Tom DeLonge Starcaster Build - Modding a Squier Starcaster

Tom was playing his Fender Custom Shop Starcasters at Coachella and on the Blink tour. They are really cool. We don't have to wait for Fender to release a signature series. We can just mod a Squier.
Inlay Lightburn files are available on my store. Link below.
who-wants-honey.myshopify.com...
Plugs available on my store:
who-wants-honey.myshopify.com...
Fender decal: www.etsy.com/listing/12556878...
eBay Neck
Everyone wants to know which neck I bought on eBay. You simply have to search for "strat replacement neck". Then in the filters, for country of manufacture check the box for China. Filter by price max= "80" dollars. Then scroll till you find a neck with the rosewood board and large headstock. If you're lucky like I was, you'll find a baked maple one. Good Luck.
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...
#starcaster #tomdelonge
Merch
My Guitar Blueprints, DXFs, Fusion Files: who-wants-honey.myshopify.com/
My Shirt: who-wants-honey.creator-sprin...
Let's be friends: www.buymeacoffee.com/markguti...
All Music Composed by Mark Gutierrez

[@MarkGutierrez]

Photo of the overhang on the neck I used can be found on the community page. www.youtube.com/@MarkGutierrez/community

[@mdkotler]

Mark, what kind of lacquer spray did you use on the headstock?

[@MarkGutierrez]

@@mdkotler Stew Macs Aged Clear lacquer then Stew Macs Satin Nitro. Use the aged clear to color it, so as many coats to get the right aged look, then after it dries, spray the satin on top.

[@justanotherdude182]

Mark, can you post a link of what neck or a similar style neck from eBay?

[@MarkGutierrez]

@@justanotherdude182 I posted a link in the description. Essentially you want to search eBay for "strat replacement neck" then use the filters to filter by Price max= 80. Country of manufacture=China. Condition=New. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=strat+replacement+neck&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&LH_ItemCondition=1000&LH_PrefLoc=2&imm=1&rt=nc&Country%252FRegion%2520of%2520Manufacture=China&_dcat=41423

[@jazhisyam]

Hi Mark, i know this is a longshot and may be too much. But any chance you can provide measurements of each of the stickers? I want to buy it directly from the link, but from where i live and also currency exchange, the price is too ridiculous for me to buy it. Figured I could make the stickers myself as I have a design/printing background. Thanks for your time boss. I also DMed your instagram. You may reply anywhere that works best.

[@biktbass]

I gotta say this is impressive. Hands down this is the best recreation I’ve seen of a guitar here on YT

[@Mahogany11]

Dude this guy metalcop did a recreation of jerry cantrells single humbecker telecaster almost down to the crazy drawings that were on it. He did like 4 videos on it. Well worth the watch

[@danthegeetarman]

Dang, wish I had your woodworking skills. I’d be creating custom guitars all the time lol Very cool to see the whole process. Turned out great 👍

[@ChadwickRider]

So rad ... the inlays on the neck are next level. Those stickers bring back some good memories... We played a couple shows with The Queers and they spend the night at our place when they came to KC. They're still one of my favorite punk bands to this day. We never got to play a show with the Descendents, but we did get to play a couple shows with ALL. Those were the days.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Wow! I'm impressed. Descendants and ALL were a huge part of my high school days.

[@familyengineering5591]

KC sucks

[@johnmangino3925]

love the guitar and the playing at the end. great work!

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

Nice music at the beginning I feel like I’m in the waiting room of a spaceship

[@H_mzaS]

This was very well done. I love how you combined the use of old-school guitar building with the use of modern tools. I especially love how you cut out the fret markers to make space for the new ones and the attention to detail! Wish I had your skills.

[@richarde3378]

This was an awesome build, Mark! Thanks!

[@Stanslick]

Wow, that's just incredible piece of work! Fascinating to watch! I really enjoyed this one!

