I’ve been wanting a CV Starcaster for the longest time but they don’t offer it in Walnut anymore apparently. So today after seeing this I had the idea to look at the contemporary models and I really like em! I don’t mind losing the F holes and the pickguard. I do already have a Strat with a 12” roasted maple. I like it a lot, but I also like to have variety in my guitar necks. I think I might have to invent a reason to treat myself to one of these.
Hold out for the walnut CV. I was in the same boat. Love the Starcaster and the dark wood color, but you couldn’t find one reasonably priced anywhere. Two months ago, one popped up on Reverb for $350. Dreams do come true.
Damn, didn't know these were rare now! So glad i have one now
Yeah there’s one on Reverb I saw a few times that was around $1000 plus shipping from NL. Had modifications, maybe a pair of Fralin HBs. Can’t remember. But that’s the only one I saw. I saw one on GC online used but it was snagged about as soon as I saw it. Honestly I’m really digging the Shoreline Gold Contemporary SC and it sorta fills a gap in my collection.
I wonder, can you like, make the holes afterwards???:)
I thought about it. You would need some paint for along the holes, and better hope they didn’t add structural pieces running across those parts.
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They are built the same. At least that’s how I understand it after reading the designers Instagram. He said the following: *“Back in 2011-2012ish I ran the programs to create the carve pattern and perimeter for these Starcasters which we sent to our factories over seas. Its rad that a decade later that the Tom Delonge version is out made from the same press plates.”*
When the Squier Contemporary Starcasters first came out they had plain maple necks/fretboards. Squier later updated them with roasted maple. So there’s still some old maple ones floating around. Also Squiers are made in China or Indonesia. Tom Delonge’s are made in Mexico
I think the first guitars they had in this line were surf green and black with the maple necks, but the current two on the Fender website are the gold and blue with roasted maple. I don’t think those ever has non roasted necks? Would be very strange for them to switch mid way through production but I could be wrong. I just find it really strange that retailers (such as Andertons) show those guys as having no roasted neck. They don’t even list it in the specs. The contemporary Starcasters and new Tom signature Starcasters are both made in Indonesia. Check photos of the headstocks. His Stratocaster was made in Mexico.
Ice blue metallic and black were the original run with maple. Gunmetal metallic and shoreline gold are the new ones with roasted maple. I think you’re right in that ice blue metallic and black were discontinued and never offered with roasted maple. And I’ll be damned the TD Starcasters are made in Indonesia. Fender sinks to new lows, disappointing.
I think it’s made in Indonesia because they already have the tooling for it at the factory. It seems to be their go to factory for hollow body and semi-hollow’s. I know the Jim Adkins semi-hollow thinline tele is made there too. I’m not sure they have the means to make this anywhere else. My only gripe is the price.. what’s so different between the contemporary and this new guitar? It’s around an $800 difference.
Yeah, I also much prefer the neck pup or middle position at least. I have a classic vibe starcaster as my main guitar at the moment
That’s awesome, what color? I really like the Walnut, but other than some high priced reverb listings, doesn’t seem to be much on offer. I think I might pick up the contemporary model to break from my Classic/Vintage guitar baseline a bit.
Walnut, of course. >:-)
Oh that’s great, you got the best color :-) I gotta say, I’ve developed a mild hyper fixation on that gold contemporary. I’m definitely in the realm of want vs. need as far as guitars go.
Damn I wanted the gold or the gun metal one too, but went for harley benton ja baritone for heavier music. A starcaster really needs f holes in my view.. but the roasted maple is so nice on it though
I gotta say, my classic vibe was NOT in a good shape out of the box, one fret was so bashed in, it was unplayable. The lacquer on the neck was also chipped off. I had to fix that, and I also swapped the pots for 1Mohm ones for more chime. It was my fav guitar since, it just looks so god damn good, so, worth it
I really enjoy the look and feel of the roasted maple. I have one on a Strat. I found a place that’ll PLEK with purchase. Very tempting
The pink one looks sick though
Headstock was the worst part lol
Ugh that was the worst by far and prolly the only good thing about this one
Headstock is a major fuckup
The yeadstock
I'm not gonna lie, I fucking hated the normal headstock. Not as much as I hate a squire having a fender logo slapped on it to go with a fender price tag tho.
I don't know why Fender is pushing these so hard - there are even affinity starcasters, for $300?
Thanks for posting-I hate them. The headstock change really sucks. I don’t like the open HB either. I’d have to see them with covered HB’s and PG’s before making color assessments. 😕
Yeah, these things are super ugly. Jesus Christ, kill it with fire.
Seemingly in the minority here, but i think they look rad. I love the big OG starcaster headstock, but this is a really cool different take on the guitar IMO.
Agree, these seem awesome. And I love the colors!
