Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster - Interesting

racman

Ok, I know this was revealed aty January NAMM but I just saw it now ..... ? ?

"PRESS RELEASE: Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster. Fender have announced this very exciting new guitar due for release at the Namm show 2010. They have previously made a number of Acoustasonic instruments, but nothing as well-conceived and neatly-made as this Telecaster.

The new Acoustasonic Tele may look like a run-of-the-mill telecaster at first glance, but on closer inspection you may notice a few very significant changes: The body is chambered and has been fitted with a rosewood bridge. Fender has also discretely and seamlessly integrated the acclaimed Fishman® Aura™ pickup system into the guitar. This technology, coupled with the aforementioned chambered body and rosewood bridge, produces all the resonance and tonal qualities of a full size acoustic guitar!

Fender has also fitted a Twisted Tele neck pickup. This pickup overcomes the usual “muddy” sound of a lot of Tele neck pickups because it has taller magnets wound with thicker wire and a chrome-plated nickel-silver cover which is more sonically transparent than the traditional chrome-plated brass cover. This means that the Acoustasonic Tele still has that famous “Tele Tone” we all know.

All in all the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster is a truly versatile, high-quality guitar; a real triumph of design."

racman

A cool YouTube review:

AlanRatcliffe

Yeah - I think Fender have nearly nailed it with this. The modelling preamp makes it a lot more attractive than a straight piezo would be. I like the pinless bridge.

The one thing they could do to improve it though is to add a magnetic bridge pickup for more tonal variety from the electric side..

PeteM

This looks very exciting - perfect for my kind of playing.

Gearhead

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: The one thing they could do to improve it though is to add a magnetic bridge pickup for more tonal variety from the electric side..

It might be that they chose not to since it would either not be a properly Tele sounding pup (not sitting in an ashtray) or not a properly acoustic sounding guit (having an ashtray hamper the motion of the top). It would be interesting to see what's inside: braces or sustain block...

aja

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: The one thing they could do to improve it though is to add a magnetic bridge pickup for more tonal variety from the electric side..

doesn't that go into parker territory? (excluding the modelling)

I guess this is like a more versatile line6 variax...

AlanRatcliffe

Gearhead wrote: It might be that they chose not to since it would either not be a properly Tele sounding pup (not sitting in an ashtray) or not a properly acoustic sounding guit (having an ashtray hamper the motion of the top).

Granted, but it's a bit of a compromise already, so hanging a Tele pickup (or even a 'bucker) off the bridge wouldn't spoil it.

It would be interesting to see what's inside: braces or sustain block...

It's hollow with a spruce centreblock.

aja wrote: doesn't that go into parker territory? (excluding the modelling)

It's there already. I divide hybrids into two categories - those primarily acoustic (The Taylor), which have acoustic bridges, are often hollow and use bronze strings. Then there are those like the Parker which are primarily electric with added piezos.

I guess this is like a more versatile line6 variax...

Thankfully not. With the Variax, all the sounds are modelled. The Acoustasonic just adds a bit of mic/body modelling to the piezo tone and the magnetic side is pure, normal electric guitar. Should be much lower battery consumption too.

CDee

Wow! This looks great... I wonder if they are in SA yet? I'd love to try one out.

singemonkey

It looks very cool. The Fishman system has really impressed me in demos. And here the irony is revealed. While the Fishman finally puts back the acoustic into your amplified acoustic guitar, it can do the same thing on an electric - rendering acoustics purely cosmetic for amplified playing, no? ?

I'd love to see Bob Dylan play one of these. Full circle ?

How easy would it be to mod an electric guitar to this system. I know you can get tune-o-matic bridges with piezos in them. How bulky would the Fishman system be and would you have to do any drilling and routing?

I really like the pickguard on this. It looks influenced by the PRS SE1, that guard.

Since we've been a trifle rough on the Gibson fans, I'll refrain from comparing this very pretty - and yet wonderfully innovative - Fender to Gibson's "Dusk Tiger." ? ?

AlanRatcliffe

How easy would it be to mod an electric guitar to this system. I know you can get tune-o-matic bridges with piezos in them. How bulky would the Fishman system be and would you have to do any drilling and routing?

The Powerbridge/Powerchip is a small enough system to fit in most guitars with no routing other than a small hole under the bridge for the pickup wires. However, that doesn't include the onboard modelling. They haven't released an onboard modelling system yet - this one (and the bridge) are specific to Fender.

singemonkey

Right. I was thinking that I'd seen videos in which the piezo goes straight to the Aura box, right? Hmm... I can see just one more guitar in my future... :? Or maybe piezo saddles for my Pacifica.

I agree with you though Alan. Could they not have achieved the same tone while still putting in a magnetic bridge pickup? Presumably the little strip of wood is all the piezo (or pie-zoh, as the American reviewer calls it) needs to simulate its acoustic sound. Maybe it didn't quite work with a hole cut for the pickup. Seems a bit odd though.

AlanRatcliffe

I don't see that adding a bridge pickup would have affected it negatively. The biggest "problem" would be that they would not be able to use a single three way switch for switching. But that wouldn't be a big problem - a 3-way mini toggle fits nicely between the controls on a Tele.

My biggest concern is build quality. If it's anything like the last batch of "Power" Teles and Strats (standard models with piezos, but no modelling) or "GK-ready" Strats, they can keep 'em. Much better to find a guitar you like and piezo it. And I'd go Graph Tech rather than Fishman.

Fishman have told me that the Aura system cannot be used for electric piezos. They are marketing it as something to make "your guitar plugged sound like your guitar unplugged" and are trying to avoid it from being associated with modelling (it's basically convolution with impulse responses).

The D-Tar Mama Bear is an outboard unit that does a similar thing to the Aura and is designed for a variety of sources (including electric piezo bridges) and can also make your guitar sound like a variety of acoustic guitars, unlike Fishman's approach.