[@lakota_stu]

Great craftsmanship! LOVED the music you played at the end

[@worksucksletsdrink6011]

Yup that was really cool I enjoyed the watch

[@yoda301]

This is an amazing video. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it!

[@Guitarnoob85]

Amazing, wish I had the skill to do this. Seriously amazing work!

[@Trainzstation]

dope job and that jam at the end was slamming !

[@Thejayfrancis]

So well done!

[@JordanBMR]

Bravo Mark!

[@mattburt3533]

This is so freaking sick. Amazing work. I want one of these so bad!

[@thebipolarbear1]

I love that man that's awesome! Good for you that's sweet tom would want that

[@RoquetteAttaquer]

Amazing creativity man

[@familyengineering5591]

Really impressed with this build. Good job mark

[@inquisitor4635]

I liked the Squier in its original form.

[@joshuakimmis2544]

Great build! 🎉

[@undersilentwigs]

the instrumental was insane!!! so good

[@19guitarshredder]

Nicely done!

[@gavinwragg8553]

What great content. It’s also amazing to see all TD fans build his new guitar. Seems fairly straight forward with the way you made yours. I had the same thought process on the build. I loved my OG TD Strat back in the day. Unfortunately life was hard back then and I had to let some guitars go and that was one that went. I was grateful to own it but it did tour with me for a few years and I had to let someone else appreciate it.

[@whatevereyewant]

Gotta be kicking yourself now. They’ve appreciated quite alot and the new reissues are 1200 dollar dogshit.

[@KniazJan]

that inlay work is amazing

[@markmccawley2526]

That was fun. Thanks

[@kateruckus]

It turned out so awesome! 💚🎵

[@prodbyjuneg]

clean work man!

[@juanjosebol]

Amazing!

[@Markleford]

Interesting bit of "forensic luthiery"! The "after-market inlay" process was very cool.

[@pacoysusguitarras]

Dude INSANE JOB! Congratulations!

[@jeeeeev]

I envy your skill. What a great build you got there.

[@georgewarner3507]

Subscribed. Listening to your video felt like meditation. The guitar turned out amazing too.

[@Azyndevil5]

Amazing job!!

[@vicehuman]

Very inspiring, thank you

[@flungusbog444]

the background music you make for your videos is delightful

[@anabolicinsider]

Great work.

[@liaa5655]

nice craftmanship !

[@Trauzzinator]

Nice work!!! I'll be putting mine together in a few months after I get all the parts together!!!

[@BRADICAL]

DAMN!!! Dude! That is a fucking incredible job. Absolutely love it

[@willej6525]

Great work

[@HellcatCustoms]

Nice work! I've looked into converting a Squier Starcaster myself. 👍

[@orlanbro]

Awesome man! 👏🏼

[@NisbetJones]

Great work man!

[@MoniqueTx]

this is incredible

[@99problemstoysaint1]

Great job!!

[@finaljesus]

this guy is very talented musician and artist also an awesomw guitar builder

[@ibon473]

wonderfull job!

[@vladosstepes]

Good job 👍🏻

[@PatrickGeneLeBlancHardy]

Mark!! 🎨 💪 Thanks For Sharing 🎸 🎶 ✌

[@triandsafei332]

Awesome Sir

[@phillipb9328]

Very cool and underrated channel. This is the dude you got a subscribe and like to.

[@evodiogarcia9310]

So awesome! Would be even more amazing if you sold these as a kit cause I’m sure myself included would purchase this! I was thinking of this project for a bit. Now I’m motivated to do it!

[@QS-si3cq]

This is wildly impressive. 99.999999% of every other person who wants to do this same copy will not do so, or do so as accurately just based on the inlays alone. Sick. Just sick. Now I want a laser.

[@simongorelik92]

wow the song at the end sounds so good

[@matthewsommerville88]

This was so damn awesome and your ending jam sounded better than blink lol

[@Punk_Rawk_Dad]

That thing is gorgeous and you sir are very talented! I'd be happy to buy it for what you picked it up for.....😂😅

[@MarkGutierrez]

Sure. Hit me up on instagram and make an offer.

