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Fender Starcaster (the modern player series reissue)

#21
I prefer the Fender neck on the Starcaster to my Jack. My small hand, the round neck profile and the 34 inch scale on the Jack are slightly uncomfortable. The sounds out of that pick up's 3 settings are very usable and it really responds to right hand placement Lots of colors and shades in its palette!

Neck Dive is worse on the Jack, but the sonic qualities make me keep it. Great bass.
 

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#23
nixdad said:
I'm a fan!
Thomastik TI flats, played with a thin pick = AWESOME!
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No kiddin'? A thin pick on a bass? Interesting. My guitar teacher impressed upon me the importance of using a Heavy pick, so I started using those on both guitar and bass. I imagine a Thin pick has a lot more give, so it must change the experience somewhat.
 
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#24
On YouTube Marcin Pendowsky has a very cool and throaty bridge pickup tone using the Starcaster ... I have tried these wide range humbuckers on a double-pickup Telecaster bass (modern player model) and in effect the pickup in the bridge position is much more Jacoesque than the single coil CS 60s bridge pickup in my MIA jazz bass ... I wouldn't say thus that you can only get mud out the instrument although the tone of the neck pickup is quite impersonal ... probably a different electronics package would help .... the Reverends comes with clearer tones in this group (Dub King or Mercalli) however
 
#25
I've never seen a Starcaster in the flesh, so I'm going to assume the back is solid, i.e., no plastic cover to access the electronics.

IF that's the case . . . . .

It can be a handful to switch this stuff out. The pickups (provided you can find exact replacements, I'm guessing they're the same size as the EBO neck pickups, but then, what do I know . . . . ) are no big deal to switch out, provided there's enough extra length in the leads from the pots.

Now, the pots. When I worked at Gibson, we wired quite a few 335-style instruments, like this bass. Typically, we'd build the entire wiring harness (that is, all four pots, with the leads for the jack and the pickups). We had a little tool that looked a lot like a soundpost tool for a violin. We'd pass the harness through the pickup holes, and then push the pots thru the holes in the body one at a time, getting the nut started on each to hold it in place, then the other 3 one by one the same way. It's a real picnic, let me tell you. Not bad after you've done it a couple hundred times, but the first time? Bring your lunch . . . . .
 
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#27
Killed_by_Death said:
I'd switch them all out for 500k Ohm pots & possibly change the capacitor as well, depending on what value is in there.
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They were 500 k all round on the Starcaster I owned.

To answer the OP's question, the stock pickups are dark, and replacements are very limited. I sold my Starcaster! In short they are an awkward mix of technology, sort of like Fender's take on a Gibson bass. The string spacing and construction is very Fender, but the pickups are constructed like oversized PAF guitar humbuckers, complete with mounting rings.

These pickups have unique dimensions. The fact that they hang off pickup surrounds makes them somewhat unusual in the bass world, and the string spacing of the bass is wider than a generic Mudbucker or Dimarzio Model One pickup. It would be hard to mount a mudbucker/Model One in the bass as these pickups screw directly onto the top of instruments, and you would probably not cover all the factory routing in the instrument. You need a replacement pickup that will either fit the mounting ring, or cover the entire area of the stock pickup and mounting ring. And as such you are looking for a massive pickup! Maybe a huge soapbar for a 5 or 6 string bass might fill the void...

I looked at Peavey T40 pickups, but these are quite rare and expensive to import into the UK. And they are 30+ year old pickups, so if one is dead on arrival then you have a problem on your hands.

You could send the stock pickups off and get a pickup winder to make replacements using the hardware of the stock pickups.
 
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#29
Killed_by_Death said:
So the parallel wiring idea didn't brighten them up for you?
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The parallel wiring only removed content from the tone of the pickups, and didn't add any degree of brightness that wasn't already there in the series configuration. Rather it removed a lot of the fog from the low-mids. However there was still a smeary lack of clarity in the low mids that couldn't be shifted. Parallel worked best for taming the output of the bass. A high output but muddy bass is annoying to deal with, as it pushes the input stages of everything, and punches really hard in the low mids. I prefer the option of being able to add gain, rather than have to back everything off to a whimper.
 
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#30
@Makt13 , I talked to the friend who has one. His re-wiring was apparently cosmetic..he changed the control knobs to illuminated ones and was simply wiring in a power pack of some sort!
He agrees that the tone is somewhat limited, but, like I said, he plays mainly old-school rockabilly, and is happy with it as is.
 
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#36
selowitch said:
No kiddin'? A thin pick on a bass? Interesting. My guitar teacher impressed upon me the importance of using a Heavy pick, so I started using those on both guitar and bass. I imagine a Thin pick has a lot more give, so it must change the experience somewhat.
Click to expand...

Yep. I use a wide-triangle Tortex 50 mm.

I’m in an acoustic/electric band, and we keep volume at a very comfortable level, so I don’t need to overpower anyone.

The thin pick is easy for me to maneuver, and really adds to much of the Beatles material we perform.
 
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#37
I have 2 Starcaster Semi Acoustic bass. They both weigh the same 4.1 kilos. Why would they be different. All Starcaster bass use 250k pots. Caps are 47k. The pickups are world famous for their amazing loud wide frequency sound. They are the same pups you find in the 72 telecasters and everyone loves those. A madman would swope them out! Snaggletooth clearly knows nothing about Fender or Starcasters and you need to wait until an owner answers your questions. The bass is 4.1 kilos and its a bit heavy. that can change your stance when playing and your shoulder to wrist pressure. You need to take your time. Watch some YouTube videos of guys playing this bass. If you cannot get the sound and tones you want dont blame the bass. Maybe you just bought the wrong one? You could change everything, but you wont ever get what your looking for. Maybe your asking too much of yourself? I play Latin Jazz, Pop, Santana type Latin Rock, Rockabilly and Blues. Now I have to sit down as its too heavy ´´Im 73) I use LaBella Flat and round strings. Pro Steel and Fender strings and no one ever said it sounds MUDDY. MY new one has only ever been out of its box to tune it and put into a Flight Case made for it in the UK. Im selling all my instruments due to ill health. I wish you very good luck and hope you can enjoy your instruments more as time goes bye!
 
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#39
Love my Starcaster bass in the burst. Crazy how they basically doubled in price on the used market. I actually like the stock pickup and won't change them since i mainly play modded Precisions. This just has different tone and all around feel.
 
#40
I just picked up a used Starcaster Bass yesterday. The previous owner had it strung with piccolo strings, which was interesting to try out for an evening, but I definitely want to put regular bass strings on it.


I already have a Guild semi-hollow strung with flats, so I’d like to go with roundwounds on the Starcaster for a different vibe. I mainly play blues up through hard rock.


Do you have any good roundwound string recommendations for this bass?


Thanks in advance!
 

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