WHAT FENDER ISN'T TELLING YOU ABOUT THE TOM DELONGE STARCASTER...

[@burgerbarn5000]

Tom wanted a guitar built by Aliens.

[@melverntaylor402]

😂

[@chrisvicious999]

I've tried, but I'm 42, almost 43, and just started getting into guitar and I really enjoy your channel. Your reviews are great for someone like me with a rudimentary understanding of guitars.

[@adamguthrie7063]

Between the Starcaster, the DG335 and the Wolfgang SA-126 all I'm gonna do is cry in left handed 🥲

[@Intheflesh79]

We're always being "left" out lol

[@Shuua3AM]

@@Intheflesh79yes we are :(

[@claybaxter3202]

Yea it sucks.

[@TheSuperspyk]

I still firmly believe my squire starcaster classic vibe punches well above its weight and is one of the top 3 guitars I own aside from my Yamaha revstar standard and fender meteora 👌🏻

[@97bombz]

I’ve got the Starcaster along with Tom’s Strat that came out last and his Epiphone and the Starcaster is the easy standout. Quality, playability, sound, I love it. I also heard that Aaron Rubin and Tom went to Fender asking for a 10% bigger Strat since Tom is a tall dude and they didn’t want to do that, but once they said the “Star” part of Starcaster, Tom was in. Kinda sick.

[@TrainSkater3709]

blink logo on the 12th fret would be clean

[@somebenlongdude7466]

On the Fender Indonesia topic, the Fender FMT telecasters and the Fender JA-90 semi-hollow's both are made in Indo, not sure if it's the same facility though, but Fender has been doing Fender branded guitars there for a while... I have both, they're amazing guitars, and priced not too far behind the Tom Delonge custom.

[@chrishammonds72]

Interesting that they’re built in Indonesia because only squier has the tooling the make the starcasters apparently

[@Caribuu]

I bought a contemporary squire star caster a few months back. I can't put it down. Imo the best looking horns on a double cut away guitar besides EBMM valentine. The body shape is a little strange on the star caster tho and the head stock they added this stripe of paint that matches the body so it's not so ugly. But yeah like I said I can't help but pick it up and I got a prs, a lespaul and an sg right beside it.

[@mikajegou7106]

Welp, you know your community, a pink guitar, according to science will chug 150% more than the same guitar in another finish, except of course purple.

[@Mr.Monster1313]

Please do a video on the jackson dinky JS22 DKA Arched top,,compound radius neck,,jumbo frets,,,etc...$199.99

[@Clumplays]

Great work buddy!

[@BobFos-kc3ee]

Its just a cheaper guitar with custom pickups. Saves not being a strat still for that style it is fine.

[@manofthepeople2165]

Gibson should have put their logo on the Epiphone DG-335

[@neg1977]

No case at that price

[@thewickedwizard]

Tom's Gibson was an ES-333 not a 335!

[@michaeledmondsonrock]

I'll enjoy buying one of these from a guy that has buyers remorse on Reverb and sells it for way cheaper.

[@Intheflesh79]

I got my first guitar in 20 years it is a Van nays I got for 500

[@Lomoholga2]

Jackson is hard core Charvel

[@speaknoworforeverhol]

These Tom guitars are just dumb. Like the guitars themselves are cool but as a guitar player I don’t think he’s good enough for all the hype

[@thomaswitch3357]

Just as long as Fender keeps exploiting cheap labor and the humble Indonesian people this is perfectly ok with me. Just keep those poor people poor please. Keep those wages low, the kids hungry and the profits high

[@Maidenless007]

I really wish the sarcastic plug for subscribers would cease. I would wager that this joke does not improve sub numbers, it just gets tiresome for the folks that hear it every upload. Just my two cents.

[@zanzabar4ky7]

I have not had a chance to play the signature starcasrer. The squir is great. The higher end squir have been better than the normal mim fenders. The evh Indonesian stuff is better than the mim. The price of th m xican stuff makes no sense. The line is not up to the asain imports in fret work and finishing, but they get better parts.

