Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster

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GUITARIST MARCH 2022

FENDER ACOUSTASONIC

PLAYER TELECASTER

£1,049

WHAT IS IT? The Mexican-made

version of the USA Acoustasonic

Tele, with some emphasis on

its electric side

ost, for most of us, is central to

any instrument. Yet we have a

strange take on that sometimes, not

least when innovation is involved. People

happily pay upwards of £3k for a replica of

a solidbody plank unchanged from the 50s,

but when Fender put out its first American

Acoustasonic Telecaster, the design of which

involved a huge amount of costly R&D, many

dismissed it – before even playing one – as

too expensive. “If they did a Mexican version,

we might be interested.” At the tail end of last

year, Fender did exactly that.

Fender’s factory in Ensenada – where its

‘affordable’ guitars such as the big-selling

Player and Vintera series are made – is a few

hours’ drive south from its US manufacturing

base in Corona, California. The launch PR

is revealing: this new Acoustasonic Player

Telecaster required “building an entire new

factory from the ground up… adjacent to

Fender’s long-standing Mexico factory, which

has been building Fender guitars for 35 years”.

We’re also told that bringing this guitar to

market has been a “26-month long journey”

and that the new factory “will bolster the

Ensenada community by adding over 100 jobs

with room to grow in the future”. If you think

the Acoustasonic is just a flash in the pan, you

might need to reconsider.

Words Dave Burrluck Photography Olly Curtis

There’ll be rejoicing in the shires. Fender’s American

Acoustasonic gets a Mexican makeover, meaning it’s

much cheaper. But what do we lose along the way?

Playing To

The Crowd

GIT482.rev_fender.indd 8GIT482.rev_fender.indd 8 20/01/2022 12:3420/01/2022 12:34

Summary of content (6 pages)

PAGE 1
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER £1,049 WHAT IS IT? The Mexican-made version of the USA Acoustasonic Tele, with some emphasis on its electric side Playing To The Crowd There’ll be rejoicing in the shires. Fender’s American Acoustasonic gets a Mexican makeover, meaning it’s much cheaper. But what do we lose along the way? Words Dave Burrluck Photography Olly Curtis C ost, for most of us, is central to any instrument.
PAGE 2
MARCH 2022 GUITARIST GIT482.rev_fender.
PAGE 3
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER 1 2 1. The standard Telecaster headstock with its staggered height tuners, string tree and ‘branded’ Fender logo is identical to the USA Acoustasonic Tele’s 2. The Player platform uses two pickups instead of the three pickup systems present on the USA model. The visible magnetic pickup is Fender’s Noiseless N4 3.
PAGE 4
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER PLAYER TIME We catch up with one of the Fender Acoustasonic Player’s key designers, Tim Shaw Great job with this Player Telecaster, we’re really enjoying the guitar. We’re told work started on the project over two years ago.
PAGE 5
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER UNDER THE HOOD Take a look inside this Acoustasonic Player Telecaster and you might well see the future! J ust as you’ll find with the existing USA Acoustasonic Telecaster, when you remove the rear control cover plate you see an expanse of circuit board with zero reference to the 1950s. This is positively space age.
PAGE 6
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER 7. In addition to Fender’s Noiseless N4, there is a Fishman transducer under the compensated saddle on the acousticstyle pin bridge, which is rosewood here, not the striped ebony of the USA Jazzmaster 8.