Fender Starcaster (the modern player series reissue)

[Makt13]

I have a Fender Starcaster (the modern player series reissue) and I'm thinking about replacing the pickups and/or the pots because of the muddy tone which is a common complaint for this bass.

Does anyone have any experience or advice of replacing the pickups or pots on a Starcaster bass?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Does it look like this?

 

[Makt13]

Does it look like this?

View attachment 2804893

Yeah that's the one

 

[lz4005]

I have a Fender Starcaster (the modern player series reissue)

Not a reissue.
The Modern Player Starcaster bass was the first time it was ever a Fender catalog product you could buy
Prior to that there were only two or three prototypes back when they made the Starcaster guitar.

 

[Makt13]

Not a reissue.
The Modern Player Starcaster bass was the first time it was ever a Fender catalog product you could buy
Prior to that there were only two or three prototypes back when they made the Starcaster guitar.

Thanks

 

[Oddly]

Beautiful basses.
A friend plays one and I know he did some re-wiring.
I'm honestly not sure whether it was to improve a muddy tone but I'll find out.

He does play in a vintage rockabilly band so it's quite possible he likes the muddy sound!

 

[Makt13]

Beautiful basses.
A friend plays one and I know he did some re-wiring.
I'm honestly not sure whether it was to improve a muddy tone but I'll find out.

He does play in a vintage rockabilly band so it's quite possible he likes the muddy sound!

That would be great, thank you!

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Don't change out the pickups just yet.
Some Ibanez Artcore users simply changed the pots in their similar basses & it fixed their mud problems.
See if you can figure out what the value of the existing pots is.

Just for reference, this is a Artcore:

 

[Makt13]

Don't change out the pickups just yet.
Some Ibanez Artcore users simply changed the pots in their similar basses & it fixed their mud problems.
See if you can figure out what the value of the existing pots is.

Just for reference, this is a Artcore:

View attachment 2805224

Thanks for the advice, I've been told the pots are 250k

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I'd switch them all out for 500k Ohm pots & possibly change the capacitor as well, depending on what value is in there.

 

[Makt13]

I'd switch them all out for 500k Ohm pots & possibly change the capacitor as well, depending on what value is in there.

I'll give that a go rather than replacing the pickups, thanks for the advice! I'll post here to let you know how I get on.

 

[Old Blastard]

I gig my Starcaster and haven't found too much issue with mud. I usually eq my amp settings at 1 or 2 o'clock for everything and set both tone knobs at 7 and I get pretty good honk out of her or switch to neck pup for mud or rear for some twang. I really like the sounds she makes, but I don't use pedals or such, so there could be a difference.

 

[Band Mom]

I've been curious about the Starcaster, but have never found one out in the wild for me to try before I buy. My main concern is a lot people have mentioned that it's fairly heavy. I would have hoped that a semi-hollow wouldn't have that issue. Otherwise, everything else looks great on paper!

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If you want to check their weights,,, go to SW's page for the bass:

Fender Starcaster Bass - Black

hit the "Notify Me when it's in stock" button.
SW posts the weights of the items in stock.

 

[Band Mom]

Yeah, I had looked it up on SW before, but I didn't see anything about the weight. And even if I knew, I'd like to get a feel for where the weight is distributed when holding it upright. But hopefully I'll get to try one out someday!

 

[DirtDog]

I've been curious about the Starcaster, but have never found one out in the wild for me to try before I buy. My main concern is a lot people have mentioned that it's fairly heavy. I would have hoped that a semi-hollow wouldn't have that issue. Otherwise, everything else looks great on paper!

I've been playing the Starcaster bass for a few months now. At least a dozen gigs under my belt with it. I don't find it heavy but it is bulky (no belly or forearm cut might not appeal to some). I wouldn't call it muddy so much as "round and wooly" if that makes sense. I prefer the middle pickup position (both bridge and neck pickups engaged). If it want it more "grindy", I just run the bridge. But I guess it depends on the type of music you're playing.

It's not the perfect bass, but it's pretty damned cool looking and cool sounding, to me....

It hangs fairly balanced for me. Maybe a tiny little bit of neck dive.

 

[Engle]

I've been curious about the Starcaster, but have never found one out in the wild for me to try before I buy. My main concern is a lot people have mentioned that it's fairly heavy. I would have hoped that a semi-hollow wouldn't have that issue. Otherwise, everything else looks great on paper!

I tried a few, and yeah they are heavy. Plus a bolt on neck on a semi acoustic just doesn’t feel right to me. Have you looked at the Jack Casady? 34” scale, set neck and about 8lbs.

 

[Band Mom]

I've glanced at the Casady online, but have also never seen that one in stores. I suppose I never really looked at it much because I prefer the versatility of two pickups, but I'm just now reading about the Vari-gain toggle, which sounds interesting. I might need to broaden my search.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I haven’t worked on a hollow body like these before but have seen guys on YouTube working on them, and it looks to be a severe pain in the ass to literally fish the electronics in and out of the things. Have you tried stainless or other bright oriented strings yet?.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Yeah, these types of instruments are one of the reasons why I couldn't be a stringed instrument repair dude.