NGD: Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster

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voodoorat
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Actually got this a couple of weeks ago as a little Christmas present for myself from Adorama.com when it was on sale for $699 new. I was a little curious about them when the MIA ones originally came out but not even close to $2,000 curious.

Have spent some time with it during those weeks and played it for a couple of our jam nights so I feel like I have a better idea of what it is (and isn't) at this point, enough that I can maybe provide some insight.

I feel like these are sort of marketed as a jack-of-all-trades that can be treated as an acoustic or as an electric and can be the one guitar you need at a gig. I think that's sort of true in that if in a pinch you needed to be able to play only one guitar and wanted both kinds of sounds it could do that, but I don't think it replaces either for different reasons. What I think it *really* is though is an electric-acoustic guitar (that is, a plugged-in acoustic guitar) that has some flexibility as to how it sounds (there's a knob that affects the "shape" of the modeled acoustic guitar) but mostly and mort importantly to me feels and mostly plays like an electric guitar (albeit with thicker strings). So while it sounds a lot like a real acoustic (plugged in) it feels and plays like something different.

I'm enjoying it, at this point I'm planning on keeping it and using it in lieu of a "real" acoustic for jams, at least sometimes. It's easy to twist the knob and modify sound.

I miss a master tone, I'm not sure why they didn't add one. Also the "lo-fi" and "electric" settings (two of the 3 switch settings) are imo not that great. The lo-fi one is okay but if I'm playing something that I want to sound like an acoustic I probably want it to sound more like the modeled acoustic sound and not like a piezo. And the electric sound, well, at the 'clean' end of the knob it's really quiet and thin sounding. Maybe if I ran it into an electric guitar amp it would sound okay but then I wouldn't be able to use any other setting. It's much louder as you twist the knob towards the "dirtier" end of the electric sound, which sounds better but still not great when compared to a normal electric through a normal electric amp. Like I said, in a pinch it could sort of be used as an electronic replacement (albeit with 11 or 12 gauge acoustic strings), but I doubt if I'll ever really need to use it that way. But as a sort of alternate-form acoustic I like it a lot, and as a couch guitar it's maybe slightly louder than the Casino.

Pretty sure I would be disappointed if I bought one for $2k assuming it could do everything, and probably even if I paid $1.2k, but I'm happy with it at the price I paid and I don't have anything else that plays and sounds like it does.
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sabasgr68
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Location: Venezuela, Caracas
Gearlist: Mossman Sunking Strat (model MN001) - Zoom G3xn - My hands
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voodoorat wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:58 pm Actually got this a couple of weeks ago as a little Christmas present for myself from Adorama.com when it was on sale for $699 new. I was a little curious about them when the MIA ones originally came out but not even close to $2,000 curious.

Have spent some time with it during those weeks and played it for a couple of our jam nights so I feel like I have a better idea of what it is (and isn't) at this point, enough that I can maybe provide some insight.

I feel like these are sort of marketed as a jack-of-all-trades that can be treated as an acoustic or as an electric and can be the one guitar you need at a gig. I think that's sort of true in that if in a pinch you needed to be able to play only one guitar and wanted both kinds of sounds it could do that, but I don't think it replaces either for different reasons. What I think it *really* is though is an electric-acoustic guitar (that is, a plugged-in acoustic guitar) that has some flexibility as to how it sounds (there's a knob that affects the "shape" of the modeled acoustic guitar) but mostly and mort importantly to me feels and mostly plays like an electric guitar (albeit with thicker strings). So while it sounds a lot like a real acoustic (plugged in) it feels and plays like something different.

I'm enjoying it, at this point I'm planning on keeping it and using it in lieu of a "real" acoustic for jams, at least sometimes. It's easy to twist the knob and modify sound.

I miss a master tone, I'm not sure why they didn't add one. Also the "lo-fi" and "electric" settings (two of the 3 switch settings) are imo not that great. The lo-fi one is okay but if I'm playing something that I want to sound like an acoustic I probably want it to sound more like the modeled acoustic sound and not like a piezo. And the electric sound, well, at the 'clean' end of the knob it's really quiet and thin sounding. Maybe if I ran it into an electric guitar amp it would sound okay but then I wouldn't be able to use any other setting. It's much louder as you twist the knob towards the "dirtier" end of the electric sound, which sounds better but still not great when compared to a normal electric through a normal electric amp. Like I said, in a pinch it could sort of be used as an electronic replacement (albeit with 11 or 12 gauge acoustic strings), but I doubt if I'll ever really need to use it that way. But as a sort of alternate-form acoustic I like it a lot, and as a couch guitar it's maybe slightly louder than the Casino.

Pretty sure I would be disappointed if I bought one for $2k assuming it could do anything, and probably even if I paid $1.2k, but I'm happy with it at the price I paid and I don't have anything else that plays and sounds like it does.

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I was intrigued as to how they´d really play, and your explanation kind of made it clear in the real world. I´m glad you´re liking it in the $699 window and not crying about it in the $2000 penthouse floor :) .

HNGD!
I´m the guy from Venezuela (Not Communist/Socialist) - Catholic - Husband - Father
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
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tlarson58
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Location: Steamboat Springs, CO
Gearlist: A tele, a bass and a bunch of other stuff.

Thank you for the review. I heard bad reviews out of the gate but your insight put them into perspective.
Tommy Larson
Steamboat Springs, CO
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