[@IDiggPattyMayonnaise]

I was shocked by how great the Squier neck plays. I love it more than most higher end guitars I've played.

[@Juliosguitarstuffs]

Damn 9 billion people aren’t subscribed? That’s more than there are people on the planet. Let me get my unborn son to subscribe real quick.

[@chuckcampbell1731]

Over hyped guitars not worth the money..boo

[@cobhc182]

I have the white one. Do not worry. It is very high quality and plays and sounds incredible! The Duncan Custom is an awesome pickup.

[@auntjenifer7774]

Is a high quality squier factory guitar, my $300 starcaster is made in the same Indonesia factory as the Tom DeLong.

[@auntjenifer7774]

Is a high quality squier factory guitar, my $300 starcaster is made in the same Indonesia factory as the Tom DeLong.

[@AndrewtubeDude]

@@auntjenifer7774you didn’t watch the video.

[@marcviola30]

@@auntjenifer7774did you not watch the video? They’re totally different guitars with totally different specs…like he said the affinity doesn’t even have real binding, being built in a factory doesn’t mean anything…do you know how many different car brands are built in the same factory or beers brewed in the same factory does that mean they’re all the same product?

[@marcviola30]

@@auntjenifer7774does that mean there’s no difference between a $1400 American made fender and a $5000 custom shop cause they came out of the same factory? It’s such an ignorant comment

[@derekhell666]

a lot of boutique builders copied the Starcaster body like Dennis Fano and Bilt Guitars. I believe Warmoth even has it as a body option.

[@chidbro23]

warmoth also has it as a neck option lol

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

Warmoth call theirs "mooncaster" and I believe it's slightly downsized from the Fender version. It's also not traditional hollow body construction, but rather built like a thinline Telecaster (hollowed out solid body with a cap glued on). They also build their's with a control cover, rather than requiring you to fish the wiring harness trough the F-holes

[@scotteepunk]

Warmoth does have a similar body to the Starcaster, but it's not laminated maple like the DeLonge Starcaster has.

[@joeyjojojrshabbadoo]

The classic vibe Starcaster is a well made guitar comparable to the Tom DeLonge model, in my opinion

[@cobaltbadger8587]

Really interested in all these bolt on neck semi hollows

[@davidledford3522]

They made a lot of them like that in the 70s

[@Augrills]

I think you lose some of the natural resonance of a hollow body that way

[@luistijerina]

I don’t want to talk about the DeLonge Starcaster, I want to see it reviewed by Agufish

[@Sebastian_CD]

Indonesia is definitely capable of making great guitars. They are not slacking with quality control (probably as good as Korean guitars). Proof : PRS, which is picky on building processes, is making its SE line in Indonesia.

[@ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

I LOVE Starcasters. I love everything about them, the body, the headstock, I LOVE THEM. My only question is if Fender/Squier will ever go back to making them with that Hipshot-style tail again. Do that!

[@brandontourigny6384]

Wonder how the EVH Wolfgang compares….

[@rocktorrocks]

Yeah with the new Dave Grohl & other Epiphone ES-335 models too. It seems to be the year of the semi-hollows.

[@brandontourigny6384]

@@rocktorrocks excited to see what the rest of the industry does and how all these guitars sell and of course play.

[@Macho-Sasquatcho]

I played one at a guitar center last week. It was good but there were a couple of things I did not enjoy. The body is not incredibly comfortable to me. It also has that thing that SGs have where you feel like you're playing in a much more forward position compared to other guitars. Also the string angle from the nut to the tuners is not great for tuning stability, and it does not have locking tuners.

[@jerryk3280]

Looks very similar.

[@Ottophil]

I think you mean the SA126, the wolfgang is solid body

[@travisjgood02]

The ja-90 is made in Indonesia and it plays great.