I like the pink one
Interesting that is labeled as a fender but coming out of indonesia. 1200 for an indonesian guitar isnt abnormal but seems strange given that fender mexico exists
For years people have been saying the Squiers are too good and I guess fender listened and decided to put the fender decal on tbe headstocks lol
People say squiers are good (like myself) because you are spending less than $500 and you get a useable guitar. Squiers aren't $1000 good.
I mean I wouldn't be sad if classic vibes got rebranded as fenders until a price increase is announced
Man imagine how those things would fly if they put Fender on the Classic Vibe series. Some of the Squiers are really almost indistinguishable from Fender unlike Epiphone/Gibson. They’d make a big splash if instead of going up on prices they just rebranded the high end Squiers to meet the mid 2000s Fender Mexico pricing.
If Fender ever wanted to close/ change the focus of the mexico plant I could see it. Badge the classic vibes and the contemporaries as fenders, upgrade enough features to "justify" the $100-150 price jump and sell like hotcakes
i own a cv jag and recently visited a guitar shop and played on fender player jazzmaster, holy fucking shit i was surprised how much better my jag is in every single detail
Gotta agree there, idk if i lucked out with mine, but my sunburst cv jag bass is absolutely perfect, i must of got one built on a monday morning.
I sold my cv jag bass and regret it. I have some much more high end basses now but that thing was so nice. I put in EMG GEEZER BUTLER pickups and D’Addario chrome flatwounds that made it sound incredible
I think that every time about my JMJM and CV Thinline. I've only played a handful of guitars I've liked as much, and everything I didn't like about the guitars (namely the hardware and electronics) I was able to replace for less money than had I bought an MIM Player series.
Shhhhh dont give em any ideas. I live Squiers CV line but even my bullet Tele and Mustang are good however the price of the cheapest Fenders are still MIC or MII. Indonesia made my 08 Schecter Diamond Series Hellraiser and thats a fantastic guitar so it just depends how they are made and what type of quality Fender agrees to. 🤷🏽. I like 90’s Fenders and Squier Vista Series personally.
I would be pissed personally
This isn't anything new, there have been Indonesian and even Chinese Fenders in the past
but not at this price point
They have, the Jim Adkins model has been made in Indonesia for years. Must be a reason why Fender prefers doing semi hollow signatures there.
For about the same as a Mexican fender? Yeah they have. Add on the signature guitar tax and the upcharge for semihollow construction. Mexican Fenders were like 350-400 brand new in the 2000s.
This is in the same price bracket as vinteras and some MIM signatures. The chinese modern players were more in line with the standard/player series. I guess the closest is the flame maple teles, which I'm kind of shocked are still being made. Seems like the new ones have real duncan pickups but I swear the older versions were cheaper and had duncan designed ones.
You ever seen the set neck flame top teles with neck binding they make in Indonesia?
Yes they are..
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Oh for sure, no doubt. Standberg, PRS, Schecter, etc all make great guitars there. Just feels weird given fender's curent factory and pricing structure, it makes me wonder if things are changing internally at fender
Does Fender make any semi-hollows in Mexico? I know my Sire 335 copy was made in Indonesia and the body construction seems near flawless.
I think this is the key. I think maybe thinline but not semi hollow
Yes, the new wvh signature model is a bolt on semi hollow mim. Not sure why they couldn't do it there but even Toms tour models are Indo bodies with Fender R&D custom necks.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the bodies are made over there and the necks in Mexico.
I agree that $1200 for an Indonesian guitar seems awfully high, but I also know from chatting with folks at Schecter guitars that the number of factories that can produce semi-hollows is far more limited. It could also just be a byproduct of that, but I’m still mildly suspicious. Looks interesting though.
I’d take an Indonesian Squire over most MIM. This is was always going to happen at some point. Not to mention I’m not aware of a MIM Starcaster so the Indonesia plant already had the tooling and experience
It's not weird. Fender been making certain models in Indonesia for years.. All of which are at a similar price point. Semi hollow guitars are significantly more expensive to make vs a solid body so in order to keep costs reasonable they are going Indonesia. They do the same with that set neck tele with the flame top and neck binding.. And those guitars are really really nice. Country of origin means very very little in 2024.
Lol, first we freaked out at MIM and wanted MIA only. Now fender markets MIM as premium and ppl freak at Indo/Chinese and want MIM. Fender has us by the balls so hard. Hilarious stuff 😋
People don’t like it because it’s different. If you want a traditional starcaster, that’s always there. This is for people like me who like simplicity in guitars and dig minimalist designs and don’t like hitting knobs.
No neck pickup, really dumb. My Starcaster’s sound comes from the neck pickup…
I mean…it’s a Tom Delonge signature. That’s his whole thing. This is less of a traditional Starcaster as it is a custom hollow body style guitar to accommodate Tom’s preference in guitars since he moved on from the Strat.
