New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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Mechanical Birds
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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Mechanical Birds » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:28 pm

Danley wrote:
Sun Jul 07, 2019 3:17 pm
Some more thoughts here as these flow through my head: Given none of them are accurate anyway (probable fake WRHBs, AOM etc.) I’m steered more toward the Affinity which at least has some honest PAF-style pickups. I also never really liked the look of F-holes so Contemporary still has appeal, coupled with the colors. The CV neck looks gorgeous, but it’s sort of the most ‘close-but-not-quite’ guitar vs. having comfort being its own thing. So even though I’d rather have a vintage than a Squier (no surprise,) that causes me to be ok with the Squier models least like the vintage.

Would like to pick one up at some point.
Yeah, to me it makes the most sense to pretty much look at these the same way that I would like a Japanese copy of a Fender guitar from the 70s. Super close body and neck aesthetics, but missing some things that would otherwise make it a uniquely Fender kinda thing - bullet truss thing, not string thru cuz obviously a TOM is easier I guess? No master volume, 4 instead of 3 neck bolts, whatever. Thinking about it like that, like ok I can basically get what I’d want in an original one but for a fraction of the price that includes me having to compromise on a couple of features, that’s fine.

Still would really love to see a legit reissue, or one set up with an offset tremolo finished in nitro. Not gonna see that ever I know but I’d rather have the modern player and Squier releases of these guitars than no Starcaster ya know? I sure as shit don’t have the $5,000 or whatever it costs for a Bilt Volarè so this will have to do.

Someone was selling a MP version on Facebook with a Bigsby knockoff for like $300 and I hate myself for not having the money in time because now I can’t find it and I’m pretty sure it’s gone. Probably end up doing the American Musical payments thing because $100 a month for like 3 months for one of these is a lot less painful than the $800 or whatever ridiculous price the MPs that are still out there cost.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Mechanical Birds » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:36 pm

Probably my biggest gear regret of all time was passing on the white w/ black binding Starcaster at my local pawn shop for ~$400 back in the early 2000s. I knew nothing about guitars or Fender or their history, like didn’t even understand the differences between MIA, MIJ, MIM, etc. so I just assumed like “oh weird Fender I’ve never heard of thing looks weird” and didn’t think about it again until I finally took the deep dive like a lot of us have and sucked up every bit of knowledge and trivia I possibly could.

Though infinitely less annoying, I also passed on a $100 Peavy T-60, also in white with the rosewood board. Same deal as the Starcaster, knew nothing about them and just thought “holy shit this weighs 15 pounds but looks cool these metal knobs are neat I’ve never seen them” and then forgot about it until like 5 years ago I learned anything about what I’d been looking at. It’s dumb, I know, to harp on shit like this but it feels like those days are long gone because now every fucking customer at any store or pawn shop or yard sale has a computer in their pocket that will instantly tell them what they’re looking at and how much it’s worth, let alone the fact that 100% of pawn shops use eBay to set their prices on 100% of their inventory, and short of maybe a weird estate sale situation, deals like that simply don’t exist anymore.

Hopefully the inevitable ecological collapse will bring with it this alleged market flood of vintage guitars and amps that will make them as worthless as a lot of people say is going to happen. Like, at least we can maybe look forward to that.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by X-Ray Spex » Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:38 am

Mechanical Birds wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:36 pm
Probably my biggest gear regret of all time was passing on the white w/ black binding Starcaster at my local pawn shop for ~$400 back in the early 2000s. I knew nothing about guitars or Fender or their history, like didn’t even understand the differences between MIA, MIJ, MIM, etc. so I just assumed like “oh weird Fender I’ve never heard of thing looks weird” and didn’t think about it again until I finally took the deep dive like a lot of us have and sucked up every bit of knowledge and trivia I possibly could.
This hurts my soul.
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Mechanical Birds » Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:38 am

You have no idea!

