Some corrections: -Around 8:40 I said these pickups were the same as the older Fender WHRB reissues, but I believe the design has been tweaked and these sound different (imo better) than the older Fender reissues. -I also stated the nut was plastic, but a viewer pointed out in my long term review of this guitar that the specs actually say it's a bone nut and he was right! So the nut is real bone!
I was at a famous Chicago Music store and the salesman handed me one of these I never saw one before. I ended up buying it. My first Squier, Ive been playing for fifty years and am having a lot of fun with this, Always been a Fender Gibson guy, can't beat this for the money.
Thanks for your review. I’ve had my Starcaster for a few months. I agree with all of the things you said. I want to upgrade the wiring, but I’m waiting until I can play the guitar loud with the group before replacing the pickups. I wasn’t aware of the mismatched pots. And the mismatched radius -what a silly thing. No wonder I can’t seem to set the action exactly how I want it. Looking forward to your progress with this guitar.
Thanks for watching! I just played it at my church and honestly I could just leave it alone and still be happy with it. The neck is pretty dark with the current tone pot though
Subbed! Love the level of detail here! So many reviews only focus on how the guitar “feels” and not the the technical aspects that might actually contribute to that feel. Would love to watch a full mod video as well for those of us brave enough to undertake the thankless task of semi hollow wiring.
Trey from Phish's guitar was based on the Starcaster cuz he knew of Leo from the Meters (or Funky Meters). I mention it because just this stock Squier Starcaster sounds Amazingly like Trey's 7,000 dollar custom-built Languedoc models. Also, there's a huge 'Faux-Languedoc' market with models going from $800-$5000. Just this guitar, sound So Much like the acoustic tone of Trey's Languedocs.
This is the most in-depth review on this guitar, well done! Thanks for going to the effort of digging in. I enjoyed your chat - demo - chat - demo format and really appreciate the consistency and variety of the demos. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Great review. You earned a sub. Few questions. Is it difficult to change out the pots and such because its semi hollow body? It seems tricky to replace things to me. I may get one and swap out the whole cheap electronics for an Obsidian set or something like it. Also a few video tips, get a few cheap LED lights to light you better and the set, also a key light. Set your camera focus to manual when doing your static seat shots until you get the lights. With extra light it will help with a wider depth of field and stop the auto focus hunting that happens now. Also when talking about flaws or things you like of the guitar try dropping in close up still photos of what you are talking about over top of your video. Try adding some color and objects into your background. Copy the look or feel of other guitar you tubers you like. They say dress for the job you want not the job you have, the same applies for set design. You have a good delivery and style, and your jams are really good. It will take time and effort but people will find you if you, if you continue to make videos on a regular bias. Looking forward to more content from you. Have a great day.
Thanks! Appreciate the feedback, I need a few more lights for sure! Yeah I’m going to upgrade my camera set up soon, and need to go manual for the next one. still learning all the film making stuff. And yes, having just changed the entire wiring harness, it is horrible to modify hahaha, but it will cost you to have someone do it. Kinda up to you if you want to spend $100 for someone else to sweat and swear at the guitar for a couple hours or if you want to do it
Damn, that's an honest upfront review, no sugarcoating or anything. I've not seen anyone mention the bridge/neck radius difference, which, you'd think, would be worth mentioning.
Thanks for the detailed Review, finally some honest Words and not only Fender Marketing Guys...does anyone know if the Wiring is still a Problem in 2022? The String-Choke-Bridge Issue sounds horrible, waiting for mine....I hope I will love it because the Design and Sound thru UA-cam just hit me 🔥
@@ZachariahConnor btw, I played a bunch of semi-hollows in this price range at a shop and the Starcaster just has a terrific neck and overall feel compared to the Gretch and Epi's I played so I picked one up, also with some help from your videos. So thanks for the content :)
thanks for the review, very detailed. subbed. I like the Starcaster concept . . . I was looking at getting this (like offset guitars and ES-335 designs) for a electric to take to jam before going to work (I leave early to beat traffic and jam in a park), but seems will need some modding and not at a point where I can mod it, but def will keep this line in mind. Prob just get a strat for tele workhorse for that . . . My friend who does modding for ES style guitars says its harder to mod than S or T style . . . strange how 60 cycle hum guy said his was as perfect as it gets and didn't complain about the electronics but FEnder sent it over, so he prob got celeb treatment and got a noice one.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah these are a pain in the butt to modify (I changed the wiring on this before selling it). I'd recommend trying one out still, I think they sound great as is for a lot of people though.
