I can agree that the start was a success because it offered unique playability. That included physical form and the electronics. But it has two key shortcoming, IMO. One is the location of the pickup selection switch. I am always bumping it when strumming. That creates a confined box for my strumming hand. I cant really play the thing without constantly changing the sound. (I do have very large hands.) The second is the tone. The raw start sound is what I call glassy. Its something between a hiss and screech. With certain kinds of distortion, you can take that sound into wonderful places; Hendrix is the prime example of that. But theres nothing subtle or sweet, at least to my ear, in any lightly distorted start sound. The closest anyone comes to getting something good out of that range on a start is Clapton. If you are thinking Im just being too picky, I cant help wondering if Blackie wasnt tweaked somehow to get away from that thinness. :-) The only start I own is a copy, and one with rich tone, not that glassy hissy edge. It plays anywhere from Jazz to Hendrix to Allman easily. I think of it as what the Fender strat shoulda been. :-) So why is the Fender version so enduring? I suspect for the same reason we still put lemons in ice tea. It does get your attention. I prefer a more demanding recipe.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:34:14 +0000