[@Boots_McScoots]

I'm glad you brought up the EVH. From what I've ascertained, the SA-126 is made in Mexico, and since it's an FMIC-owned factory, does that nullify the "we can only make semi-hollows in Indonesia" argument? I'm not trying to be flippant or anything, just curious. Also, I think the Starcaster just works better as a stripped-down model. The offset body doesn't look as out of place, if that makes sense.

[@Lucas-dm7xo]

Yay new agufish video

[@damienalvarez2957]

What’s funny about the Tom DeLonge Starcaster being basically a rebadged Squier is that my friend pulled the trigger on the shell pink model as soon as they were released, and this is a guy who thinks Squiers and Epiphones are trash 😂

[@luistijerina]

The Squier Affinity and the Contemporary look pretty good tbh and are easy upgrades with a few caveats. You pretty much have to be okay with the neck and headstock because there aren’t a lot of options for replacement. You also have to fill or cover the neck pickup cavity somehow.

[@scot-combs]

DeLonge's Starcaster is a Fender. If you look at the back you'll see it's arched. The Squier version (which I own) is flat. Depending on the lighting in the picture, it can be hard to see. The gold pics on the Sweetwater pages shows it well. The factory is doing a good job.

[@toshineon]

@@scot-combs I have a Classic Vibe Starcaster, and I'm pretty sure it's back isn't flat. I wonder if it differs between the different variants.

[@seanlucy6432]

​@scot-combs I've got the affinity starcaster and the back isn't flat

[@scot-combs]

@@seanlucy6432 You're right, I guess only the Contemporary Starcasters, with no f-holes, have flat backs

[@StupidGuitar]

I’m shocked anyone cares where the guitar is made. Buy based on what you’re getting. People will literally cry about anything

[@cesarbh87]

Personally I don't dislike the Squier Starcaster headstock.

[@aaronhiggs]

I actually dig it. Fits the vibe.

[@BillJones]

Bilt guitars agrees with you

[@tgarder]

Gotta join the crazy gang that actually thinks the starcaster headstock looks pretty cool and unique, but then again I live in a country where people wear clogs. But yea, the regular one looks excellent on this.

[@Lucas-dm7xo]

My favorite KZbinr

[@StereoPenguin94]

That tom signature should be $800 $500 if they do a squier

[@alechorner7481]

The guitar is made in Indonesia because Fender only has one machine to press the wood for the star caster body shape and guess where it’s located? Even Tom’s bodies are made there.

[@bukwok]

the price inspired by eipiphone inspired by gibson guitar , but i think the price reasonable for signature model semi hollow guitar.

[@Jwxxdz]

Most of Tom's Guitars he play's in the studio and on tour were made by Brian Thrasher at the Fender Custom Shop. Not at the factory you're speaking of in indonesia. Cant speak on all of them, but Brian usually Posts them on his Instagram. Just figured i clear that up before people think Tom isn't actually playing a Custom Shop version. He is.

[@gringogreen4719]

Phil McKnight mentioned this in a podcast. Hollow bodies and semi hollow bodies are labor intensive guitars to make. Most of the solid bodies are CNC made both in the US and overseas. So a luthier who works on hollow bodies has a different skill set and skill level than someone who mainly makes solid bodies. The Starcasters is basically a melted hollow body because it's a Offset influenced guitar. That said for the price, I would rather have the Dave Ghrol Epiphone guitar.

[@Dr.Rocckzzo]

Question! 🙋‍♀️ custom modifications isn’t my expertise but does anyone have any advice or suggestions on putting a Floyd rose on a strat especially for toms custom model? Or would that be pointless and unnecessary? I kinda like the single pickup Kramer style and was thinking about modding one of my strats and maybe this model

[@PaulCooksStuff]

I tried dude, but I quite like your channel. Sorry.