Staytrem used to make a direct replacement for 9,5 fender adjustomatic bridges. Lord Fuzzman has a video on it. They stopped making them about 4 years ago. He now recommends Halon Guitar Parts. Mastery does a bridge for AOM fender bridge but i'm not sure if it needs some drilling work. I think the best thing to do is to shim the saddles on the fender AOM. Good luck with your Starcaster!
@@ZachariahConnor i don't really like Starcaster's shape... specially the headstock shape. I like offsetts -my main guitar is a Fender Meteora with humbuckers and a AOM bridge- and my next guitars will be the TVL Jazzmaster, the Jason Isbell telecaster and probably a Revstar. If you want a humbucker guitar to "test yourself" get a Tele Deluxe or one of the Paranormal Squier Toronado if you like the scale length of the Jazzmaster. For a more Gibson style scale length, i think the PRS Vela and the PRS Mira are great. If you want a semihollow, the Sire Larry Carlton looks great too. :-)
@@haniwa3276 yeah, I mean it’s certainly useable, but I’d take one to a good luthier and have them file the bridge slots until they’re the right radius
"Fender used a 500K volume and a 250K tone. This makes no sense." Actually it does young man. Gibson used 500K volume & 250k tone on all single pickup guitars in the 50s and 60s, and many have done so since then. It is perfectly acceptable to mix. And assuming that Fender's WR pickups will sound *better* than these stock ones is a rookie mistake. They will sound different. They may *not* sound better. One thing you're going to want to do in your videos is be a little more humble. You don't know more than Fender and you were wrong about several points you made. If your audience is complete beginners who don't know any better, that's fine. But you'd be much better off saying that it is your opinion rather than suggesting that it's an obvious fact and that they people at Fender must be dumb. I know a lot of people on UA-cam do that, but they look like fools for doing so. You are young enough to grow and learn from this experience and I sincerely hope you do. (The pot values you gave for Strats, JMs and Jags were stated as if they are always those values. They aren't, by the way.) Lastly, these Squier wide-ranging humbuckers are VERY well received and are used on a few Telecasters that people rare downgrade to some other pickup. You'll learn in time...
Thanks for watching. I didn’t know that about Gibson single coil guitars, however this guitar has humbuckers so the standard pot configuration (on most humbucker guitars) is normally 500k and 500k. I’m being subjective with the “better” terminology here, I should have said preferred. Personally I would prefer the Fender or Lollar versions of these pickups since the stock ones are basically Gibson style humbuckers.
Some corrections:
-Around 8:40 I said these pickups were the same as the older Fender WHRB reissues, but I believe the design has been tweaked and these sound different (imo better) than the older Fender reissues.
-I also stated the nut was plastic, but a viewer pointed out in my long term review of this guitar that the specs actually say it's a bone nut and he was right! So the nut is real bone!
I was at a famous Chicago Music store and the salesman handed me one of these I never saw one before. I ended up buying it. My first Squier, Ive been playing for fifty years and am having a lot of fun with this, Always been a Fender Gibson guy, can't beat this for the money.
Thanks for your review. I’ve had my Starcaster for a few months. I agree with all of the things you said. I want to upgrade the wiring, but I’m waiting until I can play the guitar loud with the group before replacing the pickups. I wasn’t aware of the mismatched pots. And the mismatched radius -what a silly thing. No wonder I can’t seem to set the action exactly how I want it. Looking forward to your progress with this guitar.
Thanks for watching! I just played it at my church and honestly I could just leave it alone and still be happy with it. The neck is pretty dark with the current tone pot though
That opening jam is epic.
Thank you!! Gotta finish that song
What an excellent detailed and in-depth review + superb sound examples.
Thanks!!
Subbed! Love the level of detail here! So many reviews only focus on how the guitar “feels” and not the the technical aspects that might actually contribute to that feel. Would love to watch a full mod video as well for those of us brave enough to undertake the thankless task of semi hollow wiring.
Thank you so much! I did a video of the results, it’s just less detailed than this video haha
Trey from Phish's guitar was based on the Starcaster cuz he knew of Leo from the Meters (or Funky Meters). I mention it because just this stock Squier Starcaster sounds Amazingly like Trey's 7,000 dollar custom-built Languedoc models.
Also, there's a huge 'Faux-Languedoc' market with models going from $800-$5000.
Just this guitar, sound So Much like the acoustic tone of Trey's Languedocs.
Frickin' Awesome intro 🎶❤👌
Thank you!!
Great playing my dude!
Thank you!
