No, not the ones you find at costco for $80, but the extremely rare late 70's early 80's hollow-bodies from Fender. From what i hear they were very underated high quality machines.
Who has been fortunate enough to see/play one in person? Who(if anyone)owns one? opinions?
(just curious)
Wayne Hussey of the Mission UK, an 80's goth-band used to play them. I've always been interested in them, since the connection with him.
The guys in Radiohead and The Zutons use them too. Whatever that means 
Back before I bought my first Gretsch (1967 6105 Rally) I bought one of those Fenders. It had a neat green stain finish and a nice neck, but I was dissapointed with the tone and lack of tone adjustment. I was looking for something along the lines of a 335, and this wasn't cutting it. So I took it back to the dealer (Ted Hebert's, Manchester, N.H.) and he showed me the Gretsch. It was no contest!! A few dollars more for the trade and my love affair with Gretsch was underway.
I had forgotten the model of the Fender until this thread, but I clearly remember the body style. I remember that it was well built but had sort of a shorter neck (short scale?) Evidently it didn't really take off for Fender cause that's the only one I've ever seen, until the pic above by Remco. I never regretted trading it off.
If I recall I played one about 15 years ago. I don't remember much about the playability or tone but I do remember it had an odd finish. I think it was called wild wood (natural with the grain stained a green colour). I think I may have even seen one in Antigua-burst back in the day.
I think the wild stained ones you guys are remembering may have been the Wildwood Coronado series of semis Fender tried in the late 60s.
The Starcaster was another beast, which came at least half a decade later; I don't think it came in the dyed wood or Antigua finishes. It was generally a prettier guitar (to my eye), and I think it mostly came in bursts and blond.
Wildwood Coronado: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Coronado
Starcaster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Starcaster
Proteus is right, Starcasters didn't come in Wildwood finishes, Coronados did.
And I'm surprised the Wiki link doesn't mention Leo Nocintelli of the Meters.
I think he plays a Gibson ES335 now, but he played a Starcaster for a long time,he was probably the Starcaster's most loyal and most visible player for a long time.
You fellas are correct. Its funny how time can distort ones memory.
I humbly stand corrected. I now remember the finish being called "Wildwood." Never knew it was from dye injected Beech. Cool concept. I wish there was a photo somewhere of the Coronado. The link at the bottom of the Wikipedia page doesn't come up.
Thanks for the info.
I see how the compression of time in memory could make those guitars seem one and the same – but because of my own situation, they seemed at least a generation apart to me.
I'm surprised to see the Coronados lasted from 66-67 through 1972, and the Starcasters were introduced as early as 1976-77 – only a five year gap.
Starcasters were still in the line when I started working in the music store in the early 80s – while my only brush with Coronados had been in Fender catalogs of the late 60s.
Not so many years, maybe – but in '67 I was in 7th grade, and in the early 80s I was married, with kids, and working. That makes the two guitars seem WAY far apart to me!
Coronados: http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/t/dtoole/FCP.htm
My experience was a bit different. When I picked up the Coronado for a brief strum it was in the early 90's and I was only about 15 or 16 at the time. They both were discontinued at that time and were considered "old" guitars.
Back in High School a friend bought a Wildwood Coronado and it was a striking looking guitar indeed. However, the initial impression didn't last as something in the lines wasn't quite right.
After test driving his I was happy I had a Telecaster. Coronados weren't great guitars and didn't make any headway against the more established Gibson and Gretsch hollowbodies. They were flashy though and created a buzz when they first hit the market.
Enough with the Coronados, i asked about the Starcasters!
(kidding)
Henson's Music in Oxnard (CA), my home away from home during my sophomore year in college (this was about 1976), had a sunburst Starcaster, and it got a lot of play by staff and hangers-out like me. I don't think anyone ever bought it, though, before I went off to college elsewhere. We didn't take it all that seriously because we wanted to be Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton and they played 335s. But as I recall, it played and sounded great, I think it had a master volume control along with a volume and tone for each pickup, for a whopping 5 knobs. When I see them come up on ebay, I'm always tempted, but the price always exceeds my budget fairly quickly (not hard to do these days). If you have a chance to score one, do it. Even if you don't like it, you shouldn't have trouble getting what you paid for it...oh wait, I forgot, the economy's in the tank. If you have a chance to score one cheap, do it. You won't have much trouble getting your money out of it if you have to unload it.
I also had a Coronado for a while. It wasn't wildwood, but it at least it was orange, and that should count for something on this board. It was like playing a 335 with a Strat neck. Pretty odd. The Starcaster was a much better guitar.
FG
I realise this started as a Starcaster thread, but I'm going to jump to the defense of the Coronado. If you're looking for a cheap ES335, then forget it. The Coronado is completely different. It's not a great guitar but it is cool in a garagey, twangy, punky sort of way.
However I would say that the Coronado 12 string is just about the best electric 12 string I have ever played or recorded. A bit easier to play than a narrow neck Ric and less 'generic' in tone. You can record them acoustically or blend the acoustic signal with the amp tone for extra chime.
