Customer Reviews

Fender Starcaster Strat Pack - 3-Tone Sunburst

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Its just amazingly perfect for playing at home!!

It includes everything. And I mean everything that you might need. Its not even mentioned in the product description that a headset is also included! Which is totally what I needed as I play it for hours and hours and I should not be disturbing others. Amp is cool, its loud enough for home use. It has Bass and Treble effects as well which is very cool. A guitar stand is also included which makes it easy to keep the guitar when not in use.

About the guitar itself, it needed a bit of tuning when I took it out of the box, but that was again very easy with the chromatic tuner provided. After that tuning its just been sounding inch perfect!

Everyone around me is in love with this guitar. Trust me it won't let you down. A fender is always a good choice! Specially if it comes with all the accessories for a really great price!

About amazon, very fast service, cheers!!
I paid for standard shipping only. And I got in something like 60 hours!

First, I am writing this from the perspective of having played and owned numerous guitars over the last 43 years...yes, I am a dinosaur from the '60's. I've experienced everything from Silvertones, Dan Electros, Lafayettes [anyone remember those?] to Gibsons & Fenders.

This guitar is a very decent instrument as a starter...and the rest of the kit rounds it out. I am using it as a backup for slide, mainly...purely for home use.

Pros:
-Generally well-constructed and and nicely finished & appointed, and it arrived in very good shape [there were some issues that had nothing to do with shipping...they were quality-related, mentioned below].
-very responsive pick-ups, considering: bass & tonality very good
-good slide guitar action & sound
-Everything you need to start up...as listed...BTW, mine DID include headphones with a 1/4" adapter
-nicely packaged and comes in a nice box...presents well as a gift to your budding rock star

Cons [note: all are reasonable considering the level of intended use]:
-the tuners adjust very sloppily...not a big deal for beginners, but if important to some, they can be replaced. Two of mine are leaking at their seals, and I am going to see if Fender will provide replacements
-as mentioned by others, the frets are not finished well and might cut fingers that are not callused [not a problem for me]...but they can be filed off
-the strings are expectedly not the best...even the expensive guitars come with them...I'm putting on either Elixir or Ernie Ball strings
-the amp is not bad for what it is...however, it produces a rapid ticking noise at high volume [it sounds like a clipping transistor], almost 200 ticks per minute. This is a design flaw in the amp...not a defect. Can't expect much better for what it is, though.

Other Notes:
-the neck and fretboard on mine were both maple; the fretboard was not rosewood [as stated in the product description], which I would have preferred, but no biggie
-mine is made in China, but it's understandable
-the stand is a bit flimsy...but expectedly so
-I haven't tested the tuner...but I don't use them...however it does tune quite well using the "harmonics" method [see: [...] ]
7/25/09 EDIT: Amazon censored my reference to an external web site that shows how to tune a guitar using the harmonics of the guitar...kind of silly, since it wasn't a web site of a competitor, just an instructional site. So, if you are interested in this technique, just google it. It works well on amplified instruments!

Overall, I'd say it is a definite "buy"...maybe not at the MSRP, but in the $100 to $125 range.

Good luck!

For someone just starting out, this is an excellent buy.

I bought mine in 2004 when this package first hit the market. Still works great. The action (the space between the strings & fretboard) has held up well. The electronics have held up on mine, although the one I bought was made in Indonesia; not sure if they are still made there or in China.

Everything that came with it is still working great (tuner, strap, cord, amp, gig bag).

When it is new, it goes out of tune quite frequently, not only from the strings being new; but also since this is a $200 bundle, the hardware is not what you'll find on a $700 Strat.

My musician friends all agree that the Starcaster sounds and plays close enough to a Stratocaster that you could do ameteur performances with it; but doubt that you'll ever see a Starcaster at a paid gig.

If the Strat style is not your thing, check out the First Act Paul Westerberg signature model.

Now that I've made the jump to another guitar, I still use this one when I travel and have taught myself how to adjust the neck, action, and change hardware. So it is not only great to learn to play, but also great for learning how to maintain, adjust, upgrade, and repair a guitar.

Bought this as a starter guitar for my son. The package was discounted quite a bit in a gold box deal. As noted by a few of the reviewers, the workmanship/finish is not quite there. I have torn up my fingers on the unfinished fret ends, and we sometimes get an annoying buzz out of the amp. The amp is not powerful but works for a beginner. Open string fret buzz was an issue out of the box on the top string. The nut is set too low and it also has started to affect the bottom string as well. So I will probably have to spend another $50 getting the nut adjusted. The DVD is good, but is more of a teaser DVD for the real one you can purchase. Having all the accessories for the initial purchase price is nice. If I had to do it again, I would probably spend $50-$80 more for a better guitar, do without the extras and get a bit better initial quality and workmanship.

Appended - Since the original review I was able to adjust the bridge to the low nut position and eliminate the fret buzz.

I don't know much about guitars so I can't compare this item with other guitars.

For the price of this setup I would consider it a bargain. Including a tuner is a life saver since I am tone deaf and would have no other way to tune the guitar. Including the guitar stand was another bonus I never thought of. Now after practicing I have a convenient place for the guitar.

At first I wondered whether the problem was the guitar when I had trouble with cords. Now I know it was me. After a lot of practice I get it right most of the time.

I would recommend this item to anyone starting out to learn how to play a guitar.

I have been playing bass guitar on and off for over 15 years now, picked up guitar close to 10 years ago, but mainly as a hobby. I'm not in a band, I have other guitars to play, but I wanted something utilitarian just for practicing at home. When I saw this package, I knew right away that I wanted it.