This is the most in-depth review on this guitar, well done! Thanks for going to the effort of digging in. I enjoyed your chat - demo - chat - demo format and really appreciate the consistency and variety of the demos. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I got many more demos like this planned this year, so I hope you come back for those
Great review. You earned a sub. Few questions. Is it difficult to change out the pots and such because its semi hollow body? It seems tricky to replace things to me. I may get one and swap out the whole cheap electronics for an Obsidian set or something like it. Also a few video tips, get a few cheap LED lights to light you better and the set, also a key light. Set your camera focus to manual when doing your static seat shots until you get the lights. With extra light it will help with a wider depth of field and stop the auto focus hunting that happens now. Also when talking about flaws or things you like of the guitar try dropping in close up still photos of what you are talking about over top of your video. Try adding some color and objects into your background. Copy the look or feel of other guitar you tubers you like. They say dress for the job you want not the job you have, the same applies for set design. You have a good delivery and style, and your jams are really good. It will take time and effort but people will find you if you, if you continue to make videos on a regular bias. Looking forward to more content from you. Have a great day.
Thanks! Appreciate the feedback, I need a few more lights for sure! Yeah I’m going to upgrade my camera set up soon, and need to go manual for the next one. still learning all the film making stuff. And yes, having just changed the entire wiring harness, it is horrible to modify hahaha, but it will cost you to have someone do it. Kinda up to you if you want to spend $100 for someone else to sweat and swear at the guitar for a couple hours or if you want to do it
I have the vintage sunburst star caster classic vibe and absolutely love it!!!
Damn, that's an honest upfront review, no sugarcoating or anything. I've not seen anyone mention the bridge/neck radius difference, which, you'd think, would be worth mentioning.
I wasn’t holding back on the issues
@@ZachariahConnor that's what I was saying
@@JeanMarceaux it was frustrating when you buy a new guitar and it has lots of problems
@@ZachariahConnor I can imagine, yeah.
Thanks for all the info. Vastly more helpful than every other video on this guitar.
Thank you so much!!
This is definitely my next guitar.
Great review😊
Thank you!
Thanks for the detailed Review, finally some honest Words and not only Fender Marketing Guys...does anyone know if the Wiring is still a Problem in 2022? The String-Choke-Bridge Issue sounds horrible, waiting for mine....I hope I will love it because the Design and Sound thru UA-cam just hit me 🔥
The bridge issues were manageable I think, I sold this guitar so I can’t say how I would have gotten on with it for more than a year
This kind of creator is the one we should be supporting! great video! new sub!
Wow I appreciate the kind words!
That was a dope song at the intro bro
Thank you!
@@ZachariahConnor btw, I played a bunch of semi-hollows in this price range at a shop and the Starcaster just has a terrific neck and overall feel compared to the Gretch and Epi's I played so I picked one up, also with some help from your videos. So thanks for the content :)
@@puffin_time I’ve had a similar experience, the Starcaster feels much more expensive than it’s price
Excellent info
nice detailed review.
thanks for the review, very detailed. subbed. I like the Starcaster concept . . . I was looking at getting this (like offset guitars and ES-335 designs) for a electric to take to jam before going to work (I leave early to beat traffic and jam in a park), but seems will need some modding and not at a point where I can mod it, but def will keep this line in mind. Prob just get a strat for tele workhorse for that . . . My friend who does modding for ES style guitars says its harder to mod than S or T style . . . strange how 60 cycle hum guy said his was as perfect as it gets and didn't complain about the electronics but FEnder sent it over, so he prob got celeb treatment and got a noice one.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah these are a pain in the butt to modify (I changed the wiring on this before selling it). I'd recommend trying one out still, I think they sound great as is for a lot of people though.
Igot a used 2020 in mint condition,i love it! I always thought I wanted an Epi 335.Played it against this and the Starcaster won!
Great review
Staytrem used to make a direct replacement for 9,5 fender adjustomatic bridges. Lord Fuzzman has a video on it.
They stopped making them about 4 years ago. He now recommends Halon Guitar Parts.
Mastery does a bridge for AOM fender bridge but i'm not sure if it needs some drilling work.
I think the best thing to do is to shim the saddles on the fender AOM.
Good luck with your Starcaster!
I was thinking of filing down the high saddles, but I ended up selling the guitar
@@ZachariahConnor i don't really like Starcaster's shape... specially the headstock shape.
I like offsetts -my main guitar is a Fender Meteora with humbuckers and a AOM bridge- and my next guitars will be the TVL Jazzmaster, the Jason Isbell telecaster and probably a Revstar.
