What's Up With Fender?

[The Bear]

I'm new to acoustic guitars.

Saturday I bought a new Fender Sonoran and I like it for the price.

I know it's no Martin or Taylor. It dosen't have that full, tone but it sounds ok to me.

I could have bought a Yamaha, in the same price range, but went with the Fender.

I own 6 Strats and the soft V neck of the Sonoran and felt good and familiar in my hand. It's very easy for me to play.

I would just like to know why Fender gets such a bad rap on their acoustics.

 

Thanks

The Bear

[Queequeg]

this is a company that built its reputation on its solid body electrics (as you know).
It paid off for them i spades. the strat is their flagship. and they have a manufacturing presence in the USA.
Martin has tried electrics without much success, because over the years they spent all their efforts and marketing on acoustics. they only dabbled in electrics.
since you have several strats, I ask you:
Did you ever consider a Martin electric instead of a strat?

Don't go to the best steak house restaurant in town and order rainbow trout.
all that said, I hope you enjoy your Fender acoustic.

[Gretsch Fan]

Glad yours is good their QC is not good on the acuostic side from my limited sampling of everything over several years at local shops. They were not good so I gave up on them. Love the Telecaster tho... The strat is cool too but the tele has the vibe I prefer.

[bjorn-fjord]

Originally posted by Queequeg Don't go to the best steak house restaurant in town and order rainbow trout. all that said, I hope you enjoy your Fender acoustic.

 

 

You could have the possum, though.

[Crank-N-Jam]

I recently bought a Fender acoustic and really like it. It's a cheapy (DG22S) but the bubinga sides and back are beautiful. The solid top is also very nice. Great playing and sounding guitar. Couldn't be happier for the price paid.

I'm not real sure why they get a bad rap either, but that's OK with me as long as it keeps the prices low for the rest of us.

[Queequeg]

Originally posted by bjorn-fjord You could have the possum, though.

 

actually, the possum is the Chef's Surprise.

An excellent choice.

bon appetit.

[Andrewrg]

Traditionally Fender acoustics were shunned by acoustic guitarists because, well, they didnt actually sound very good,with bolt on necks and overbuilt bodies.
Ironically, Fender are making decent sounding acoustics now after buying the Guild brand name.
The offshore Fenders, while generally ok sounding, do have that generic PacRim tone.

[guit30]

Had a Fender DG20S that sounded great
Jim

[The Bear]

Originally posted by Gretsch Fan Glad yours is good their QC is not good on the acuostic side from my limited sampling of everything over several years at local shops. They were not good so I gave up on them. Love the Telecaster tho... The strat is cool too but the tele has the vibe I prefer.

 

 

 

I love em' both. I have 4 Teles to go along with the Strats.

 

The Bear

[The Bear]

Originally posted by Crank-N-Jam I recently bought a Fender acoustic and really like it. It's a cheapy (DG22S) but the bubinga sides and back are beautiful. The solid top is also very nice. Great playing and sounding guitar. Couldn't be happier for the price paid. I'm not real sure why they get a bad rap either, but that's OK with me as long as it keeps the prices low for the rest of us.

Good idea.
Keep the bad rap so prices stay down.

The Bear

[The Bear]

Originally posted by Andrewrg Traditionally Fender acoustics were shunned by acoustic guitarists because, well, they didnt actually sound very good,with bolt on necks and overbuilt bodies. Ironically, Fender are making decent sounding acoustics now after buying the Guild brand name. The offshore Fenders, while generally ok sounding, do have that generic PacRim tone.

 

 

Thanks, didn't know they bought the Guild brand name.

Looks like they got something good out of it as far as quality is concerned.

 

The Bear

[Queequeg]

Fender is buying up all these brands and moving production to Asia.
Charvel, Jackson, Takoma...
(Add Gretsch to the list, 2004)
I don't necessarily see this as a good thing.

[kwakatak]

My last GAS purchase was an American-made Fender Strat and I have to say it's an excellent guitar. I'd owned several (3 or 4) Strat-clones previously but to me this was the "Holy Grail" for me going into the purchase. I didn't know beans about Fender at the time other than "I want a real Strat" and despite my ignorance I was quite fortunate that I ended up getting a great guitar.

So when it came time to find a new Acoustic just a few short years ago, the first brand I looked at was Fender. At the time I knew very little about acoustic guitars and could only go by how a guitar feels to play and how it sounds from my vantage point behind the body.

Well, even with those minimalist requirements I was disappointed by a particularly boxy-sounding and poorly set-up dreadnaught with a pickup and cutaway that was listed around $150. Not a good representation sure, but considering that my budget was $300 and I was looking to replace a $200 guitar I knew that I'd be better off just fixing up my beater and saving my money for something a lot nicer.

Fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago. With my Takamine in hand - the aforementioned $200 beater - I got to A/B it against a solid-topped Fender grand auditorium. This particular Fender was nicer than the last one I played and certainly looked and felt much better than my Tak, but the tone just wasn't there for me. To be fair, I think it could have benefitted from a setup to drop the action, a bone saddle and a better set of strings.

My tastes have changed since then, though. After trying out some Taylors, then some Martins and Larrivees I just can't go back to the sub-$500 level. I guess I've become a guitar snob, even though I still only play a $200 Takamine.

[DonK]

Originally posted by Andrewrg Traditionally Fender acoustics were shunned by acoustic guitarists because, well, they didnt actually sound very good,with bolt on necks and overbuilt bodies. Ironically, Fender are making decent sounding acoustics now after buying the Guild brand name. The offshore Fenders, while generally ok sounding, do have that generic PacRim tone.

 

 

In addition to Guild, they also own Tacoma Guitars.

 

I bought my son a little Fender parlor guitar, I forget the model #. It plays well and visually looks like a more expensive guitar, except for the finish, which is really thick. It's also overbuilt, especially for a small guitar, which compromises the sound. It's small and durable, though, which makes it pretty good for an 11 year-old, and again, it has good playablility.

 

I don't think Fender gets any more abuse here than other brands in their traditional price range -- $200 - $400 -- like Epiphone and Washburn. Generally people here try to point people toward Yamaha as the best of the lot in that range, or Seagull at the higher end.

 

Fender now has their new Ensenada line in the $800+ range. Regardless of how good they may be, to me that's a hard sell when there is so much to choose from among other, better established acoustic makers. They're better off sticking with their Guild and Tacoma lines.

 

[Queequeg]

there's three Fender threads going on here in this acoustic forum.
we had our Martin bashing thread last week.
somebody should start a Fender Bender Thread and consolidate all this.