Fender Acoustasonic Guitar diplay at NAMM 2020

January 21, 2020 | Story by John Bongiovanni | Photo Ralph Palumbo

Fender American Acoustasonic Guitars


For seasoned veterans or newer players that may be starting to get the performance bug, and requiring a more high-end guitar option, Fender has come out with an interesting offering in the past couple years. On display at NAMM 2020 was Fenders hybrid Acoustic Electric called the Acoustasonic.

Each guitar is handcrafted in Corona California. They come in two body styles, the single cut Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster, and double cut Stratocaster both give you a whole arsenal of convincing acoustic and electric tones in one great-feeling guitar. It doesn’t matter if you are an electric or acoustic guitar player, you are going to feel right at home with the legendary Fender neck profiles. It really is the one guitar that covers both the acoustic and electric space convincingly, and all you would need for any potential style or show.

As for the features that come standard with each guitar, they both have the propriety Fender Acoustic Engine which creates 10 different body style and tone wood combinations, along with a 5-way switch to select sound pairs and then the Mod knob blends the voicing. The best feature arguably is that there’s no more need for 9v batteries. They come with an onboard lithium-ion battery which is rechargeable via USB and gives you up to 20 hours of continuous use.

All in all it’s a very flexible, impressive hybrid guitar. Prepare yourself to be pleasantly stunned and rock on with these Acoustic Icons from Fender.


Specs from the Fender site:

Fender and Fishman collaborated on the Acoustic Engine, which is a mix of classic analog and future technologies that provides a curated collection of acoustic and electric voices. You can switch through five modes with a five-way selector switch, while a Mod Knob allows you to blend the two different voices.

"It actually takes the analog part of the what the guitar is doing and uses digital signal processing to change the outbound signal to the sounds that we were going for," Martinez said. "Because this guitar was built like an acoustic, the body is actually moving. So the pickups sense what the guitar is doing and sends it to the board to actually alter the sound as it goes out."

The Acoustasonic Telecaster is outfitted with three pickups: a Fishman Under-Saddle Transducer, a Fishman Acoustasonic Enhancer and a Fender Acoustasonic Noiseless magnetic pickup.

The Acoustasonic Noiseless pickup is designed for hum-free Fender electric tone and can be played solo or blended with the under-saddle piezo pickup to create new sounds. Meanwhile, the Acoustasonic Enhancer registers the vibrations of the guitar's top to add percussive elements to your performance.

Visit Fender Guitars for more information