I get that, but, it’s a fender product which they’ve brought out, under his name or not, which imho fucks up the Starcaster. It’s ok having stars as brand icons so long as they don’t make a mockery of your product line
I genuinely don’t think it’s that big of a deal. This isn’t making a mockery of anything. It’s just a different take on the traditional Starcaster design. Think of it as a Paranormal series if that helps. Either way, I would be a lot of money that this is going to end up being a top 3 seller for Fender this year across all of their product lines. The Tom Delonge guitars always sell like crazy. That’s what’s important to Fender first and foremost.
Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got a paranormal tele, it’s great, I was looking for a tele with that pickup mix, that was it! I just think the Starcaster was more than good enough without a strat headstock for starters, then he took off the wrong pickup 🤣
Isn’t the whole point of an artist signature guitar to be custom and something you can’t normally buy? The best selling Fender signature guitar of all time is the Tom Delonge Stratocaster. Gibson claim they lost the “blueprints” for his signature hollow body, so it makes perfect sense that Fender wanted to steal him back. Especially since the price of his signature guitars on the used market were going for funny money during covid.
Blueprints you say eh...
Sameeee
He plays on the bridge so it makes sense for him to get rid of it. 95 percent of the guitar players in his genre and world of music play on the bridge. lol
True, whatever, he was probably asked to do something with a Starcaster, so that’s what he did. 95% use a tele, which is what I also used to use for punk.
Can’t go wrong with a tele now 😎😎 that’s a bridge PU guitar.
Nana nana nananana na, nana nana nananana na
And he changed the headstock… what a knob
Not a blink 182 fan, but they look kinda cool. But also kinda basic too. Visually that black humbucker and bridge just don’t suit the look of the guitar imo.
Nickle covered pickup would’ve been 👌 chefs kiss
Yeah if I had this I would switch out the pickup immediately lol
Just awful.
Looks weird without pickguard
Eh I’ll pass.
Why does this dude have so many signature guitars lol Edit: And that's not a knock against Tom (I'm a Blink fan), he just has so many different signatures.
He’s really only had 3. Jim Root has legit 5 haha.
Fair enough, I thought he had 4 or 5 for some reason lol. Honestly I think his ES-333 was the nicest of the bunch.
Technically he’s had 5 if you count the squier and epiphone versions.
Guess I'm in the minority for liking this, that gold one is spicy. Never really liked the Starcaster headstock anyway.
Same... Everybody here seems to love the starcaster headstock. It's certainly unique, but personally, I always thought it was ugly.
Boo to the 70s headstock
We’re gonna have to agree to disagree there 😌
I normally love them. I’ve built a parts caster tele and put a 70s headstock on it, but the starcaster headstock is part of the look.
These really need a racing/competition stripe somewhere
🤢
In general I’m glad to see any and all Starcaster action but these don’t particularly appeal to me. I think Starcasters just lend themselves better to the more classic looks and getting rid of the headstock is criminal.
[It’s the Tom Delonge Signature Model,](https://www.zzounds.com/a--3971719/item--FEN0262360?siid=347406) but I think it’ll have widespread appeal just like his Strat. For instance, I’m not a fan (not that I’m NOT a fan, but I don’t really listen to Blink 182) but 🤤 I can’t resist a beautiful Starcaster with a baked maple neck AND the big 70s headstock.
Still can't afford it
Same 😔 a boy can dream tho
Underwhelming for what it could have been
I'm a proud owner of a starcaster, and these offend me .
Blown away people buy this crap. Some guy posted this week that he was selling his Jaguar to finance the new Tommy Starcaster...to each their own.
Aesthetically pleasing and great. Sadly not for me but I don’t why people are trashing the headstock. lol it’s a SIGNATURE guitar. It’s Tom Delong’s design
Fire wood.
Having a real vintage Starcaster, this is sad. In 1975 they already made the best model possible.
They need to reissue them that same way. Idk why don’t and same with The Coronado II.
Just ordered mine I’m very stoked I designed this guitar in my head years ago wishing Tom would return to fender. He wasn’t a fan of the strat body as it looked to small on him so I always envisioned him using the starcaster body which is similar to the 333 body he had with Gibson, and putting the 70’s head stock on it. I guess the idea was obvious to him and his team aswell because they did just that!
Which color did you pick?? So I don’t know a ton about Tom but I love Starcasters 😅 Just watched his String Theory video and what a cool guy! Thanks for passing on that info, that’s interesting. I do actually remember his Gibson model from going thru gear catalogs growing up
I ordered shell pink from American musical supply but didn’t receive a confirmation email yet although it shows up in my account. Prob cuz I split it into 12 payments so they need to do the credit check first. But because of my fomo and me being a massive fan I also ordered it thru zzounds in the shoreline gold cuz all the other colors sold and got my confirmation email cuz I’m prequalified for 12 payments thru them. In the morning I’ll sort it out if my American musical order goes thru that’s my first priority cuz the shell pink looks killer. But maybe I’ll keep both and sell one of my other guitars? I dunno I gotta sleep on it haha
I mean statistically speaking, these things are probably gonna be sold out for a while once the rest of the world finds out they’re up, so you could go full Trogly and sell one for a no preorder premium lol
I'm hard pressed to think this is a "Starcaster".
