The glitz and glamor of a rock star is one thing, the hassle of switching guitars for acoustic and electric sound is another. I tell you what: keep the glitz and glamor, but skip the guitar switching with this: Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster. Yes, it is an electric acoustic stringed axe, but this ain’t no ordinary electric acoustic. It is the perfect hybrid of an acoustic and Fender’s iconic Telecaster which is, in Fender’s own words, “an entirely new instrument that blurs the lines between acoustic and electric guitars.”
The rationale behind this is to give “artists multiple acoustic body shape and wood tones, as well as great electric tones, at their fingertips.” But what makes this acoustic electric different from its peers? Well, for starter, it has a contoured top, as opposed to sharp angles of an acoustic guitar body, for playing comfort – just like you would find on a Telecaster or most electric guitars. And then there is the 22-fret mahogany Tele neck, complete with ebony fingerboard that provides the electric guitar experience.
In addition to the acoustic-like bridge, the Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster also boasts Fender’s patent-pending Stringed Instrument Resonance System (SIRS) that emulates the naturally loud acoustic of an acoustic guitar. Finally, there is the Fender and Fishman-designed Acoustic Engine that comprises three pickup systems: Fishman Under-Saddle Transducer, Fishman Acoustasonic Enhancer, as well as Fender Acoustasonic Noiseless magnetic pickup. The latter is designed for authentic hum-free Fender electric tone which can be played solo or blended with an acoustic voice to create a hybrid sound.
Save for the acoustic hole and the missing jack and jack plate (the jack is at the side, btw), it looks pretty much like an electric guitar with the control knobs and a 5-way selector switch. Speaking of the control knobs, the American Acoustasonic gets a Mod Knob as opposed to a tone knob for selecting and/or blends between ‘A’ and ‘B’ voice pairs a myriad of combinations. Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster is made in Corona, California, at the same factory where the Fender’s iconic electric instruments are made.
Naturally, a new kind of instrument doesn’t come cheap and in this case, you are looking at a grant $1,999.99 investment.
Images: Fender.
Source: New Atlas.