[@gabrieledwards1066]

I usually skip it when the makers play the guitar after the project is completed but didn't this time. Really dug what you played.

[@brandonkennylz5635]

I cant wait to buy a shell pink one!! I hope they release early april

[@kintaro_f]

AVA vibes in the outro jam. 🤘🎸🌒

[@thecolorhero1078]

Dope 🙌🏼

[@6oundStudio]

this is a cool guitar

[@justanotherdude182]

I have a feeling these will shoot up in price in the near future. 300 bucks for a semi hollow that can bang with a few simple mods. Tom is definitely making these popular again..

[@pnewhook]

Great work. Modifying electronics in these looks like a dog's breakfast.

[@jonathanpham7397]

so glad you went with original 5 arrowed smiley vs 6 arrows

[@charlesthomas6748]

Squire will take you higher 👆 🎉🔥 Butternasty tones 🎶

[@TrippRadcliffe]

Incredible video - would be super interesting to see how you re-create his signature es-333. I’m assuming you’d need to start with an epiphone dot studio, and do something similar as the starcaster?

[@dougnulton]

Man, I can’t get over that Squier headstock 🤮 Cool analysis and work, man.

[@sandervtil]

Very cool. Can you share the wood laser cut files of the neck pickup and the rest of the holes in the body too?

[@EasyTarget82]

Sick work. Wondered how the squier starcaster would sound since Tom has influenced some of us into looking at one.

[@thedoobiewizard]

What size and type of drill bit did you use to drill the new volume pot hole? Thanks for this video! It's super helpful!

[@BobPapadopoulos]

Next project: 1- Get another Starcaster body. 2- Get baritone neck with 70s headstock. 3- Combine to make Tom jealous by beating him to the SubStarcaster before he has one (assuming he doesn't yet) A Starcaster isn't something I ever thought I'd want, but this guitar+27" scale: nutnutnutnutnut

[@RickV6591]

Awesome build and playing! One small detail tho. He has the strap button on the back of the neckplate. Like the Squier super sonic guitars.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Thank! Yeah, I knew the strap lock was on the neck plate. I just need to get a slightly longer screw to make it work.

[@yeyonge]

I swear people only started to like starcaster after they find out that tom uses it. I had a fender reissue starcaster (which was oddly made in china) back in 2015 and everytime my friends came over they always thought it was ugly, even tho they're also a blink fan...

[@geusseppegonzalezcardenas5782]

The original Starcaster headstock is awful tbh. Tom's take on it is not just unique but pretty cool, no one else has a Fender guitar like this one which pretty much resembles what happened back in 1999 and we all know how the story ends.

[@familyengineering5591]

I never liked them and still dont like them. 70s fenders were a blight on the company. Everyone in the usa factory were on drugs and drinking all the time. Terrible quality control.

[@poppunkice]

To be honest I never even knew that this model existed, but I do think it's appropriate to clown on people who only like it now because of Tom 😂 I actually love the shape of it but fender should definitely switch the headstock, it ups the look of it

[@TheLAWanderer]

Likewise. Ive been using an active Starcaster for my punk/hardcore band and got weird looks at first. The growl sold it for me. Now everyone thinks I copied Tom 🙄

[@davidsimpson3275]

Grouse Work !

[@Kenny182]

Love your music. Reminds me of Tycho. Got a SoundCloud or are you on any streaming platforms? Great job

[@patrickhale424]

Awesome job !!! Big Tom Delonge fan. He's amazing and so are you. Your videos are really informative and interesting. One thing that would be cool is if you made your vocals louder. You speak very softly and I have to turn my TV way up on your channel. Sometimes if I forget to turn it down and I switch to another video I get blasted and deafened 🤣😂. Love your work... just turn it up 👍🏼👍🏼🎸🎸

[@MarkGutierrez]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll turn it up to 11 next time. 🤪

[@josephvega3763]

Holy shit this man is a wizard 😳😳😳...freakin surgeon damn!!!!