If you want a humbucker guitar to "test yourself" get a Tele Deluxe or one of the Paranormal Squier Toronado if you like the scale length of the Jazzmaster.
For a more Gibson style scale length, i think the PRS Vela and the PRS Mira are great.
If you want a semihollow, the Sire Larry Carlton looks great too. :-)
Thanks, I loved the Starcaster aside from the pickups. I just wanted a baritone guitar more than upgrading the starcaster
Great review. Thanks! Also, what mic are you using for your vocal commentary? Fellow UA-camr here looking to upgrade my setup.
Thank you John! I use the Shure SM7b and the Shure 545SD. Honestly the 545sd is pretty dang good for the money
@@ZachariahConnor Thank you! It sounds awesome.
great video thanks so much
Thank you!
It’s been 9 months do you plan on getting the new pickups?
I sold the guitar unfortunately :/
I think if I kept it I would have. But that’s for me, some people will love the stock sound
Hi Zacariah👋 I can't see the vibrato handle on this guitar. I wonder if there is no such feature in this model?
Hi! Thanks for watching! There is not a vibrato handle on this guitar
@@ZachariahConnor I wish it has😣 thanks for the response🤟 Im looking for a cheap guitar for surf music.
@@johnycarcass3227 you could put at Desenburg Les Trem on it!
@@ZachariahConnor thanks so much Zachariah🤟
@@ZachariahConnor A Goldo Les Trem flat arm is also available if you prefer the Bigsby-style jazz look
Now I'm not sure but there on SALE $299.00 free shipping
The only thing it sounded a little FLAT maybe just my tablet
They do look good
I think the pickups could sound better, but you can always upgrade them! For $299 I’d say snag one
Great guitar and excellent Tupee 🎸🇦🇺🍻
Thank you! I don’t have a tupee however, that is just my hair
@@ZachariahConnor I know mate.Just an Ozzie listener! We are born sarcastic 🇦🇺✨🏄.Very good review dude
Great review. i’m concerning to buy one or not for long time. the color way of yours looks like blonde. Is it what they call “natural”?
Thank you! Yes this is the Natural finish. They have it in Walnut and Sunburst
@@ZachariahConnor Thanks, man. Natural looks dope for me. I think I’m gonna cop one. Gotta find a solution for fretboard radius vs bridge, tho.
@@haniwa3276 yeah, I mean it’s certainly useable, but I’d take one to a good luthier and have them file the bridge slots until they’re the right radius
Starcaster Update (spoiler alert I sold it): ua-cam.com/video/U6k3m0Hhn88/v-deo.html
I’d love to watch your video bu the camera zooming in and out made me nauseous. Love the guitar and demo at the beginning.
Sorry about that, my old camera sucked so much hahaha
Yeet that tone pot!
FYI, the guitarfetish versions of the Fender WRHB is waaaaay closer to the original than anything Fender still makes including the reissues.
Have you heard the new CuNiFe Fender Reissues? I’ve heard some clips from some videos, and they sound identical to the original WHRBs
Made in China or Japan
Made in Indonesia
@@ZachariahConnor high i have found made in China
@@sasalekic3120 fender modern player starcaster is “crafted in China”
@@sethcronin Thanks for information..
"Fender used a 500K volume and a 250K tone. This makes no sense."
Actually it does young man. Gibson used 500K volume & 250k tone on all single pickup guitars in the 50s and 60s, and many have done so since then. It is perfectly acceptable to mix. And assuming that Fender's WR pickups will sound *better* than these stock ones is a rookie mistake. They will sound different. They may *not* sound better. One thing you're going to want to do in your videos is be a little more humble. You don't know more than Fender and you were wrong about several points you made. If your audience is complete beginners who don't know any better, that's fine. But you'd be much better off saying that it is your opinion rather than suggesting that it's an obvious fact and that they people at Fender must be dumb. I know a lot of people on UA-cam do that, but they look like fools for doing so. You are young enough to grow and learn from this experience and I sincerely hope you do. (The pot values you gave for Strats, JMs and Jags were stated as if they are always those values. They aren't, by the way.) Lastly, these Squier wide-ranging humbuckers are VERY well received and are used on a few Telecasters that people rare downgrade to some other pickup. You'll learn in time...
Thanks for watching. I didn’t know that about Gibson single coil guitars, however this guitar has humbuckers so the standard pot configuration (on most humbucker guitars) is normally 500k and 500k.
I’m being subjective with the “better” terminology here, I should have said preferred. Personally I would prefer the Fender or Lollar versions of these pickups since the stock ones are basically Gibson style humbuckers.