Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster

11
MARCH 2022 GUITARIST
FENDER ACOUSTASONIC PLAYER TELECASTER
PLAYER TIME
We catch up with one of the Fender Acoustasonic Player’s key designers, Tim Shaw
Are different ‘tone stacks’ used for the Lo-Fi
and Fat Noiseless Tele crunch sounds? And
what about the amps they’re based on?
“They do share the same basic analogue tone
stack, which is a Fender Deluxe with a single
12-inch speaker. Just as you’d use different
pedals to dial in your tones, we adjusted the
drive and compression parts of the signal chain
to suit the pickup you’re playing at the time.”
This Player version comes across as more like
a true electric/acoustic hybrid, as opposed
to the USA models, which feel more acoustic.
Would you agree? And was that a part of the
original design concept?
“I do agree. On the Acoustasonic Tele, eight of
the 10 main switch positions have at least one
acoustic voice available. We’ve curated just two
specific acoustic voices – and their blends – for
the Player. So two of the six main voices are
acoustic, two are electric, and then we have the
Lo-Fi piezo with its own unique sounds. We’d
always known this version would be simpler and
have a more focused set of controls.
Great job with this
Player Telecaster, we’re
really enjoying the
guitar. We’re told work
started on the project
over two years ago. Was
the plan always to offer
a streamlined version of the USA platform?
“We’re glad you like this version! While we
started work on the Acoustasonic Series here in
Nashville in 2016, the work on the Acoustasonic
Players did begin about 26 months ago, and it
involved a huge team across many locations
in the US and in Mexico. We’d always planned
multiple models, and always knew there’d be a
variation like this one. We also knew we’d need a
new factory to do it in Ensenada. That took a bit!”
The reduction in price (40 per cent) equates
to the fewer sounds we have. Are the acoustic
sounds (3A and 3B) basically the same as
those on the USA guitars?
“The construction of the USA Acoustasonic
Telecaster and the Acoustasonic Player are
substantially the same; we do use a rosewood
fingerboard and bridge on the Ensenada
model. As on all Acoustasonics, the body is
still contributing at least 50 per cent to the
overall tonality.
“On this model, 3A is a small-body, short-
scale mahogany guitar; this wasn’t on the
original Acoustasonic Tele. 3B is a rosewood
dreadnought, which was on the original Tele.
It isn’t an exact match, though, and it wasn’t
intended to be one. We very much like the idea
of giving each guitar a unique character, and our
ears led us to these particular choices.”
Are the Lo-Fi sounds essentially just the under-
saddle with minimal or no processing?
“Yes. The Lo-Fi sound pair starts with the under-
saddle Sonicore pickup, run through a buffer but
nothing else. You’re hearing a piezo pickup and
an acoustic guitar. That sound’s been around for
decades now – it’s been in countless clubs and
thousands of records, and we liked the idea of
letting it out to play on this model.”
“The original intent for the Acoustasonic
Player was to have Position 3 as an acoustic pair
– a dreadnought and a smaller guitar. Position
1 is essentially the same mag voices as on the
US model: clean Tele and fat Tele, again, through
an analogue stack. We’d initially thought that
Position 2 would work much as it does on the
US Acoustasonic Tele model, panning from an
acoustic voice to a fairly clean electric voice.
But then we heard the Lo-Fi voices in the studio
on the way to do something else, and they
stopped us cold for a minute. They weren’t part
of the original plan for Position 2, but once we
heard them, we had to include them!”
Clearly from the investment that’s been made
in Ensenada, this is just the start of the Player
Acoustasonic programme. Any idea what’s
coming next?
“Well, we have a beautiful state-of-the art,
climate-controlled factory and one of the best
workforces in the music industry… it’ll probably
involve guitars that aren’t solid and are very
interesting musical tools!” [DB]
“Just as you’d use
pedals, we adjusted
the drive and
compression parts
of the signal chain
to suit the pickups”
The Player Tele joins
the Acoustasonic
family with a voice
all its own
GIT482.rev_fender.indd 11GIT482.rev_fender.indd 11 20/01/2022 12:3420/01/2022 12:34