Phil O'Keefe Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 I know they don't have the greatest of reputations for their acoustic guitars, but I was pleasantly surprised by the Fender Redondo Classic acoustic... [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"redondo-classic-main-d871753a.jpg","data-attachmentid":32408805}[/ATTACH] For all the details, check out my full review: https://www.harmonycentral.com/expert-reviews/fender-redondo-classic As always, if you have any questions or comments about the guitar or the review, feel free to post them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted December 3, 2018 Members Share Posted December 3, 2018 I've played a few Fenders in the past year. They have improved a great deal compared to the older models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 3, 2018 Members Share Posted December 3, 2018 I've fixed three Fenders in the past year including a 12 string that blew up while hanging on the music store wall,. They have not improved compared to older models. And when the owner of the store contacted Fender about a warranty reimbursement they told him "thats the way we make them". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danocoustic Posted December 4, 2018 Members Share Posted December 4, 2018 I guess I'm just a hopeless traditionalist when it comes to guitars. Do not like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted December 4, 2018 Members Share Posted December 4, 2018 Fender needs to leave the acoustic stuff to people who actually care about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted December 4, 2018 Members Share Posted December 4, 2018 Did Fender make a thin acoustic similar to Farrington? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MurkyWaters Posted December 7, 2018 Members Share Posted December 7, 2018 The Redondo Classic is a cool looking guitar. I really like the matching blue headstock! Nice review Phil! I have been on the fence about buying one though. When shopping for my last acoustic I was super intrigued by the Buddy Miller signature and a Custom Shop USA they had used at Gryphon. In the end Fender's acoustic reputation kept me from pulling the trigger on either of those. My real problem is I have never played one! I hope someday Fender will hit some home runs and change the direction of user reviews. They seem to have the look, the Fender name and history, all they need is the quality build and sound! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 7, 2018 Author Share Posted December 7, 2018 Did Fender make a thin acoustic similar to Farrington? They made a Telecoustic and a Stratacoustic - I didn't care for either; to me, they don't sound good acoustically, and they don't really sound any better plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted December 7, 2018 Members Share Posted December 7, 2018 6 inline is just rong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted December 7, 2018 Moderators Share Posted December 7, 2018 I have a Stratocoustic, and truly the only way it sounds good is through a TC Body Rez pedal...that pedal can make a ukelele sound like a Gibson jumbo The only Fender acoustic I thought ever sounded like a quality instrument was the old Kingman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted December 7, 2018 Members Share Posted December 7, 2018 My knee jerk reaction is, "but... it's a Fender. :freak:" Being that it's made of solid wood, I'd probably pick it up and try it if I had the opportunity. I can just imagine the looks I would get if I pulled that thing out of the case at a bluegrass jam session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 My knee jerk reaction is, "but... it's a Fender. :freak:" Being that it's made of solid wood, I'd probably pick it up and try it if I had the opportunity. I can just imagine the looks I would get if I pulled that thing out of the case at a bluegrass jam session. I doubt that they were targeting traditionalists with the Redondo Classic... although you could certainly play bluegrass on it if you wanted to, anything with a blue painted top is probably going to get you some strange looks in those circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 10, 2018 Members Share Posted December 10, 2018 Phil, I know that you and some others here probably think of me as a closed minded old curmudgeon, and I probably am. My first reaction was, yeah, its a Fender, Fender doesn't know how to build acoustics, besides look at that color. However, I happened to be in my music store earlier today and they are a Fender dealer so I went over to the wall to see what all the fuss was about. They have 20 or 30 Fender acoustics but unfortunately none of this new California series. A couple of butt ugly "hellcats" and a few nylon string guitars (I didn't realize Fender made classicals) and a couple of 12 strings, but all the rest had the Taylor looking headstock and were either priced at $199 or 299 (Cx-60xxx model numbers). I actually sat down with a couple of them (see, I really can be open minded) and noodled around. I also played a couple of Yamahas that were on the wall next to them, and for a palate cleanser, a nice Martin OM. I have to bite my tongue, these were all decent guitars. Uniformly nicely built, they all sounded like a guitar, the finish was shiny, actions were all reasonable. I think they very nicely represent the price point made in China guitars that have come to dominate this part of the market. Would I buy one? No, I'm not in that market. Would I recommend one to a friend? That's harder - no reason not to but my old biases are still there. If and when the store gets one of the California guitars in stock (is there an irony about a MIC guitar being named after a famous place in Cali?) I will make a point of playing it and bumping this thread. Now, where is that