Since the Strat Pack contains more than a guitar, I'm writing this review with the entire package in mind, I will get to the guitar itself later. The Strat Pack contains literally everything you need to get started. From picks to an amp, you are covered. There are even some quick lessons included, which is a nice touch. The pack is meant for beginners, I would say, but even at 26 the equipment given was appreciated.

As for the tiny amp, there is some constant background noise, even on the clean setting, but the size, portability and overall sound are quite good for such a little 10 watt amp. For casual playing, I barely keep it at 1/3 power, less with distortion. The other equipment (tuner, strap, cord, gig bag etc) are all high quality, and I was actually surprised at the amount of quality materials enclosed into such an affordable package.

The guitar itself, unfortunately, is a bit of a let down. I wasn't expecting much, but the quality of the build is lacking. For starters, the frets themselves stick on out the sides of the neck and really scraped my left index finger up. Since I believe the pack is geared towards a younger crowd, this would be extremely unpleasant for them. I would advice lightly sanding them down first. Aside from that, the sound is about what I expected, nothing special, but it does the job. My low E string has some troubles staying tuned, but new strings tend to stretch, it's possible they are still being broken in.

The guitar alone I would give a 2 or 3 out of 5. The package as a whole is easily a 4. I also got this Strat Pack for only $99 as a Gold Box special here, but I have rated this as though I paid full price. It is a find package, great for beginners, not so much for experienced players.

I hafta say. . . .i was nervous. Ive never owned a guitar. I bought this package because ive been wanting to learn how to play for some time now. This thing came with more than i thought i was going to get. Guitar and Strap - Amp - Cable - Picks - Digital Tuner (helped me greatly being that i know absolutely nothing about tuning a guitar) - Headphones - Fender String Pack - Guitar Stand ( only thing i didnt like. . .the stand was a bit small. I bought a tall stand from Railroad Bazaar for 20 dollars and its alot safer.) - How To DVD. This things a blast . . . Was playing riff from Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes within 2 hours of ever picking up this guitar. Only problem. . . now my fiance wants one. . .oh well.

This was a birthday gift. My son (12) was thrilled and immediately struck a pose and began to play "Smoke on the Water," which I didn't even know he knew. He has never played guitar before.

He hasn't watched the instructional DVD yet. Hope he can learn a few things from that.

I ordered this because, at 44 (almost 45) years of age, I want to learn guitar. And I am possibly in a mid-life crisis -- my wife thinks so, but agrees that, if so, a StarCaster is a far better choice than, say, a vintage Mustang... or a real Strat, LOL :)

OK... I am very, very impressed with this package. For the money, it is a steal. That isn't just my opinion, either. I have a friend who is a musician and tours the entire midwest, playing guitar, on weekends. After I received the guitar and everything it came with, I took it to be evaluated by my friend and his exact words, after playing it, were, "you got a steal, this is a fine instrument... needs a little work, but this is a serious guitar".

The guitar looks perfect... the amp sounds good... and the pack came with everything I could have hoped for to get a start on playing guitar.

Now, that said, there are... as always... a few caveats...

As others have stated, and my friend pointed out, too, the frets need some correction... they are rough-edged. My friend, the guitar pro-player, told me that this is the difference between a $150 Chinese made Strat and a 100% made-in-America hand-crafted Strat. And I believe him. But it can be fixed. I will be buying a file and doing some work to make this guitar as good as it can be... and, even still, appreciating that I spent $150 instead of of a couple of grand for it. Buy this guitar if you're wanting to learn... but expect to do a little sweat work on it.

My other "complaint", if it can be called that is... I wish it had been packed better. It was just shipped in the box, with a picture of the guitar and everything, and even a window showing the contents, on the outside. This actually made me feel a little odd... in my situation... with this being a possible mid-life crisis purchase... I didn't necessarily want it broadcast that I was buying a cheap knock-off, albeit genuine Fender, strat... but, more than that... I have a 3-year old son, who is guitar crazy (thanks to me), and it caused my wife problems when the guitar arrived, and it was very obvious, from the packaging, what it was... and my son couldn't wait for me to get home to open it. And, there was one corner of the box that was crushed and damaged. None of the contents appears to be damaged, but the box was actually pretty ugly when it arrived... one corner crushed, cardboard strips taken off and others peeling.

And with all THAT said, yes... if you want to learn guitar... and are willing to put in some sweat to fix the issues, as opposed to spending WAY more to have it done for you in the first place... then I would HIGHLY, as in HIGHLY, recommend this guitar pack to anyone.

Oh, one other thing. The headset has a 1/8" phono plug, the amp takes a 1/4" phono plug, and there is no adapter included... and to my utter astonishment... my age is showing I guess... it turns out that getting a 1/8" to 1/4" phono plug adapter is something of a trick... Wal-Mart doesn't have any... Dollar Tree doesn't have any... nobody seems to have any... I haven't gone to Radio Shack yet, but I will... if they don't have any, I give up :) But... seems to me... and this is petty, perhaps... that if they really were paying attention and wanted to do it right... they would have included the necessary adapter.

i bought this as a first electric guitar for my son a few months ago to see if he really liked it. well, he would like it except that from the first, it's had serious problems with tone. we've had lots of experienced guitarists look at it and try different things, and there's just no getting around that defect. some of the strings work fine, but a couple of them are just off-key, and at this point, he really doesn't play it anymore. moral of the story: don't buy a guitar without trying it out first.