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Greetings, I'm new here, so I may have missed something. Does anybody play jazz on a Starcaster?
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05-29-2022 08:53 PM
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I picked one up last year in hopes that I'd use it for jazz. While the humbuckers sounded great (standard humbucker sound), the neck was too small for my liking. Since I liked the look of the guitar so much, I went ahead and ordered a replacement neck with the same headstock shape only to find that it was not compatible with the guitar. In the end, I reluctantly returned it.
Can you play jazz on a Starcaster? Certainly.
Do I play jazz on a Starcaster? Unfortunately, no.
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@polyp,
Originally Posted by Klatu
Welcome to the Forum!
And Klatu has your answer!
Marc
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Didn't Phil Upchurch play a Starcaster for a while? Or maybe it was a Coronado...
At any rate, you can definitely play jazz on that guitar.
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Hi, J, Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Phil was the "go to" guy on most studio gigs in Chicago in the 60's/70's for R@B/Soul. He used to play a semi-hollow for many years as well as solid-body guitars. It was only in later years that he played archtops. Memories!
Marinero
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One of my favorite records of all time...never made it to CD, I think.
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As I recall, the originals came with flatwounds. This was yet another confusing and contradictory feature in a constellation of them. I’ve never seen any of the current ones, but I do remember playing one at a local music store in the early ‘70s and wondering what kinds of players they expected to buy one.
I don’t recall being overly impressed with it, but that was back when CBS had pretty much turned most who knew and played Fenders from a decade before against the brand. But it’s a semi with humbuckers, so it should be as versatile as a 335 with the right setup and maybe a few aftermarket additions.
Upchurch has played more guitars in his lifetime than Sam Ash sold! I remember seeing him with what I think was a Coronado with a Bigsby, but I don’t recall even seeing a picture of him with a Starcaster. He played Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Peavey, modern D’A and at least a few I can’t identify. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he recorded with a $50 Kay - he’s a wonderful musician. Interestingly enough, my first exposure to him was learning You Can’t Sit Down from his 1961 single so my band could play it at parties.Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 05-30-2022 at 09:50 AM.
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I was never serious about getting a Starcaster but I picked up one in a store about 6 months ago just out of curiosity. May have been the Squire version. I surprised how heavy it was. Not 335 like at all IMHO. Playable though.
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FWIW the Starcaster is the inspiration for Trey Anastasio's Languedoc guitars.
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Originally Posted by Polyp
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FWIW, I have a '64 Gibson ES-345 TDSV and a '66 Fender Custom Telecaster. Both came to me in case-queen condition, both sporting 0.011 - 0.050-ish flatwound strings factory installed. Both were in tune after more than a decade. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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I really like the look of the Starcaster, applying the off-set theme to the 3XX format. Maybe a Chromyte (balsa) centerblock could shave a pound or two. I consider the Starcaster to be the Tal Farlow of Fenders, if that makes any sense.
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The Starcaster name is also used on a recent inexpensive Strat type guitar.
And yes, you can play jazz on that guitar -- because great jazz has been played on every kind of guitar.
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I'm going to file this in my "how could I not have seen this until 30 seconds ago?" file. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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I didn't remember that Fender even sold flats under their name back when I was in high school. But I was a Gibson guy from the day I got my first good guitar (a new LG-1 in 1958) and I had liittle interest in anything Fender except their amps. Originally Posted by citizenk74
FWIW, I have a '64 Gibson ES-345 TDSV and a '66 Fender Custom Telecaster. Both came to me in case-queen condition, both sporting 0.011 - 0.050-ish flatwound strings factory installed. Both were in tune after more than a decade.
I used Gibson flats on my '59 345TDSV and my '60 175DN when I first got them (in '60 and '61, respectively - both were used but in great shape). I don't know how they left the factory, but I know for sure that by the time they got to me from pros through our local muisic store, they'd been through many sets. They were great finds, and the 175 was a keeper until I got a new L5-CN over a decade later. But they were definitely not case or closet queens. When Guild came out with "light gauge" flats, I tried a set and loved them - so that's what I used until they stopped selling them.
If I had a Starcaster, I'd put flats on it and use it just as I do the Tele 7 that's my current - and maybe even my last - "default" axe. It's probably fine for 95+% of jazz, blues, country, and commercial playing.
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I like the Starcaster.
I'm a big Upchurch fan, here. IIRC, Upchurch gravitated from the Fender Coronado to the Polytone Improv II semi-acoustic. Later on, he moved to D'Angelico archtops (the Japanese ones).
Upchurch is impressively talented and can play many forms of music well.
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I met Phil Upchurch in Las Vegas in the mid-'80's, when he was in playing in a band that was backing Julio Iglesias. He told me that he had come up with the now-familiar intro to George Benson's Breezin' but never received any credit for it. I believed him. Originally Posted by Marinero
Very laid-back, likable guy.
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Original Fender Starcasters were pretty weird looking and not very popular. A friend of mine had one and really loved it for funk and R&B. They have become collectable and he sold his for quite a lot in a time of need.
When the Squier reissues came out he bought one and I have played it. Heavy, uncomfortable and nothing special tone-wise.
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More NOLA funk than jazz, but Leo Nocentelli from the Meters got a nice sound from this model back in the 70s. Not sure what he plays these days. Given the low price of the modern-day “reissues”, I wouldn’t expect anything close to the originals.
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As others have mentioned, Upchurch played a Fender Coronado. You can see it in old pics and album covers.
For a long while in the ‘80s/‘90s he played the possibly most unlikely jazz guitar of all time - the Peavey T-60! I think the marketing tagline for the T-60 was “finally, a guitar as heavy as a P-Bass!” I have to admit though, Phil made it sound great. To quote from “Top Gun: Maverick” - “It’s not the plane; it’s the pilot”.
IMHO, the Telecaster is still the best Fender guitar for jazz, and practically everything else.
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Had a pal who played a Peavey T-60. Great sounding guitar, paired with his Bandit!
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Here's mine:
A '77, it's a big, beefy guitar. Heavier than most 335's, and mine has a great, hefty, slightly V shaped neck (about .90 at the first fret). I also have a '75 Tele Deluxe with the same Seth Lover Wise Range pickups, and it's quite surprising how different they sound in the Starcaster; much airier and less low mids.
...and of course you can play jazz on it
Last edited by Rhythmisking; 05-31-2022 at 01:46 PM. Reason: typo
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I had the reissue, which was fine. Had a lot of problems with it, and after two warranty claims and Fender failing to rectify any issues, I returned it and used that money to buy my beloved ES
Aside from its issues, I really quite liked the body shape. As with any license-built Asian guitar, the poly finish was way too generously applied and as a result the instrument did feel a little sterile. But I did really like the guitar, and it felt a proper shame that I had no choice but to return it.
Like many have stated, it'll work for jazz because it's a guitar. End of discussion
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