I came across an Affinity Squier Starcaster in a Dublin guitar store recently. I am on the lookout for a low cost knockabout electric guitar and the Starcaster looked sufficiently different to my other guitars to be worth investigating. I did not play it due to limited time at my disposal but I will be in the area late next week and hope to give it a try out.
Has anyone here played one and how does it differ from Telecaster [especially thinline Teles]? Anything specific that I should look out for? Put another way, should I forget about it and buy something more mainstream or a guitar from Thomann? Thanks.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]
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The ONLY thing I am not keen on is the fact that it can't be stood up against something because of the shape of the base of the body. It's always going to topple sideways. On the strap it hangs quite well despite the body being almost the size of a Gibson style semi like a 335, and it's not neck heavy. It's an awful lot more ergonomic than a 335 style but not as naturally comfortable as a Strat until you get used to it.
The Affinity Starcaster has master volume and tone and black open coil humbuckers, whereas I believe the Classic Vibe Starcaster has/had Gibson style separate vol/tone for each pickup and "Wide Range" covered pickups. The stock pickups in mine are fine and I've seen no need to change them. 13.4K Bridge and 8.3K Neck DC Resistance. They work well with the jangly clean sound of the guitar, but can also overdrive an amp really well if needed. The guitar is reasonably loud unamplified for an electric guitar and is loud enough for quiet practice. Amplified you certainly know it's a semi-acoustic rather than a solidbody though.
I don't have a thinline Tele for comparison. The nearest I have is a Vintage brand V72 with single coil in the bridge and mini-humbucker in the neck. That guitar definitely sounds like a hollow telecaster, whereas I think the Starcaster sounds more like what a a hollow Strat with dual humbuckers would probably sound like. It's a very versatile guitar for sounds. It has a "shimmer" when played clean and can "twang" a bit, but is not as inherently twangy as a Tele. I don't know if the stock humbuckers on the Affinity Starcaster are of 4-wire construction that would allow for coil splitting, but the guitar could probably be made even more versatile with a coil split option if desired.
One issue I had with my used guitar was that the neck pocket was quite ragged on the bottom as though somebody had been using a blunt chisel. It is probable that one of the previous owners did this. I ended up shimming the neck to get a better action without the ABR style bridge having to be jacked up high, and this is something that you should bear in mind if looking at one in a shop. If the bridge is raised pretty high to get a decent action it is possible that the neck may need a thin shim.
The large headstock shape is most definitely something that puts a lot of people off. I like it, and I think it suits the body shape. The Classic Vibe versions have a colour matched finish on the lower part of the headstock that is carved away, and this can make it look a bit less bulky than the Affinity one that is all natural maple.
I would suggest that you go and try it in the shop. You may like it as much as I like mine, but there are enough idiosyncrasies with the guitar that may not suit you, especially the fairly thinline neck.
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I did my best to try to play some guitar and bass each week. When the issues were sorted, I decided that a visit to Waltons in Blanchardstown to try out the Squier Starcaster could finally come to pass. I took with me a tuner, a 'seatbelt' type guitar strap and a few different plectrums. Firstly, the Starcaster balances very well on a strap. Not even the merest hint of neck dive. The strings that were fitted in the factory are shockingly bad. Probably 9s of questionable quality, I had to struggle to get them in tune. But after a few stretches, they remained more or less in tune for the next hour that I played the guitar. The shop set me up with a Katana combo amp, one with more knobs than I have ever had to contend with. The guy set the amp on a clean channel as I wanted to hear the guitar tones and not the amplifier distortion sounds. I did not want the guitar to sound like any of the guitars I have, and it doesn't, and as I liked the feel of the neck, I bought it. An extra €20 bought a flimsy gig bag to get the instrument home. No truss rod adjustment allen key or anything else was included with the guitar.
A few days after getting the guitar home, I fitted a set of Elixirs 10s which gave a much fuller sound. The intonation needed some adjustment after fitting the new strings. I did the old luthiers trick of tuning the guitar to standard pitch and loosening the four neck screws by one turn. This appeared to seat the neck better than it was as the acoustic sound became much stronger. Tightened up, the guitar needed additional tweaks to the intonation. Something happened as a result of that procedure. As the strings settled I played it more and got to know the sounds and the quirks of the guitar. Now I am pondering on what to change to make it 'my' guitar. The nut is or looks like plastic so in a month or two I will replace it with an Earvana nut. For me, Earvana nuts make any guitar sound more in tune and I think it is worth fitting. I am not 100% convinced about the quality of the bridge either. It looks a lot flimsier than a similar type of bridge on my Les Paul, if I can get one that is a direct replacement, that will likely happen. So far the tuning machines look and work fine, if they become sloppy over time it is a simple matter to change them for something better. For the time being they are working fine. The fret ends are smooth and well finished, the fretboard edges will get a slight rounding when the Earvana nut is being fitted. Other than that, it is a fine guitar. The controls work perfectly and the guitar sounds differently to my other guitars.
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It was OK. Bit plasticy in feel, very bright sounding.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
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I think they were made in China?
I got an Earvana nut for it and took the guitar to a Dublin tech [one I had used before many times] to get the shelf nut fitted and to setup the guitar. A few days later he phoned me to say that it was not necessary to change the nut as the nut fitted in the factory was 'pretty good'. He lowered the action a bit, adjusted the intonation and pronounced the guitar ready for collection. He told me that the guitar now plays in tune way better than it did but if I found otherwise during the next few weeks/months, the Earvana nut can be fitted easily.
The type of music I play is a mix of traditional country, folk, ballads and popular sing along songs. A friend calls to our house every two weeks or so. He mainly plays his Takamine 12 string guitar and we play for a couple of hours. Keeps us both interested and opens up new songs to work on etc. I play mainly clean guitar at little above acoustic guitar volume and the Starcaster slots in beautifully in this environment. My Strat and Tele on the other hand, tend to sound lifeless and dull at that volume level. Our golfing society has a number of guitar players/singers, we often arrange a sing song after the presentation of prizes in the clubhouse. This session involves up to 5 acoustic guitars and I playing the Starcaster through my little combo amp. The Starcaster blends well with the acoustic guitars and the single volume control is useful to boost the volume for intros, lead breaks and outros.
To conclude, the Starcaster is a fine instrument that costs small money, sounds great and it is now my go to guitar and has usurped the Epi LP in that department.
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.
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