[@albertcoelho8313]

Payed 1200 for an SG 2023 used payed 1610 used for a 2011 Flying V also I don’t see the value in buying a brand new far east guitar for over 1000 dollars

[@georgecaplan11]

I think I will just buy a Wolfgang SA126 instead.

[@matthewsommerville88]

Semi hollow is not fenders bread and butter at all. So it makes sense to keep it where they know it can be done well. If they did these in Mexico it’d cost them more, cost us more, and we probably wouldn’t get really decent results for a half a decade while they got up to snuff on mastering the process. It makes sense in context.

[@markferguson3745]

Never being a TDL or 182 fan ITFP, I've no problem as a builder pointing out that this particular Fender SC is a $300 neck on a $300 body.I could easily build a better guitar from scratch in a week for $500.Maybe I will, and sell it for $1200.

[@yusukeurameshi5083]

Made in Indonesia… I’ll have to pass. I have an Original 2002 Tom Delong Fender Mexico Stratocaster in black all original. As far as Fender, the lowest in quality I would go for is a Mexico. Japan and USA are the best, but for Asian countries making guitars, it’s Korea and Japan that I’ll use.

[@ShaneBryson]

Admitted fanboy here. I owned and gigged an OG Delonge Strat for nearly 20 years. I have built countless replicas of it. I bought an Affinity Starcaster and did a build myself when his new sig was leaked. I bought the Gold when the official one when pre-orders opened with Sweetwater. I have never been more disappointed in a guitar. The 12' radius neck is def not my taste. WAY too wide. The gloss on the neck was just kind of gross. It's too sticky and makes literally no sense on a roasted maple neck. And makes even less sense considering his actual custom models have raw necks. The black hardware on the pink and white looks super super cheap. Add that to how wildly dark the necks are... it all added up to make a guitar that sounds "okay" and doesn't look great. My Squier ended up being a way better guitar, way cheaper, and way better looking in the end. I am happy for anyone enjoying theirs but objectively, it's kind of a poorly designed guitar with questionable choices.

[@drumsNstuff79]

If it were truly Squier quality, you'd know in a heartbeat. The binding job, fretwork, hardware quality, and fit and finish would be obvious. Watch any video from the Gibson factory. It takes a ton of handwwork to do a hollowbody guitar. Just hand wrapping the whole body for glue up after hand bending the binding and tons and tons of sanding to get the body edges to flow into each smoothly is soooo labor intensive! And that is after hand carving the top and backs, if tey don't do CNC routing which also requires lots of finish sanding and cleanup. Guys apprentice for years at Gibson doing this. They just recently brought back hollowbody production back to Nashville. A friend of mine has a high school buddy who is a luthier who builds incredible Gibson style solidbody electric guitars. He won't even try to do a hollow body for my Phish loving friend. It's just a whole specialized skill set this guy just doesn't have the tools or time for. Kudos to Fender for doing such a good job. Looks cool to me. I think dudes who comment can be unnecessarily snarky and opinionated on things they don't know enough about, or people just have their own tastes.

[@PuttinOnTheRiffs]

From my experience with the star caster which had just been at a guitar center through a boogie Fillmore, I was shocked with how much I liked it. Feels at least as good as a Mexican guitar. I think it’s nicer. I would buy one. And still want one. It looked like the neck joint wasn’t 100% perfect but I’m guessing an isolated issue that didn’t make a difference structurally

[@richmeier]

I knew the glossy finish on neck was cover up. There are good squire 1970s vibe jaguars and telecasters that are basically just as good as fender for under half the price. But that glossy neck finish I don’t like. Do you know if those squire “classic vibe” series are built in same factory?

[@liamlavelle7188]

The new squire affinity Starcaster deluxe, strat headstock, for £299 looks like a bargain

[@Macho-Sasquatcho]

I own one of the Tom Starcasters. It's awesome. The SH5 pickup is a killer humbucker. The guitar feels fantastic. The neck is gloss, but not sticky at all. Is it a little overpriced? Probably. But worth it to me.

