Strat Acousticaster - Why ?

Lewy

crunchman said:

Andertons video:

Lee Anderton says in this one that they sold over 100 of the Tele version last year.

I like that they’ve put different models in this and given it an extra electric sound. May have been even better if they’d given it lighter strings and compensated the saddle for a plain third. So then they’d have a version geared toward the primarily acoustic player and one toward the primarily electric player.

crunchman

Lewy said:

crunchman said:

Andertons video:

Lee Anderton says in this one that they sold over 100 of the Tele version last year.

I like that they’ve put different models in this and given it an extra electric sound. May have been even better if they’d given it lighter strings and compensated the saddle for a plain third. So then they’d have a version geared toward the primarily acoustic player and one toward the primarily electric player.

I think the wound third is the right way to go.  I had a Variax for a while, and the plain third meant the acoustic sounds just didn't sound right.  That was one of the reasons I sold it.

WindmillGuitars

Buy a Taylor T5... Job done 

Lewy

Anchorboy said:

Buy a Taylor T5... Job done 

Assuming you like the sound of the expression system and don’t find them hideous....

Jalapeno

If I had space I'd have got a Tele one by now ....

hollywoodrox

ICBM said:

hollywoodrox said:

Kramer Ferrington looks half decent

The half without the headstock .

Nah it looks great. I have a magazine ad somewhere with Ed VH playing one on the beach. I remember a wash urn one too

tomajoha

I remember playing a mates Kramer Ferrington in the late 90s - I remember thinking at the time it was a really playable, fun guitar 

ICBM

hollywoodrox said:

Nah it looks great. I have a magazine ad somewhere with Ed VH playing one on the beach. I remember a wash urn one too

Those angled pointy headstocks were always hideous and stupid, even when they were the height of fashion - especially on a guitar without a locking nut, where they guarantee tuning problems and the nut can break because of the huge sideways forces on it.

Not to mention needing an extra piece of wood glued on to the neck which makes it more expensive to make and weaker. Probably the worst and most pointless headstock design ever (apart from the Gibson Explorer, which is even more fragile).

At least these new Fenders don’t have ridiculous design problems like that...

vonLayzonfon

Jalapeno said:

If I had space I'd have got a Tele one by now ....

If I had money I'd have got one of those snazzy ziricote ones by now...

Except I have money. Despite Lewy's excellent justification for their price they're still in the region of 6 times what I'd comfortably pay for a guitar so I guess I'm just not their target market.

 

Seziertisch

I suspect that most of the people buying these are not on guitar forums, and therefor don’t care that we think it’s a bit rubbish.

If I was a gigging musician that needed a guitar to cover both acoustic and electric, and possibly in the context where everything goes through the PA - I’m thinking specifically of function/wedding bands - I would be all over this. 

The cost would he easily justifiable for having less stuff to carry around every day, and also it could be written off as a business expense.

Haych

For things like open mic nights, solo acts, duos and buskers etc it's a really, really good idea.  However, I don't know how many of those could justify a £1650 price tag.  When I saw it I thought it'd be around the £600 mark and at that price it would make a lot of sense, but £1650 is eye watering for what is, as I see it, quite a niche product.

When I think about what Fender have done I can't help feeling that they've created a product for a sector of the market that doesn't quite exist.  It's almost like they're trying to create a need in the market by making a product nobody actually knew they needed.  But, hey guess what, Fender have our backs!

But, maybe I'm wrong.  Fender must have done their market research and maybe they'll fly out of music shops.

crunchman

Haych said:

But, maybe I'm wrong.  Fender must have done their market research and maybe they'll fly out of music shops.

Lee Anderton said in the Andertons video on these that they sold over 100 of the Tele version last year.  That's just one shop - a big one admittedly - but they must have shifted thousands worldwide.

sticker

If I was still playing in my old function band I’d be all over one of these , seems like a great combo of acoustic/electric sounds and it would pay for itself after 5 wedding gigs.

Haych

crunchman said:

Haych said:

But, maybe I'm wrong.  Fender must have done their market research and maybe they'll fly out of music shops.

Lee Anderton said in the Andertons video on these that they sold over 100 of the Tele version last year.  That's just one shop - a big one admittedly - but they must have shifted thousands worldwide.

Compared to how many proper Telecasters?  I don't doubt they'll sell but I still see it as a niche product compared to the mainstream products that are aimed at guitarists and musicians. 

ICBM

Haych said:

For things like open mic nights, solo acts, duos and buskers etc it's a really, really good idea.  However, I don't know how many of those could justify a £1650 price tag.  When I saw it I thought it'd be around the £600 mark and at that price it would make a lot of sense, but £1650 is eye watering for what is, as I see it, quite a niche product.

When I think about what Fender have done I can't help feeling that they've created a product for a sector of the market that doesn't quite exist.  It's almost like they're trying to create a need in the market by making a product nobody actually knew they needed.  But, hey guess what, Fender have our backs!

But, maybe I'm wrong.  Fender must have done their market research and maybe they'll fly out of music shops.

The thing is, I should be exactly the target market for this - a lot of the stuff I've done exists in that somewhere-between-acoustic-and-electric region, and I've owned and used many varieties of guitar which do it, from electro-acoustics with added magnetic pickups to electric guitars with piezo pickups, to actually DI'ing a semi-acoustic electric...

But I'm not, because I don't want onboard modelling - if I want that I'll do it with an external unit - I think it looks extremely ugly, and the price is daft... maybe £1650 for the *top* of the range would be about right, but that's for the *bottom*.

I also found out that it's not actually exactly the same size as a Tele or a Strat - it's slightly larger. This is something that pissed me off about my HMT Tele as well, because it wouldn't fit in a standard Tele hard case - although these days I would probably want a Mono-type gig bag anyway.

Musicman20

The Tele looked ok. This looks awful. No point. 

paulnb57

Fender just can’t win, folk ask “wheres the innovation in guitar design, manufacturers keep churning out the same old traditional designs”. Fender do something a bit different and the world and his dog hates it....you don’t have to like it or buy it...

Lewy

Haych said:

 It's almost like they're trying to create a need in the market by making a product nobody actually knew they needed.  

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” - Henry Ford

Nitefly

Didn't they have a bite at this particular cherry in the late 80's / early 90's, at a more attractive price point? (Obvs without the modelling).

What are these (besides "available for order", so not in stock lol)?

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Standard-Stratacoustic-Black/2ADV?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjfvwBRCkARIsAIqSWlOURBWQftFN58-dSRSLE5WaW01LKT4T8VgJ-lbtMoKh3a32aDX-Q1oaAn6cEALw_wcB

https://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/fender-standard-stratacoustic-electro-acoustic-guitar-black.html?source=shopping&sku=fen0971983006&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjfvwBRCkARIsAIqSWlOuh3827X5fqK_5reV8CF98AisQQrloXSP8goMXAvxBBtQtHVdZI_gaAiUlEALw_wcB

Jez6345789

Not sure why the hate working club and cover bands can always use this sort of versatility. I like the fancier wood versions a bit more as I like pretty wood  but not the up charge. The Strat variant seem like a good idea and they are certainly selling.