Fender Balboa Acoustic/Electric

I bought my Fender Balboa new in 1983 (in the UK) and it is completely standard and in very good condition and I have a hard case too.

I have quite a few other guitars and I just don't have enough playing hours in the day to keep them all...

So...

I am looking to sell this guitar. If anybody would like to see some pictures and make me an offer (no silly ones please!)just email me.

You could have the opportunity to own a wonderful piece of Fender history.

I just got a nice balboa at a pawn shop. Never seen or heard of one before but once she was in my hands i couldnt let go. Paid $300 with a hardshell fender case. These seem to be a mistery guitar and for those wondering the pawn shop was in georgia usa. Ive had an ovation for the last 5 years not an expensive model but decent. The ovation will be forsale now as this fender is such a beautifull guitar and i love the old wood smell. This Balboa doesnt put up a fight. It plays wonderfull. I would recomend one of these if you can find one at a decent price. Who knows with how odd it is how much it one day might be worth as well.

I purchased this guitar second hand from a friend in 1984, I believe he purchased it new in 1983 in Singapore. I'm pretty sure that these models were manufactured in Japan. It has 22 frets and an embedded acoustic pick-up with 3 controls (volume, tone, notch). I did have the 1/4" jack replaced several years ago, and am now considering replacing the pick-up with something a little more modern; I find that I have to adjust the tone pretty flat to alleviate the "tinny" sound. I have travelled extensivly with this guitar, which included living on a cruising sailboat (read humid environment) for well over half of it's life and the finish is in great shape. It does have one minor ding on the back given to it accidently by a good friend (he doesn't know he did it), but other than that I am quite impressed on how well it sounds and plays. The shoulder where the neck joins the body is shallower than on any other acoustic guitar that I have played, this coupled with the cutaway allows excellent access to all of the upper frets. The head has a traditional "Fender" side-saddle look of a Strat or Tele and really makes it look like a member of the Fender family.

I play quite a variety of music; Buffett, Zepplin, John Denver, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Lynnard Skynnard, Doobie Brothers as well as for my church choir, and this guitar meets all of my demands. I use a Fender P-150 amp and occasionally run it through a GNX4 processor if I am looknig for effects. As I mentioned earlier the guitar (when amplified) has a "tinny" quality and needs to be flattened out a little, I think that this can be corrected with a new pick-up. Acoustically it has a good quality, it is not a rich as a comparable Taylor or Martin, but it holds its own. The brightest sound comes with Martin "Silk & Steel" strings, unfortunatly they don't last long in a marine environment.

I have had the action adjusted on several occasions. The guitar is somwhat sensitive to seasonal changes which require me to adjust the truss rod about 2-3 times a year. I also play a Washburn HB-35 hollow body and like the low action of an electric; this guitar has the best action of ANY acoustic that I have ever played. Many of my friends (some of them owners of Taylors, Gibsons, Martins, and Takemines) have commented on the action of this guitar. I am very careful to inspect the guitar for any signs of corrosion because of the environment I live and have never noticed any problem with any part of the finish, I have had to clean the potentiometers in the tone, notch, and volume controls a few times.

I play this guitar at all sorts of venues, form parties and impromtu jam sessions to playing through the church's PA system every Sunday, it always gets the job done! After 22 years with this faithful partner I have never been let down.

I purchased this guitar second hand as as such never received a warranty. I can, however, comment on my experience with Fender's limited lifetime warranty. I have a Fender 12 (Korean built) which after 2 years on the boat started having neck problems which couldn't be repaired. Fender exchanged it for a brand new one and did't even charge me for the shipping.

I started playing guitar as a teen over 30 years ago, I also play a Fender JG-12 Acoustic/Electric and a Washburn HB-35 Hollow-body Electric, I sometimes use a little Ibenez 15 watt amp for parties and fun, but primarly use a Fender PD-150 amp with a GNX4 processor. This guitar is a part of my family, I would never sell it, and would be heartbroken if it were lost or stolen. I have a professional musician friend that asked me several time if I would sell it to him, each time I made him frown. As I said eariler, I have travelled quite a bit with this guitar and have never seen another in person. I get many comments from guitar shop owners and other players. The repair fellow at my local guitar shop has commented on it and expressed interest in buying it, but I think he knows what the answer would be. If you can find one buy it you won't be sorry.

My Balboa was purchased spring 1985 in Edmonton Alberta for about $400 cdn. It has spruce top and mahogany sides and back. No electrics, 22 frets, cutaway and fender strat style neck and headstock. Came with a gibson case.

this is a funny guitar and it has been with me through more than 20 years of playing and teavelling around the world. The sound has changed over time and it has got better and better. As it ages the wood rings out more and you can feel it vibrate, it wasn't like that to begin with. I have3 installed a fishman bridge pickup and have used it for many gigs. It is a good sound if a little thin through the amp, but a better pickup, like a rare earth blender would set that straight.

