Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge launches “the coolest guitar ever made” with signature Fender Starcaster
Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge has teamed up with Fender to share a new signature Starcaster, which he describes as “the coolest guitar ever made”.
Announced today (April 16), the new collaboration between the pop-punk legend and the iconic guitar manufacturer comes after DeLonge was drawn to the model, and began taking it on tour with Blink-182 in 2022.
Initially released in the ‘70s to offer versatile sounds for players, the design of the original model has been modified by the artist for his signature edition – now introducing more modern elements to make the look and feel unique to him.
“I love this guitar, I really do. It’s the coolest guitar ever made. Firstly, it is called a Starcaster—that’s the most important thing. It goes to space and expands your mind,” said DeLonge in a new statement.
“I made some changes to the original Starcaster [too]; I’ve streamlined the electronics, added the ‘70s headstock to round out the weight, and chose the matte finish with black hardware, so its look matches its modern feel,” he added. “This guitar shows my evolution as a player but also has the hallmarks of where I came from and what I’m about.”
In terms of the specifics, the DeLonge Starcaster has a semi-hollow, offset body, and is turbo-charged with Seymour Duncan SH-5 pickups. As per a new press release, it is also “perfect for playing chunky power chords and crunchy riffs, just as its namesake loves to do on stages around the world with his band Blink-182.”
It is available now for £1,149.00 and comes in four colourways – Shell Pink, Surf Green, Olympic White and Shoreline Gold. Visit here to find out more, and check out more images of the signature model below.
The model marks DeLonge’s second signature model with Fender. Originally, he co-founded Blink-182 with his Fender Stratocaster in 1992, and went on to join forces with the manufacturer 10 years later for the release of the Tom DeLonge Stratocaster.
He began teasing the Starcaster back in 2022 (via Guitar.com) – confirming that he had gone to the Fender Custom Shop to create his own take on old-school Fender design – and dropped hints again last week, when he shared a photo of himself holding the model, with the caption “10,9,8,7…”.
“We are happy to unveil the Tom DeLonge Starcaster, our latest collaboration with this music icon we consider family,” said Justin Norvell, EVP of Product at FMIC. “This guitar is a testament to Tom’s distinctive style and the third act in his instrument lineage, from the Strat to bigger semi-hollows and back to Fender with a unique semi-hollow that’s just for him.”
Check out the video below to see DeLonge discussing the model with Fender.
In other Tom DeLonge news, it was shared back in February that the guitarist had joined forces with AJ Hartley to write a new sci-fi novel, which is expected to hit shelves later this summer.
“This story takes place around a seminal UFO event that I believe happened,” he explained. “Although the location may have been changed, the importance of what I believe transpired remains. AJ and I wanted to capture a sense of what it was like to be in this pivotal moment in American culture in 1962: the cars, the space race, the beginnings of social change, but also under the pressures of Vietnam, the Cold War and a new scepticism about government secrecy.”
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
