Fender American Acoustasonic Stratocaster Review

Fender American Acoustasonic

So far I am loving this guitar! Played on clean channels with the built in acoustic tones it sounds fantastic. The action was a tad high for my taste so I was easily able to adjust it down with some sandpaper to the bridge base and the neck adjustment. I am running electric guitar 10's on it in place of the acoustic strings that it came with. Even with electric strings on it, it… read more sounds great unplugged, though it is not quite as bright as with the acoustic strings. A very comfortable guitar to play and the fit and finish is in line with the price point. This ones a keeper.

---

Cancel Comment

Love it

Great acoustic or electric sounds come out of this lightweight beauty. Awesome practice or live guitar.

---

Cancel Comment

Absolutely Great

Admittedly expensive but a great "acoustic" guitar for electric guitarists, especially Fender people. Came perfectly set up from Fender and is the most playable acoustic I have ever used. The variety of sound options was nicely chosen by Fender, with even the most 'electric' sounds on #1 setting just barely and pleasantly crunched. It is not intended or especially useful for… read more heavier distortion. Such a pleasure to not have to mess around with proximity mics or jimmy-rigged internal mics. Light weight is a bonus but it still seems well built. The .011 strings with much lower string height than average acoustics are so much more playable than true acoustic set-ups. Thinner Fender neck is perfect for me. Bends are much easier than on acoustics. The "GigBag" is a good one, but considering the value (and since it doesn't fit in my other fender cases), it absolutely should come with some kind of more rigid and protective carry case. I appreciate SW's 55-point inspection process to weed out defective or damaged instruments, but I'm always anxious to order expensive large items online. And true to form SW's regular shipping co. beat the crap out of the box (as they often do with large items), leaving it out in the rain and snow 50' from my covered porch with an 8" hole in the thinner outer cardboard a few inches from a large "FRAGILE" warning. Thankfully, the manufacturer's Fender box was thicker, intact, well supported and robust and the Gig Bag inside was well padded, pretty water resistant and zipped closed. After waiting the prescribed 24 hours to open, I thankfully found the guitar in good shape. This item and a synth I purchased from Sweetwater were both abused badly by SW's regular shipping company. Signing for delivery is not an option for me with work and all during the day, and the shipping repository is 20 miles away in an auto parts store. SW's outer box packaging was not great considering the expense of these instruments, with thin cardboard with no additional padding and sloppy, inadequate taping on the ends. SW really needs to find higher quality outer cardboard packaging for these larger and very pricey instruments and keyboards. Oddly, smaller, inexpensive items I have purchased are typically very well packaged and are always placed on my porch or at my door. Batteries are always a pain but it is lasting a week or more though it took 6+ hours to first charge. The charging cord is about 10' long (an unusually thoughtful decision by Fender) but you'll have to buy an A/C plug adapter for $ which it should have come with. After a month of use, I absolutely love this guitar for its form factor and outstanding variety of acoustic sounds particularly if enhanced with a good reverb. It is clearly designed for an acoustic amp, but an electric amp on clean is okay, too, and you can go direct to a mixer and PA (if you have a good dedicated reverb). Playability is very close to my preferred electric Strats, allowing use of more 'electric' fingering techniques, and the black color looks great (although I was tempted by the natural). The online photos were very helpful to be able to choose the face color, wood grain, darkness of the wood stain coloration and fretboard variations, greatly appreciated. 20+ YouTube videos also helped confirm my choice.

---

Cancel Comment

My favorite guitar

I own a lot of cool guitars including Gibson, Martin, Larivee, Godin, Parker, Emerald. I will hang on to them forever since each is special in its own way. But this is the one I play the most. If I could only have one, this is it, no question. Playability is great. Size and weight are so friendly. Unamped - good enough for practice and around the house. Amped - Leo Kottke tones,… read more SRV too. Leave it out all the time, pick it up and play it. As simple as that.

---

Cancel Comment

If i had to have only one guitar

i'm lucky enough to have several nice guitars, but if i had to pick just one, this is it. easy to play with pick and fingers, good acoustic-electric tones and screechy strat electric tones, easy to hold and carry around, cool looking, light weight, thin body, can use it without an amp.

---

Cancel Comment

My new favorite acoustic

It took me a year to pull the trigger on this one after watching and reading tons of reviews, I decided to call Sweetwater and talk to Aaron and asked him to pick one out for me and ship it. This guitar plays like a Strat, sounds like a Strat and has loads of really nice acoustic sounds. This guitar is very easy to play and sounds great straight into a PA. I have three other acoustic… read more guitars, Ovation, Taylor and PRS that I've gigged with, this one will replace them all. Totally worth the price tag.

---

Cancel Comment

Wonderful

Although the various "voices" aren't as far different from each other as I expected I found one that has a great sound when set up correctly with a Roland amp. Made me put my old Martin acoustic/electric up for sale. I couldn't find an electric guitar voice that worked well for me but I've got a Gibson Gary Moore BFG Les Paul that does that so I don't really care. There is a "depth"… read more of tone on the Acoustasonic I've never been able to get on any acoustic guitar. I'll probably have to re-record some of my Utube videos. This is also the most comfortable guitar I've ever used. Fun to play

---

Cancel Comment

Really nice balance

Been using this guitar for leading Worship and it is very useful. Easy transition between drive and several acoustic blends and models. Plays great, is light weight and stays in tune. My only complaint is that at this price point it ought to include a hardshell case! Worth the money for the versatility you get.