Feels the same now about me not buying a bunch of Model Ts when they were like, $1,200-1,500 because that was astronomically expensive when yr making $5.25 an hour and 15 but today is like “fuck I could have bought one with a months wages. Now it’s take like 3 months and I’m making $15/hour” haha

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by brianjdc » Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:00 am

60cyclehum has video demos up on YouTube from namm. One for each model

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Jan Deal » Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:27 am

A guy at GuitarGuitar told me that they are expecting these mid October.
Seas, Starry : Fuzz / Pop / Noises

"Gorgeous, soaring waves of guitars which feedback and squall deliriously with fluid and organic rhythms”

www.seasstarry.bandcamp.com

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by alexpigment » Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:32 am

brianjdc wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:00 am
60cyclehum has video demos up on YouTube from namm. One for each model
I like that guy's enthusiasm and I appreciate how committed he is to going to events and doing reviews, but I really never seem to get a feel for how good/bad a guitar is from his reviews. Maybe it's his technique. Maybe it's his mic'ing. Maybe a little bit of both.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by 601210 » Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:24 pm

alexpigment wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:32 am
brianjdc wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:00 am
60cyclehum has video demos up on YouTube from namm. One for each model
I like that guy's enthusiasm and I appreciate how committed he is to going to events and doing reviews, but I really never seem to get a feel for how good/bad a guitar is from his reviews. Maybe it's his technique. Maybe it's his mic'ing. Maybe a little bit of both.
It's his playing style. He's a surf guy through and through. I realized this when I tried sitting through some of his fuzz videos, the way he sets them up to his ear is uhhh idiosyncratic and tends to not really be indicative of how the pedal actually sounds.

I've never gotten a feel for how good/bad a guitar is from any video review, though. The tone itself doesn't matter and is easily changed and everything else can't be imparted through video.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by X-Ray Spex » Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:28 am

Mechanical Birds wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:38 am
You have no idea!

Feels the same now about me not buying a bunch of Model Ts when they were like, $1,200-1,500 because that was astronomically expensive when yr making $5.25 an hour and 15 but today is like “fuck I could have bought one with a months wages. Now it’s take like 3 months and I’m making $15/hour” haha
Wait do you mean Model T like the cars?
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Mechanical Birds » Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:39 am

Amplifiers, my friend :)

Like a lot of mediocre white dudes, I’m very dedicated to the brand.

Image

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by X-Ray Spex » Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:01 am

Mechanical Birds wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:39 am
Amplifiers, my friend :)

Like a lot of mediocre white dudes, I’m very dedicated to the brand.

Image
Ah I see, that's dedication right there. Don't think there's any one brand I feel so strongly about that I'd get a tattoo of them but power to you.

Are those the amplifiers that Sunn O)))) and all those doom guys use?
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by Mechanical Birds » Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:33 am

Yeah. Kinda dark, high wattage, incubate headroom, thickest and most sustaining distortion I’ve probably ever heard.

Like lots of iconic gear they started using them because they were cheap and good but now they’re thousands of dollars.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by spindizzy » Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:27 pm

I got to try one of these out this afternoon at the Melbourne guitar show, not too shabby but they do feel like Squiers. Built in Indonesia, the pick up covers do have Squier etched into them too. Didn't get to try it plugged in but it seemed nice enough to play.
The one I tried was the mocha brown and the finish looked good though I don't love the colour. They also had the two contemporary versions but they're not my cup of tea so I didn't try them, looked to be to the same standard though.
It felt lighter than the previous Chinese Fender version which I think is a plus. Not sure I'd buy one though - the Australian pre-order pice was A$639 which is actually pretty cheap by our current exchange rate.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by windmill » Sat Aug 03, 2019 4:49 pm

spindizzy wrote:
Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:27 pm
I got to try one of these out this afternoon at the Melbourne guitar show, not too shabby but they do feel like Squiers. ....Didn't try it plugged in but it seemed nice enough to play.
The one I tried was the mocha brown and the finish looked good though .....

did the same thing with same guitar

It seemed like value for money, well made for the price. Nice feeling neck.

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Re: New Squier Starcasters - Classic Vibe, Contemporary, and Affinity

Post by spindizzy » Sat Aug 03, 2019 9:38 pm

I was wearing an offsetguitars.com 10th anniversary t-shirt while trying it, so I get extra points for that ;)

I think my favourites on the Fender stand were the new Vinteras, though sadly I didn't see the new Mustang amongst them.

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