Another Starcaster, but this time in Olympic White! Without being a custom color, it’s a much rarer finish than natural or sunburst.

This particular model is in excellent condition, with all its original parts, including of course its Wide Range pickups designed by Seth Lover. I always mention him because it seems important to me to pay tribute to this brilliant inventor, who came up with the first humbucker. That may seem obvious today, but it was not at the time.

When he was hired by Fender, the mission was to compete with Gibson through a new guitar lineup that included the Telecaster Thinline, Custom, and Deluxe, but the only real innovation in terms of luthiery was the Starcaster, designed as an alternative to Gibson’s ES-335.

It was, however, a commercial failure because it was fundamentally different. It certainly would not shine in blues solos the way a 335 did in the 1960s or 1970s, but it had other strengths that more modern bands did not fail to notice. And while it was a failure at the time, it is now being reissued because in the meantime many bands such as Radiohead, Rancid, The Killers, and Queens of the Stone Age have come to understand its strengths and potential in styles of music where pushing it to its limits does not stop it from remaining articulate, even with effects, even heavily overdriven.

Thank you, Seth.

It also has an offset body, which undoubtedly has a major influence on the playing experience. This particular model is extremely playable, meticulously set up, and comes with its original hard case.