[@connorkellar4452]

This is ASMR

[@oscarestrada72oe]

Mark the build was phenomenal, the guitar sounds amazing, but the song that you played out of this world. Where can I get that song? Thanks

[@ballinguitarist2324]

What did u do about the gap you’d get with replacing the neck with a Strat neck considering it’s a 22 fret neck with no overhang?

[@Lovetone1983]

Hey man I am preparing for my starcaster. Can you speak to the pickup spacing (is it F-spaced or standard) please? I want to order the correct pickup

[@NeilCrockett]

@Mark Gutierrez I love your music, not eve to mention the build. Please tell what is the effect pedal/device/chain you used at the end. Beauty ambiance!!

[@MarkGutierrez]

Hi, I'm using the Fractal FM3. The ambient stuff is just one of the cloud reverbs based off the Strymon pedals. On the FM3 they are called: Cirrocumulus, cumulonimbus, nimbostratus and stratocumulous.

[@NeilCrockett]

Thanks so much, especially the strymon references. I found a reasonably priced reverb called, wait for it... skylar. From GFI. Can't wait to get ambient.

[@kevindowney3337]

Sorry if I missed it but did the neck come with no fretboard lip?

[@floflo3857]

The seymour duncan custom pick up… is it the same as the sh-5?

[@chadwilliams8583]

I could listen to marks background music 24 7

[@chadwilliams8583]

Reminds me of Disentergration era Cure meets Chemical Brothers

[@muzaqqir]

The neck needs to be 22 frets with no overhang, am I right? There's so many versions 😢

[@joesified]

K, so how much would you charge to install custom inlays like that into a Fender Strat neck? :D

[@MegaMaximus333]

I really dig the original headstock, surprised he went with a old school fender headstock. To each their own. Other than that, dang fine work.

[@MarkGutierrez]

The original old school headstock is growing on me. It's definitely unique.

[@ckscovers]

thought the same! o love how dramatic the original headstock is, but tom's guitar looks good anyway

[@user-do2ev2hr7h]

I've heard that his pickups are actually custom-wound on an SH-5 base, so they may be hotter than stock.

[@familyengineering5591]

This is true. I know mark dilorenzo and got to go to the factory in santa barbara. More like a shop. We talked about tom delonge and he said tom has had most pickups custom wound even his invaders

[@ZachariahConnor]

Wow

[@AndreMejia]

Hey awesome job! I’ve been considering doing something like this myself. Curious how you got the neck to fit! I read some comments and you said it was no big deal, but I’ve heard it can be tough to find a Strat style neck that works with Starcasters. Does this one have overhang? And if so how did you deal with that? Thanks!

[@MarkGutierrez]

Yes. It overhangs but that doesn't impact the intonation at all. There is plenty of room to intonate the saddles properly. I think people are over thinking this. I will say that any neck Strat style neck will fit. Just move the saddles to compensate. The only issue I had was the break angle. The break angle is built into the neck pocket but my angle was off by about half a degree. I compensated with a wood shim from Stew Mac.

[@michaelbarranco8207]

Would you be willing to make and sell a neck with custom inlays?

[@icblf]

Well done! Did you encounter any issues with the laser and burn depth on the existing dot inlays or do they vaporize similarly enough to the rosewood to not be a concern?

[@MarkGutierrez]

Good question. I didn't address it in the video. The laser basically doesn't do much to the plastic. It burns around the plastic dot. Then I just use a tiny needle nose pliers to grab the dot and pull it out. They came out easily.

[@jjim0437]

Is the neck a direct replacement?

[@jesse3845]

Maybe I missed it, but where is the treble bleed?

[@titusalfaras2941]

Awesome. What's the name of your song?

[@iA4R0N]

This is great, so uh where do I buy?

[@OC45boston]

Why did you lay stock music over the end of the video of you playing instead of showing people how it sounds?