---

Cancel Comment

Love it!!!

I recently received my Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster in 3-color sunburst finish. I'm so glad I chose that finish; it's absolutely beautiful! The guitar was set up perfectly out of the box, and it only needed a bit of tuning. I love the design of the guitar and the electronics. It is very lightweight and simple in design. There are seemingly limitless tonal options for any style… read more of guitar playing. Fender hit a major home run out of the ballpark with the Acoustasonic series, and I am extremely happy to own this guitar. A special thanks, as always, to my sales engineer, Mark Magdich!

---

Cancel Comment

Perfect

After replacing the strings with some lighter gage ones, this has become my favorite guitar. Love it!

---

Cancel Comment

Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster - Home Run !

I watched all the videos and read all the reviews and decided to get one. Fender hit a home run with this guitar, it plays and sounds fantastic. Special shout out to my Sales Engineer Aaron Smith, he is the best !

---

Cancel Comment

Very, very close ...

I love the look and feel of the guitar. Fender did a great job of designing the body, and the electronics. It is also very light and will be a relief on gig nights. What I like best is that I am able to eliminate one guitar from the stage (I play conga and harmonica as well as acoustic/electric guitars, and require a fair amount of real estate). So with my Harp Attack pedal, my… read more Helix and now the Acoustasonic, I've really been able to save some space and relax. Sweetwater has always been great with advice and support. Okay, so the only "disappointment", if it could be called that, is that, on the electric side, it has none of the Strat tone that I would like to have. That said, with the Helix, I've been able to model a very acceptable sound.

---

Cancel Comment

Versatility and playability!

Got my Acoustasonic Strat from Sweetwater about 2 weeks ago, and I've been loving it! I play rhythm guitar in a neighborhood classic rock band, and have been switching guitars between songs (between a Taylor 814ce and a Les Paul), and it's so nice to be able to get acoustic or electric voices just by clicking a switch on the Strat. The acoustic voices are really rich and sparkly;… read more the 3 electric voices (clean, semi-dirty, dirty) have that classic single-coil Fender sound. I appreciate being able to get the acoustic sounds without worrying about feedback. As you'd expect if you've ever played a Strat, this one is very comfortable to play. Naturally, the acoustic strings that come with it (with a wound G string) aren't as slinky and bendable as electric strings, but it's a hybrid, so you've got to expect the electric side of its personality to be a little less sports car and a little more SUV. But on the acoustic side, wow, it plays well for strumming or fingerstyle. Overall, Fender did a great job with the design and playability; it's a hybrid that is greater than the sum of its parts. The guitar arrived in perfect shape; it was double-boxed with plenty of cushioning, and the guitar was all adjusted to specs. Though I didn't think I'd ever buy a guitar over the web, Sweetwater made it about as easy and safe as it could be -- they provide plenty of photos (there were four guitars of the same model to choose from) and as I understand it, they'd take the guitar back with no problem if I had any concerns after receiving it. And the customer service was excellent! All in all, 5 stars!

---

Cancel Comment

A-mazing!

I've had my eye on one of these for a while and finally pulled the trigger last week. It was in my hands the next day and I was able to put some quality time in with it over the extended Labor Day weekend. Put simply, it's an astonishingly well designed high quality instrument. Playability is sublime out of the box. It feels like a really nice Strat strung with acoustic strings.… read more Acoustically it has a little of an arch top sound. Band limited but not "boxy." But, of course, it's meant to be plugged in and that's where it really shines. The active Fishman electronics really condition the pickups to remove that "cheap" sounding piezo quack. The end result is a very very useable amplified acoustic sound and each model is useful. The magnetic pickup flavors are icing on the cake and are convincing as well. The only downsides? A neck humbucker would make this a very good jazz box. As it is with no tone control, there's no way to get a dark arch top type timbre. Also, hopefully Fender offer an after market saddle for an unwound G. 5 stars/A+ Fender!

---

Cancel Comment

Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster

After my classic rock band disbanded years ago, I put my Stratocasters and Telecaster in the closet and began doing acoustic solo gigs. While I love my Martin GPCPA1 and Taylor 414CE, I missed the electric feel and sound from my band days. Last year I was thrilled to get an Acoustasonic Telecaster. It has been a great guitar, and I thoroughly enjoy it, but I've always been a… read more Strat kind of guy. So, when Fender followed up this year with the Acoustasonic Stratocaster, I bided my time until I could get my hands on one from Sweetwater, and got the Dakota Red Strat last week. I played an outdoor patio gig with it on Friday, and I was thoroughly pleased. The acoustic sounds were great, especially the third position which adds in the body sensor pickup. But when I went electric, ah... there was that Strat sound I have missed these past few years! The neck is super comfortable, and feels a little deeper and more "U" shaped than my Tele, and the contoured body fits like a glove. Sweetwater did their usual superlative job of inspecting and setting up the guitar, and I couldn't be happier. Well done, Fender!

---

Cancel Comment