| "Starcaster by Fender" Stratocaster
|
|
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Woods | |
| Body | basswood or agathis |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Rosewood or Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Tremolo or hardtail |
| Pickup(s) | 3 single-coil, 2 single-coil + bridge humbucker or single bridge humbucker. |
| Colors available | |
| 3-tone Sunburst, Black, Purple, Torino Red, Candy Apple Red, Black Cherry burst over flame top maple, Metallic Black, Metallic Blue, Silver Burst, flat grey. | |
Starcaster by Fender (not to be confused with the older Fender Starcaster) is a range of instruments and accessories aimed at students/beginners, marketed by the prominent guitar company Fender since the early 2000s.
Contents |
The electric guitars in this range are manufactured in the Far East and typically sold as part of a starter package with a Squier SP-10 practice amplifier (e.g. "Starcaster Strat Pack"). In 2006-2007 the Fender website identified them as being sold through Best Buy, Target, Sam's Club, and Costco outlets. Different finishes were available exclusively from each outlet, for example 3-tone sunburst with rosewood fretboard from Best Buy, black with maple fingerboard from Target, metallic black with rosewood fingerboard and pearloid scratchplate (Model No. 0283001165) from Sam's Club. Although the range was withdrawn from the Fender website in 2007, it continues to be developed and is now sold through a variety of outlets, such as BJ's Wholesale Club, Amazon.com and Buy.com. Most of these guitars are Stratocasters but some early versions (sometimes called S1) had an arrow shaped headstock similar to the Fender Swinger.
The typical Starcaster Strat Pack solid-body electric is fitted with 3 single coil pickups, a five way selector switch and a floating tremolo bridge. The neck on models up to 2011 features the large pre-CBS head stock and may have 21 or 22 frets depending on the model. Some models have the headstock painted to match the guitar body. Recent Starcaster models feature the smaller Fender headstock. The body may be basswood or agathis depending on model and year of manufacture. Other minor changes such as a lower grade tremolo have also been made to bring down the cost, as well as the Starcaster being manufactured in Far Eastern countries such as China or Indonesia. The pickup cavity is routed to allow an H-S-H pickup configuration, which allows for flexibility in pickup arrangement. Although most models feature the classic Stratocaster configuration of 3 single-coil pickups, at least one uses the S-S-H pickup configuration with a humbucker in the bridge position. It is not considered a Strat copy because the Starcaster brand is owned by Fender . Note: A Starcaster with the serial number prefix CXS07xxxxxxx was made by AXL guitars in China. Indonesian made Starcasters will have the serial number prefix ICXXXXX and are/were made at the Cort factory. The "Arrow heads" shown in the picture with rosewood fretboards are Indonesian made (2004–2006), during the same period as the Squier 51 at the same facility. These two models share many components/features, such as tuners and pickups, although the setup is different of course, and the Squier 51 features a tappable humbucker. They also share the same bridge saddles and both feature single ply pickguards. These guitars are of a higher standard than the Chinese made arrow heads (To the far left in the picture, with a maple fretboard). The neck of the indonesian arrow heads are more narrow (40 mm) at the nut than the Fender Stratocaster, making it suitable for players with smaller hands.
Bass guitars under the Starcaster name are less frequently found; one is model no. 284800108 Fender Starcaster J-Bass guitar, based on the Fender Jazz Bass (Amazon.com, 12-Nov-2009).
The following steel-string acoustic/electric guitars have been seen under the Starcaster by Fender name:
Fender also markets a drum set under the Starcaster by Fender name. Its shells are made of hardwood. The set features a floor tom, two rack toms, a kick drum, snare, hi-hat and crash cymbals, stands, pedals, a drum chair, tuning key, and drum sticks. In the UK these were sold by Tesco and Argos.
An electronic "table-top" drum kit TT-1 model no. 0887004001 was introduced to the range in 2009, featuring 7 touch-response pads, two pedals and MIDI input and output. (Amazon.com, 12-Nov-2009)
In late 2007 Fender introduced a low-priced amplifier and range of effect pedals under the Starcaster by Fender name. These included a blue "Distortion/Eq" pedal, a green-yellow Chorus pedal, an orange Flanger pedal and the "Starcaster 15G" 15W amplifier.
