The Weigh-Up: Fender Tom DeLonge Starcaster (Gear Review)

I have been very patiently waiting for this one to see the light of the day. Just over a year ago, blink-182 took the stage at Coachella for their first show back with Tom Delonge and the first thing that caught my mind was the guitar in Delonge’s hand, a streamlined, hot-rodded Starcaster with a 70’s style Strat headstock. I was already hearing whispers of a reissue of Tom’s original Fender Stratocaster model, so I had an inkling that this might be the signature model to follow it up. Here we are, a year later and I am so stoked to be sitting in my home studio with a Matte Shell Pink Starcaster sitting to the right of me. Let’s f**king go.

Marrying a number of specs from Delonge’s previous signature models, the Starcaster features a matte finished bound body, a Tune-O-Matic style hard tail bridge, a Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom humbucker wired to a single volume control with a Treble Bleed Circuit (so you don’t lose high end when you lower the volume), Fender locking tuners at the top of a roasted maple neck with slab rosewood fretboard. This guitar skips the bells and whistles for the most part, but that’s exactly what makes it so special.

So, a high output humbucker in a semi-hollow body guitar. Surely that’s going to be an issue, right? Thankfully no, the centre block that runs through the body allows some leniency when it comes to feedback. I ran this thing through some very high gain tones, and it handled them all with grace. After all, any guitar with only a single humbucking pickup must be made for the mightiest of riffs.

The Seymour Duncan SH-5 is a custom overwound PAF pickup, and while it delivers a tight low end and mid-range punch when met with a tonne of distortion, I was genuinely surprised at how well it cleaned up. I managed to pull some very glassy clean tones with ease and damn, it really shows that the guitar is not a one trick pony, it’s actually very versatile and dynamic. It might be stripped back and streamlined in the spec department, but the decisions made with those specs were very clever.

The combination of the Tune-O-Matic style bridge, roasted maple neck and the Fender locking tuners ensures that the tuning stability on this guitar is rock solid. I’m not a fan of super light gauge strings like the set that came on the Starcaster, but I have no doubt that with some heavier strings and a comprehensive setup, this guitar would stand up to the most vigorous of players or touring schedules.

Now, I want to state very clearly that this guitar is an absolutely win for Fender and for both fans of blink-182 and Tom Delonge. There has never been a Starcaster like this before and what they have created here is something truly special. At the same time, I will say that I was disappointed in the lack of any form of gig bag or case. While I get that it’s probably a budget decision on their end, the Starcaster isn’t the most common of guitar shapes, so obtaining a suitable case for this one is much harder than tracking down something for a Strat or Tele.

Photo Gallery by Josh Ludlow @joshludlow_photoboy

With that very minor gripe out of the way, I will reaffirm that the Tom Delonge Starcaster is an absolute win for the man himself and the team at Fender. As I said above, I’ve been patiently waiting to get my hands on one of these and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

If you’re expecting some show piece to place in a display case, then this is not the guitar for you. The Delonge Starcaster is a lean, mean riffing machine that is made to be beaten in with the greatest of love.

Review by Nicholas Simonsen @blackechomusic

Check out the video interview with Tom, filmed along Melbourne’s Yarra River during blink-182’s Australian Tour.

Learn more about the Tom DeLonge Fender Starcaster here

Features

• Seymour Duncan® SH-5 Duncan Custom™ humbucker
• Comfy modern “C” neck
• 12″-radius rosewood fingerboard for a contemporary feel
• DeLonge’s original signature artwork and a custom-crafted neck plate
• Available in 4 modern finishes: Satin Shoreline Gold, Satin Surf Green, Satin Olympic White and Satin Shell Pink

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