[@zadtheinhaler]

I'd be more inclined to buy the Delonge Starcaster if, y'know, it still had the Starcaster headstock. Otherwise, good looking piece of kit.

[@colinclement2752]

I actually really like the Starcaster....but I think its a little overpriced for what it is. If I could get one home for 900$ I'd seriously consider it. @1200+ no

[@nickoring4262]

I dig it, but that price tag is a bit much. I feel like this is just a re-tooled Squier Starcaster in a different configuration with a different brand on the headstock. Not that that's a bad thing, there are some notable upgrades, but $1000 worth? I'd rather get the cheap-o Squier, replace the neck, upgrade the pickups, toss in locking tuners, and spend half the price.

[@greendayray]

Fender modern player strats were made in china. They were the same quality as the classic vibe Squier but with a fender logo and cheap humbuckers…

[@Rk3tSk8s-ut4yo]

A 1200 dollar Indonesian Fender. You all see what Fender is doing right? At some point this is going to be a complete bait and switch where Fender keeps trying to bring costs down, but moving to cheaper places and increasing the cost to the consumer. This is why I refuse to buy a new Fender.

[@Cosmic-Spanner]

I LOVE guitars where you pay above normal and then wonder why TF you can't switch on the neck pickup unit. Awesome.

[@Captain_Yata]

I'm not a big fan of Blink-182 or even semihollows but I like the starcasters, the colours are so pretty :)

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

All semi's have to be made by hand. They easily cost two or 3 times as much to make. PRS have theirs made in China. It takes a high skill to make them. A solid body has a lot of room that if a guy makes a mistake it can be fixed. Make a mistake on a semi and it has to be scrapped. Generally speaking a semi will be better than a solid body as the guy making it is not just a ordinary manufacturers laborer. The guy is a luthier. A guy that just naturally notices and does the small stuff right.

[@tomscioscia9869]

Hasn't Eastman proven that it's not the country of origin but the spec and workership budgeted for that defines a guitar? Also, I played an Adam Jones Epiphones with and without the Gibson headstock back to back and the Gibson headstock'd version is seriously a whole different beast.

[@tomscioscia9869]

@@YxYzYx, well, yeah, and even American made stuff can be garbage if the person doing the work doesn't care. The issue with low-priced guitars not having good electronics is that it's a good place to cut costs to get that low price but still have an instrument with good bones that can be upgraded later. I mean... I've seen custom-made PRSs immediately get pickup swaps, so it doesn't even faze me to do that on a low-price guitar.

[@tomscioscia9869]

@@slave_planet, reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, is it? The $200 impulse buy plastic jobs are that way because the corporate overlords spec them that way. Go play a Squier Classic Vibe that hasn't been destroyed by kids on the Guitar Center floor and you'll see that the skills are there if the budget is given to them.

[@charlesbolton8471]

@@slave_planet No, that’s not what he’s saying at all. He’s saying that Eastman has proven that quality is not defined by country of origin. His comment specifically says that it’s the specs of the instrument and the amount of labor budgeted to the build that are the key factors in quality.

[@Full_Deflection]

It does play and feel well, but folks are mostly skeptical because we all know the employee that built it isn’t seeing the difference in price. So we’re paying 3x the price for something that cost the company about the same amount.

[@michaelconkey7684]

I have the surf green. Love everything about it. Just feels great to hold and play. Especially dig the roasted maple neck.

[@To4sta]

Honestly, I just dont get why people buy gibson or fender at this point, prs makes a better LP and ESP and Schecter make better strats and tele clones for less

[@SlyRyFry]

Guitarists that think theyre getting scammed when they buy a guitar with one pickup have actual brain rot. Ibanez has indonesian factories for their gio range and the premium range, those indonesian guitars only need a little bit of love to feel close of enough to the japan models

[@bboyarpeggios909]

NGL, but those star castors look hideous 😂

[@notonyourlife7939]

If I live a thousand years I'll never undesrtand how this guy continues to get one signature model after another... has the world run out of guitarists who can actually play?