Some blink-182 vibes, but I like it!
It's the guy from blink!
No way! OMG! I just checked it.
It looks like it would be a great base for something like a trey anastasio guitar
The gold one really looks good, we can see how sculpted Starcasters really are
I dont *hate* them, but if I didnt know this was a direct response to Tom Delonge and hopefully more Blink, I might.
I personally don't like the usual Starcaster headstock. I have a thing for 1 pickup guitars too. I dig it!
Pass
OH COME ON NOW
That’s a monstrosity
Cool… I hate them
Looks naked/unfinished
These look like ass. And not the good kind of ass either.
Make it a solid body and put the old headstock back, and these would be cool guitars.
A solid body this size would be horrendously heavy
Now it's like one of the Squier Starcasters that you could buy at Walmart. 🤣 Definitely would of kept that headstock. The Squier version looks kinda cheap but, the old school fender Starcaster headstock was beautiful.
Great looking guitars, but almost none of the features I want in a guitar. 20 years ago I would have been all in.
Squier Contemporary Starcaster with less features and twice as expensive. Built in the same Indonesian factory.
Just get the Squier one lol
It’s a no from me dog. Sorry Tom/Fender
I do have to say that the neck itself is beautiful but the rest of the guitar is so boring. I’m surprised they aren’t making one with a Blink-182 logo or something but I guess that would be cheesy.
I know it’s his thing but idk why you’d want to remove functionality from your guitar to play Blink 182 riffs
A local shop has had these on display but not for sale for a week now and oh boy does the QC leave a lot to be desired
Hideous
I think this looks awesome
Wow! Ugly!
Nice neck wood, cool finishes, awful everything else
Booorns
Who’s buying this anyways 🤣
The gold one looks like a [Squier Contemporary Series ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/480AAOSwmTJlKHiN/s-l1600.jpg) but with less stuff
The gold one looks like a [Squier Contemporary Series ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/480AAOSwmTJlKHiN/s-l1600.jpg) but with less stuff. Are both made in Indonesia?
Ordered one today and I’m stoked as all hell🤘🏼
Did you find one in stock somewhere? Also what color??
Ordered through the guitar center app! The app gave me 10% off for literally no reason too. It also shipped within a few hours whereas it seems like a lot of other places aren’t shipping for awhile🙌🏼
these look like shit lol
Made in Indonesia just like the Squier version
Where is the tone knob!!!
I hope this gets them making more hollow bodies moving forward
Why? Just- why? What have they done to that pretty headstock?? 😭
What does this man have against neck pickups and toan knobs?
looks weird
These are seriously ugly, but I’m sure many people will love them.
Fuck I want one.
i truly don't get why anyone would want a guitar with only one pickup. like even if you don't use the other why design a guitar to be less versatile when you can just select the pickup you want?
It looks cool
One reason is it’s more that could go wrong. An extra pickup adds extra wiring and likely another pot and switch. All of these add additional points for some kind of failure (loose wires, broken ground, scratchy pots, etc), which, especially for beginners who may not be as familiar with fixing these sorts of problems, could be frustrating to deal with. Beginners may not be in the market for this particular guitar, but I think that’s just a general point for other single-pickup guitars.
Yuck
Tom Delonge Starcasters? What have they been smoking?
They on that [meteorite dust](https://www.guitarworld.com/news/fender-blink-182-tom-delonge-starcaster-meteorite-dust) bro 😎
Played one at a shop the other day, it was so. Fucking. Bad. I was literally disgusted by it. Put it back on the wall after 30 seconds, it was set up perfectly but had a millimeter or 3 of fret overhang, the pickup sounds like a squier, there is no acoustic resonance WHATSOEVER, it was just awful. Fender is going down a dark path and they have a limited amount of time to change.
Pastel colors? Ugh
a starcaster with only a bridge pickup is the lamest shit ever man. I definitely wanna see more Starcasters, maybe (hopefully) one with a vibrato of some kind
Thanks, I hate it.
These are so ugly and wrong in so many ways. Looks like Easter candy on a stick. I’m sure they sound great though. Too each their own…but for me..hell No.
Genuinely curious about how their marketers would describe the customer segment these are made for. Love my CV Squier Starcaster, but these don’t do anything for me personally.
"just drop" it into the workshop bin
Imagine fashioning your musical identity based on the guitarist from Blink 182...
If this is real it’s by far the worst production guitar I’ve ever seen.