OM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted December 10, 2018 Members Share Posted December 10, 2018 . . . I can just imagine the looks I would get if I pulled that thing out of the case at a bluegrass jam session. I thought something similar back when Takamine introduced the "Bluegrass" series. Good as they might be, I can't imagine a serious Bluegrass picker choosing a Takamine willingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted December 14, 2018 Members Share Posted December 14, 2018 Too non-traditional for me. Just hurts my eyes. They should stick to Teles, Strats, and amps, like the good Lord intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted December 14, 2018 Members Share Posted December 14, 2018 Yeah, it’s that headstock. As a sorta old person who should be voting republican, bitching about kids on my lawn, and saying “candy bars cost...WHAT!!!?”, it’s just not right. Blue, ok. But good lord, that’s a slickin’ CLASSIC electric guitar headstock. Has no business on an acoustic. ...and I really do say the candy bar bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted December 14, 2018 Members Share Posted December 14, 2018 BUT...having written that, there is the truth that what we “oldguys” hold dear are most certainly not, and shouldn’t be, what ...is. Knowwhatimean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted December 14, 2018 Members Share Posted December 14, 2018 Too non-traditional for me. Just hurts my eyes. They should stick to Teles' date=' Strats, and amps, like the good Lord intended.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catscurlyear Posted December 15, 2018 Members Share Posted December 15, 2018 i like the look, it looks fun ,would suit a rockabilly type act.The coloured bodies suit the headstock .i`m sure i`d get it to play nice with my junior hack saw blade, an allen key and a file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted December 15, 2018 Members Share Posted December 15, 2018 Yeah, it’s that headstock. As a sorta old person who should be voting republican, bitching about kids on my lawn, and saying “candy bars cost...WHAT!!!?”, it’s just not right. Blue, ok. But good lord, that’s a slickin’ CLASSIC electric guitar headstock. Has no business on an acoustic. ...and I really do say the candy bar bit. On the other hand, if it was good enough for Merle Travis . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted January 17, 2019 Members Share Posted January 17, 2019 Well! I actually played one of these last week - I doubted I'd ever see one in the UK. And you know what? - it played well and sounded great. If it wasn't a sh1tty blue colour I might have considered buying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted January 17, 2019 Members Share Posted January 17, 2019 Well, stranger things and all that... I used to claim that aesthetics had zero impact if the sound was good but a man's got to know when his limits are being tested. Fender did me the favor of showing me mine. Fact is, I could not be seen in public with this guitar. Perhaps Cindy-Lou Who could rock it but I could not conjure up the courage or character to stand behind this guitar without busting a belly laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted January 17, 2019 Members Share Posted January 17, 2019 . . . . Well, stranger things and all that... I used to claim that aesthetics had zero impact if the sound was good but a man's got to know when his limits are being tested. Fender did me the favor of showing me mine. Fact is, I could not be seen in public with this guitar. Perhaps Cindy-Lou Who could rock it but I could not conjure up the courage or character to stand behind this guitar without busting a belly laugh. Oh indeed, Joe. Not for me either in that respect. But then, lots of people play ghastly things with more MOP of bling than wood that cost zillions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted January 18, 2019 Members Share Posted January 18, 2019 I get you, Howard. I couldn't picture you and Dylan or Cohen coming together over that guitar. The MOP laden guitar is typically a host to a craftsman who specializes in inlay work. If not for the ostentatious at large he'd be out of work and out-of-work inlay artists would make the world a sadder place. I guess. Then we have all the so-called boutique builders with a penchant for that kind of thing, though they lean towards contrasting wood species, creating all manner of visual ornamentation. Even Ervin Somogyi, considered the premier artisan of luthiery, can get a bit visually busy for the sake of visually busy. If he sets the bar for ostentatious in an embracing market, that means he sets the standard others strive to achieve. It sells over sound to the eyeball market, though. In that sense it swaps virtues from sound to sight and that legitimizes it. But, I've yet to find a word other than tacky to describe it because I can't appreciate ornamentation. Fender, in this instance, strikes me as outrageously intent on foisting an acoustic faux pas upon a traditional market to see what falls out. If they have that kind of scratch to throw around experimentally, instead of actually trying to create a respectable acoustic line they've never had, then they are comfortably situated with their market share and are just tossing outrageous ideas around for the grins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted January 18, 2019 Members Share Posted January 18, 2019 rumor has it that Fender will release a made in USA acoustic line at NAMM next weekhttps://www.musicradar.com/news/namm-2019-fender-to-launch-american-made-acoustic-guitar-line [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"img?regionKey=2eYB06TR8%2B7czZTNIoIXAQ%3D%3D&scale=100.jpg","data-attachmentid":32453549}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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