[@seanverso6712]

I just wanna whinge how long I have to wait to get my pre order lol Indonesia too Australia isn't that far my mexican tom strat was very quick lol

[@ReignitedAuto]

Love the Starcaster, but of course no lefty love 😢

[@adriannott4596]

In Australia the Tom Delonge Starcaster is around $1890aud but I still want one.

[@JakefromFH]

The new TD model, looks like shit and it’s definitely just a squire with a Seymour Duncan in it.

[@whaleshark2625]

Thoughts on the Affinity Starcaster? They're on steep discounts in a few spots now.

[@diewumme100]

Buuuut, will there be Squier TD Starcasters? Does anybody know?

[@dazla01206]

Big fan of Tom but I don't like his tone on the new album..I'm blaming the starcaster

[@swordman521]

the body color stripe on the headstock is the coolest spec on starcasters, this not having it is disappointing

[@tomgregus569]

I really loved the Starcaster, and actually own the Squire classic vibe myself before the custom was announced. I've always wanted to have and play guitars that I felt like no one else was playing, but I was so stoked to see Tom Delong get his own custom one, feeling like it gave some legitimacy to the wonkiness of the guitar

[@glencooper1091]

Tom Delonge looks like Chad Smith and Flea from RHCP had a baby!

[@bread6085]

Felt the guitar in hand at my local shop and it felt kinda cheap. Like plastic/glossy feeling

[@segazora]

Half the number of pickups and potentiometers doesnt make it ‘higher spec’

[@shaft9000]

"You're paying more for less" - saved y'all 20 minutes

[@jprosentreter]

These are pretty sick...now how about a Hoppus Precision Reissue!

[@LXIXBK]

Quality is amazing don’t fall for the click bait 😂

[@Jeffo787]

it's just a crap guitar with a famous name on it. end of story, don't waste your money.

[@Mogs716]

I got the TD Starcaster… (also both of his other models) and can say that it is indeed a great guitar. It’s well built. Neck feels great, pickup sounds great and to me, more comfortable to play than his Epi-333. Price was fine to me considering there’s only one place making their semi-hollows, has SD pickup, locking tuners, roasted maple neck and rosewood fingerboard… love the pink too. Totally worth it.

[@andy_182]

Imagine playing 1200 for an Indonesian car😂😂😂

[@MrHaydnHarry]

“It’s been a struggle”. You’re a dad now aren’t you? For sure!

[@creationinspired200]

Come on fender…. 🤬 What is the point of making them overseas if they arent going to be cheaper? Ill buy American made everyday in that case epiphones up to nearly $1000 a piece drives my interest completely away from the brands

[@JacubWhite38]

Dude, he literally says why in the video. Just fucking listen. They're being made over seas because thats where the tools to make are located. Fender does not have the tools necessary to build semi-hollow guitars in the United States of America.

[@unclebungle1981]

AM Pro II Starcaster please Fender!!

[@sagittated]

They do have limited edition American Professional II semi hollow strats and teles available right now. ✌️

[@andymansell1052]

Jackson seems to have taken over from ESP as the Metal artist brand.

[@NeonKnight83]

This Starcaster is nice, just a shame a hack like Delonge's name is on it.

[@chrisfain3612]

I think the fact he is playing one shows the quality of the guitar.

[@hype236]

I liked the starcaster body when it was first rereleased a few years ago. Was into it being an offset semi hollow. I just HATED the headstock 😂

[@thewickedwizard]

First released a few years ago? Try going back a bit further, like 50 years plus

[@yesman7715]

@@thewickedwizardRereleased dumbass

[@voodoogcarlos4393]

Im subscribed already, I can't subscribe any further