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Post subject: Pickups and guitar question.
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:36 pm
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I was wandering, i have a Starcaster By Fender (which i love to death) and i wanted to know is it worth the money to upgrade the pickups and everything (Tuners, nut, electronics and tremelo) or buy a better quality strat(Standard or Deluxe Players)


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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:20 pm
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You can get a prewired pickguard from Guitar Fetish for not too much money. That might be a good upgrade to your Starcaster. I don't know whether it would be worth your while going much farther than that, though.

http://store.guitarfetish.com/wipi.html

By the way, welcome to the forum! 8)

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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:02 pm
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I agree.

Don't invest too much money into modifying it.

Save that money instead ... for a higher quality more expensive guitar.

You'll need a good amp too.

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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:55 pm
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the crazy thing is that the guitar feels better than any american made strat i've played before. Im torn between buying a new strat($700) or upgrading my Star($300). Btw i was wandering tone wise wht is the different between the Hot Noisless Pickups and the Vintage Noisless?


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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:41 am
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I got a really good quality Starcaster also. All I had to upgrade was the pickups and pots. The tuners, although not the greatest, are serviceable as is the nut.
I put in Vintage Noiseless and am happy as a clam.

Hot noiseless are ceramic, so there is quite a tone difference - think Jeff Beck for the hot ones.

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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:24 am
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hdavenport15 wrote:
the crazy thing is that the guitar feels better than any american made strat i've played before. Im torn between buying a new strat($700) or upgrading my Star($300). Btw i was wandering tone wise wht is the different between the Hot Noisless Pickups and the Vintage Noisless?

For that same $300, you could buy a Squier Deluxe or Custom Vibe Series. People are reporting good things about both. http://www.squierguitars.com/products/

I'm just fearful that you very quickly reach the point of diminishing returns with a Starcaster. It's like putting $2000 rims on a $500 car. 8)

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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:26 pm
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yeah but that $300 squire isnt gonna give me wht i want. It doesnt come with locking tuners, noisless pickups, Mid Boost Circuit... I appreciate the advice though.


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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:24 pm
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I have to agree with russianracehorse on this one 10,000%. The old saying goes "you get what you pay for." I learned that the hard way w/ a guitar I recently got rid of. I even had a moment of insanity when I was considering a new MIM strat vs. a used American Strat. So glad I got the Am. Sure I could have upgraded the pick ups. but that sort of stuff can only do so much. The problem I have found w/ most of the really cheap guitars is the work (or lack there of) done on the necks. The fret wire sux. They are not properly sanded. Cheap woods. Bow easily. That is a read bad problem to have. The wood the body is made of plays a part too. Crapy wood, less sustain, little to no warmth. You are sacrificing tone that good pick ups cannot always compensate for. Save your money for a really good guitar.


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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:28 pm
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Since everyone else voiced against, I'll voice for:

Since you already know the cons (which are very valid), you can weigh them against a couple pros:

You can always take out your upgrades and apply them to something else down the road.

You'll learn from this experience... and better to fool around with a cheaper guitar your first time than go straight to a vintage.


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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:25 am
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i would suggest do both... i did. i put a good set of seymour duncan invaders into my hello kitty guitar (which i love) and saved a while then purchased a Jaguar HH after i got the money. best of both worlds, $80 pickup investment then a little later dropped the cash on higher end guitar.


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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:49 am
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yeah i would do the same thing 8)

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Post subject: Re: Pickups and guitar question.
Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:09 pm
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hdavenport15 wrote:
I was wandering, i have a Starcaster By Fender (which i love to death) and i wanted to know is it worth the money to upgrade the pickups and everything (Tuners, nut, electronics and tremelo) or buy a better quality strat(Standard or Deluxe Players)


At the very least, you'll be making some tech very, very happy.

I certainly wouldn't do it. For the money it will have cost you after everything is said and done, you could have bought yourself a nice MIM like you've noted above. Another thing too, these Starcasters, no matter how much one thinks of them are virtually one step above a toy. As they are still a relatively new line on the market, no one has experienced them breaking down and falling apart yet but they will. And when they ultimately have to be professionally serviced (which they will), a tech is not going to deviate from their pricing structure based upon the fact that it is a, "budget" guitar. Last but not least, regardless of all the 'upgrades', you'd be very lucky upon resale if you even recouped just the total sum of the parts.

As always, this is merely IMO, YMMV.

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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:26 am
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If you are handy you could drop in a loaded pickguard, play it for awhile, then get a better guitar. You could always put the original pickguard and pups back on later and keep the good one to upgrade a Sqiuier or a MIM. Wouldn't bother to do anything that involved taking it to a tech though. That is money that you wouldn't be able to recoup later.

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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:27 pm
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well i put these new pups in(Hot Noisless) and put an Eric Clapton MDX kit in it... I took to Gulias(a Fender Dealership btw) and the guy told me that it was one of the best Strats he ever played... At first i didnt believe him but when he showed me a Deluxe Players Strat(he played it and let me play it also) it didnt compare to my Starcaster. I highly reccomend if u r goin to buy one, play it first. I got lucky and got mine at Target and it puts thes American Strats to shame


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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:25 am
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you can try to new latest brand that will good for your.




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Last edited by vinnex on Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

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