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MGR/Dean Brewis « Fender Telecoustic »
Published on 03/23/04 at 15:00I wanted an electro-acoustic so I could plug it straight into my BOSS-864 8 track recorder (no need for an external microphone) and so I bought a secondhand Tanglewood bowl back but this kept moving down my lap when played unless I used a strap. Also the Tanglewood had no cutaway meaning I had no accesss to anyhting above the 15th fret - I saw the Fender reviewed in a magazine and it came out very highly recommended. I took the secondhand Tanglewood back and they gave me exactly what I had paid them in part-ex. The Telecoustic was marked up at £199 - this was in Sound Control, Bristol UK.
The most useful aspect of the Telecoustic is that it allows easy upper fret access meaning I can play up in the second octave (fret 12 and above), with ease. Also the depth of the fibreglass sound bowl is very shallow so it is comfortable to play. As a devouted Telecaster user, the footprint is practically identical to its electric counterpart and this is very appealing. There was also a proper fitted Fender carry bag that came with it - nice touch.
The mucky brown colour - yuk.
The sound hole looks like it has been put out by some inexperienced child with a jigsaw, very rough and ready. However my biggest bugbear is that having got it home, there was a manufacturing flaw and one of the fret was lower than the rest meaning it choked when playing certain notes. It had to go back and luckily they could fix this at the shop, but it was an unexpected turn of events especiaally from a company with Fender's reputation. The built-in preamp is also a bit makeshift as part of it was coming away and had to be stuck down again. Apart from the that the overall feel is very good and it seems built to last.
It definitely sounds like a more expensive guitar to play, having plenty of bottom end when you dig in with a pick (I don't finger play at all), the top end sounding sweet. It needs a battery for the preamp (my Tanglewood was a passive system that didn't need one), making the Telecoustic unusable through my electric amp as it howls like a banshee with feedback noise. Like most acoustic based guitars it is very unforgiving, the strings being a gauge heavier than my electric guitars. Having said all this, I am very happy with the overall package, it doing exactly what I want it to do. More attention to detail would have been nice, the neck is a bit cheap 'feeling', I would have personally have prefered a satin finish on the neck that would have made it even more familiar territory having made the crossover from electrics. I would be interested to hear from anyone who buys one to compare notes.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
The most useful aspect of the Telecoustic is that it allows easy upper fret access meaning I can play up in the second octave (fret 12 and above), with ease. Also the depth of the fibreglass sound bowl is very shallow so it is comfortable to play. As a devouted Telecaster user, the footprint is practically identical to its electric counterpart and this is very appealing. There was also a proper fitted Fender carry bag that came with it - nice touch.
The mucky brown colour - yuk.
The sound hole looks like it has been put out by some inexperienced child with a jigsaw, very rough and ready. However my biggest bugbear is that having got it home, there was a manufacturing flaw and one of the fret was lower than the rest meaning it choked when playing certain notes. It had to go back and luckily they could fix this at the shop, but it was an unexpected turn of events especiaally from a company with Fender's reputation. The built-in preamp is also a bit makeshift as part of it was coming away and had to be stuck down again. Apart from the that the overall feel is very good and it seems built to last.
It definitely sounds like a more expensive guitar to play, having plenty of bottom end when you dig in with a pick (I don't finger play at all), the top end sounding sweet. It needs a battery for the preamp (my Tanglewood was a passive system that didn't need one), making the Telecoustic unusable through my electric amp as it howls like a banshee with feedback noise. Like most acoustic based guitars it is very unforgiving, the strings being a gauge heavier than my electric guitars. Having said all this, I am very happy with the overall package, it doing exactly what I want it to do. More attention to detail would have been nice, the neck is a bit cheap 'feeling', I would have personally have prefered a satin finish on the neck that would have made it even more familiar territory having made the crossover from electrics. I would be interested to hear from anyone who buys one to compare notes.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com