Customer Reviews

Fender Starcaster J Bass

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

 

 

Normally when I buy a Bass this cheap, I expect to spend a lot of time setting it up but I have to say the fit and finish were flawless and the set-up was fine out of the box.The neck was perfectly tuned. After stretching and tuning the strings, I was pleasantly surprised to find the coveted Fender tone for less than $100. This is a bargain. Don't let brand/class snobs fool you, you won't have the ear to tell the difference between this and a Fender American standard Jazz Bass and this import. Excellent starter.

This is a real solid Jazz Bass, made in Indonesia (at Cort's factory). Uses a Squier neck plate. Qualitywise this is exactly like a Squier Standard and nicer than an equivalent Affinity. The neck feels smooth and there is no fretsprout of sharp edges. The tuners are sturdy enough and stay in tune. I have extra Highway 1 tuners for reserve, but the Starcaster/Squier originals seem just as fine.

However, I dismantled everything for the fun of it, oiled the rosewood fretboard, rounded the fretboard edges (I like tinkering), assembled the bass again and finetuned & intonated it. Also slapped on a tortoise pickguard, purely for aesthetics. Finally I changed the strings for Fender 55-105 flat wounds, which are much thicker than the original strings. Instant oompah!

So now I have a great player, good for rehearsals and studio. I like the sound which can be nasal and penetrates easily thru the rest of the band (if you use the bridge pickup) or deep and menacingly growling (using the neck pickup). There is much more tonal variety than what was available with my previous single-pickup Mecican Fender Precision. Originally I thought I might change the Starcaster pickups, but there is no need for that, really. The only thing I think I will change is the original bridge for a Gotoh 201, although the brigde swap will probably be unnecessary. But I like modding my guitars and basses!

There it is: It's a REAl bass, no tomfoolery in it. Good for studio, rehearsals, gigs, churches. All for peanuts.