Again, time has had its way with this guitar, and so did a luthier in Amsterdam one rainy day. I always had intonation problems with the guitar and was never entirely happy. But I know a guy with a great guitar shop in Amsterdam and he was playing my guitar one day. He looked at it, got out his screw driver and gave it a quarter turn and bang!!!! Fantastically brilliant intonation ever since. Also the action fell into place. I did a little work on the bridge to get the strings entering the bridge holes without rattleing and the thing has turned into a fantastic playing machine.

I can't say the guitar arrived being great but it has since been cobbled into a brilliant piece of work, I will never let it go regardless of any Martins or Moons there may be in the house now.

You could probably use this guitar to build a cottage at the lake and play it every evening around the campfire. Mine has suffered at the hands of a professional bassist for more than twenty years and although I have played guitar longer than bass, the guitar is a personal workhorse for writing and hosting sessions here at the house. It has fallen, been stepped on, played by 4 year olds with peanut butter fingers and left out in the rain (once) and made many camping trips in western canada and hitch hiked across europe several times. It is sitting here next to me and if there was a fire right now I would grab that guitar and then my bass.

I would play this guitar anywhere, anytime, with complete love and faith.

Fender are irrelevant as a company because they make guitars and thats it. I tried getting some parts for fixing my basses (I use several old Fender Jazz Basses)and their conditions for selling me an additional neck were uncivilised and condescending, like no one on the planet had the right to request a new neck with a specific profile. Go elsewhere to get proper luthier work done and never buy the extended warranty.

Played this since spring 1985

Also have 2 Fender Jazz Bass, 1972 model and a 1982 (one of those gold edition ones), a handmade in Quebec frettless electric bass, a non descript fender strat copy, a very early japanese version, and my main bass is a carved gamba 3/4 made in china, amplification by David Eden, Gallen Kruger and Trace Acoustic.

Loads of other stuff but that is my working kit.

I have to say I have never seen another Balboa and the guy in Amsterdam who adjusted the truss rod, who has seen a great many guitars in and out of the place, had never seen a Balboa before, and as the other review here on this website mentions he bought his in Canada, it makes you wonder if it was some sort of wierd conspiracy, a kind of x-files guitar moment where these wierd but wonderful guitars escaped the factory by mistake and wandered up into the 52nd state to be sold in out-of-the-way guitar shops to people who would keep them for eternity regardless of how good they were, and they turned out to be quite good. Go figure. I recon mine has a great many years to go before I have to cut it up into little bits and burn it in the firepit out back (which recently happened to our upright piano when the chances of ever fixing or refurbishing became an unreal pipe dream - One woman cried at the party when she found out the bonfire was really our old piano). I'm not really heartless, just pressed for space and have no patience for an instrument which cannot be tuned, ever . . .

This is a Fender acoustic/electric guitar and it is part of the "California" series from the 1980s. I bought this guitar new in Oct 1983 for about $650 CAN in Ottawa, ON. It was made in Japan and has 22 frets with a solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. It has the original Fender electronics with 3 knobs (V, T and N) just above the neck and it uses a 9V battery on the inside. The body is a cutaway with the distinctive "strat" like Fender end. The Balboa must be a fairly rare guitar since there is not a lot of information in books or on the Internet on it.

The guitar suits my musical style very well which is older "Beatles, Neil Diamond, John Denver" type folk/rock. The sound of the guitar is excellent for the amount spent on it and it is a pleasure to play. I use Martin light gauge strings on it.

Electronics wise, I haven't used the plug in that much. I have a Roland Cube 60 amp which is acceptable, but not great since it is an electric guitar amp. I should be using an acoustic amp to get the best out of the electronics. The battery should be changed at least once a year. However, it is awkward to get at since it is inside the guitar body. The original plug-in at the end of the guitar became a bit loose over time, so I had it replaced with a tighter fitting one which works better.

The guitar has very good action and is easy to play. I have only had one set-up, and that only recently since buying it in 1983. The guitar contained no flaws that I was aware of when purchased although the plug-in was later replaced. I also had a strap nut added to the body near the neck only very recently, which makes it easier to play with a strap than having it tied to near the end of the neck.

This guitar stands up well to live pay and stays in tune. The finish is still very good after 20 years.

I had the plug-in replaced and a set-up done from a local store in Ottawa. I never had a problem with it where I had to deal with Fender directly.

I have been playing guitar since 1976. I also have a Yamaki AY333W and a Mann imitation Melody Maker electric guitar. If lost, I would defintely look for another Balboa. The action and sound are great and it stays in tune. It is a pleasure to play and it has a really neat look to it.

The part I don't like is the location of the battery. I had also considered upgrading the electronics, but decided against it and will instead look for a better suited acoustic amp.