1977 Fender Starcaster
1977 Fender Starcaster. A rare semi-hollow Fender offset with unique angles and a distinct oversized headstock. In good overall condition with play wear including heavier finish wear on the neck edges, minor dings, and finish wear on the top. All original excluding the nut and a great player with a comfy medium-C neck profile. Fitted with a set of Fender “Wide Range” humbuckers for fantastic warmth while still maintaining classic Fender twang! A killer vintage Fender offset! Includes original hardshell case.
Check out the feature from our luthier Tyler in the ECG Newsletter:
"I think it’s fair to say that the late 70s were nobody’s favorite era of Fender guitars. In the midst of 3-bolt necks and inch-thick poly, though, a bright spot emerged in 1976 with their introduction of the Starcaster. It was a clear departure from the company’s previous business plan: desert the solid body and single coils for a hollow-body, humbucker-equipped instrument. This wasn’t the first time Fender designed a model with the aim to take a bite out of Gibson’s market share, but it sure was the most audacious to date.
At the core of this new model was a pair of Fender’s unique “Wide Range” humbuckers, perhaps the most alluring aspect of the Starcaster. The legendary engineer Seth Lover is famous for inventing the Gibson humbucker in 1955. He’s less famous but equally responsible for inventing the Fender Wide Range humbucker in 1971. If there was a Mount Rushmore of guitar pickup designers, Seth Lover would be on it twice. Despite abandoning single-coil construction, the WRHB is a distinctly Fender pickup. Larger coils slightly altered the classic humbucker sound, but the very unusual use of CuNiFe (copper, nickel, iron) magnets rather than the industry-standard AlNiCo (aluminum, nickel, cobalt) completely transformed the tone of the pickup into something entirely singular. If you ever find standard Gibson humbuckers to be too muddy, boomy, or lethargic, I can guarantee you that the WRHB will be right up your alley. By the time the WRHB was discontinued in 1979, CuNiFe magnets were obsolete in the marketplace, and remained virtually impossible for pickup manufacturers to find until the early 2010s. While several faithful replicas are being built today, nothing quite measures up to the real thing." - Tyler Geske, ECG Newsletter
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As Emerald City Guitars continues to do more and more worldwide shipping our goal is to make sure your instrument or amplifier arrives intact. We take pride in our packing procedures using high grade packing materials and great care in assuring that our customers get their order quickly and safely. We make a point of forwarding all tracking information to our customers so they can stay informed on its progress pending arrival. We ship via UPS, Fedex and UPS. All shipments are fully insured through our private insurance carrier.
We offer a 72 hr approval on all guitar & amps (unless otherwise noted). Customer pays all shipping & insurance costs both ways unless otherwise negotiated by sales staff. Before returning any item, customers must call for a return authorization. Returned items must be in the same condition as when they left the store. Unauthorized returns will be refused & returned at customer expense. Returned items are subject to a 20% restocking fee.