Fender Telecoustic

Made in China. 2003 according to the marking on the neck. Features as described elsewhere.

This is a bit of a Jack of All Trades. As over reviewers have pointed out: set it up as a standard acoustic and it will behave (reasonably) as such. Put a set of 8s on it and the neck will feel like a Tele.

I wanted an acoustic to noodle with on the sofa, but also to add some some substance behind my electric when recording. I understand our acoustic friends desire for heavier strings to improve tonality, but I'm basically an electric player so this suits well.

The acoustic tone is good enough for my noodling, but not great. Plugged in you can have what you want, although I'm not convinced that the pickup is quite a perfect as some other reviewers have suggested. Albeit I only have a Marshall suited for electrics rather than a dedicated acoustic amp.

As I mentioned above - this guitar needs to be set up for what you want to do with it. I took the neck off and put in a shim to reduce the action (as bought the neck came out of the body at about a 5 degree angle) and replaced the medium acoustic strings with a set of electric 9s. The original setup might have suited those with fingers like Arnie Schwarzeneger's neck, but wasn't quite for me.

Setting it up was relatively painless, and I think that, with the way this is constructed, you can have a go without much chance of causing any permanent damage.

Have some concerns about the tuners. It stays in tune once you get there, but this can take some time.

I think you could use this for beating up burglars. The fibre-glass body is pretty break-proof. The neck appears to be a standard Tele neck, so not much can go wrong there then.

Not sure about the electrics as I haven't had it long enough to tell. The battery is not terribly "quick change" friendly.

One year warranty from the shop, with a free setup during the year.

Been playing 25 years on and off (mostly off). I think this is a great guitar. It is a Telecaster neck attached to a fibre-glass box. You can make of it what you will. It's so basic that very little can possibly go wrong and you can tweak the few things that are tweakable without too much fear of damage. I love it.

I think a big problem with it is that you are unlikely to find one in a shop set up to suit your style (whatever it may be). If you can't make the minor changes yourself ask the shop.

bought this guitar march'04
21 frets
Fender/Fishman Classic 4 Active pickup system
hi gloss natural finish
Scale 25.5" (648 mm)
tele headstock
rosewood bridge & fingerboard
mechanics made out of chrome---
body depth-3inches
fender low class gigbag that doesnt even fit with the telecoustic.

sound is lousy--- i hate the standard strings, i replaced it with a more lighter string set which made the sound more clear and not the "plastic out of the factory sound" it produces when i first bought it.--- i live in an apartment so the low-volume sound it produces suits for me. you can only harness the telecoustic's real strenght when you use an amp. no feedbacks and those hollow bodied guitar sound, just the acoustic sound you want.

one thing about mass produced guitars that are on sale is--- they are defects--- this china made guitar has some defects, although you wont notice it until that "i just bought a cool looking guitar for a very low price - mania" ends and you start looking for flaws. the bridge is more aligned to the right of the body than the center, which makes the strings the neck and the whole guitar not aligned. the body hole is not aligned to the strings (its because of what i mentioned earlier) but apart from that the finish is ok

reliability is superb... with its fiber plastic back and sides, you dont have to worry about dropping the guitar. can withstand live playing---

as what other people in this site put on thier reviews: avoid buying a guitar because of its name--- this fender is a major disappointment but hey--- you get what your paid for!!! but actually in my opinion, even though you have the most cheapest guitar with no name, it all depends on how you handle the guitar--- ive seen many people in 3rd world countries that have awful guitars but when you hear them playing it's like they're holding a 20,000$(u.s.) guitar.so it al depends on ---YOU--- all the people who submitted thier review in this site should be very lucky that they even have a guitar. most musicians in poor places dont even have one, they just borrow from thier fellow musicians.

i have the Candy Apple red telecoustic. same specs as mentioned in all other reviews on here so i won't go into detail. fishman Preamp has bass, middle and treble controls as well as brilliance. offers a good variety of tones. NOTHING FLASH- does a great job however

Ok...firstly, this is a guitar that has been designed to produce an acoustic guitar tone, PLUGGED IN!! no, not plugged into a marshall stack for electric guitars- *ACOUSTIC AMPS or d.i into a PA ONLY!!!!!!* that's what it was built to do- glad to get that out of the way.
the sound you get from this guitar is very nice indeed- but only plugged in. I am a young singer/songwriter and generally just play acoustic to accompany my singing. i have been scrambling for a decent acoustic tone for ages and i do feel i have a found it. i usually plug straight into the p.a, or use an acoustic amp (Marshall AS100D)and get very good results. the fishman preamp does a wonderful job in letting you reach your desired acoustic guitar tones. however, i did not need to touch a single setting to get a very lush sound with a lot of clarity and jangle. the bass response is smooth and very impressive.
i can honestly say that i don't think i can get a better plugged in acoustic tone. i'm not just saying this- i was very impressed upon first playing, and still am. if there is anything to pick at, i would say that the tones are a little bass heavy but it's nothing that a little tweaking can't sort out. i'm just nit picking really

this guitar will never play like a telecaster- FORGET IT! this is an acoustic guitar...remember?? the only similarity is that it has a telecaster neck. yes, it does play a lot like an electric guitar compared to other full body acoustics, but it doesn't even approach the playability and action of a good electric. a lot of reviews have slagged off the action on this guitar, and i was very scared about buying it because of that reason. however, it is nothing to worry about. it is always gonna be higher than that of a telecaster, but hey, it's better than it buzzing like mad!!! i have seen a lot worse on acoustic guitars. If you would like it a little lower it's not a huge job. just file down the bridge a touch. i will probably end up doing this to mine, but only a touch.
the neck on the guitar feels lovely and the frets are finished very well. it feels a lot more expensive than it it is.
The guitar is very light and comfortable to play and i have had no problems with the finish (yet). i've had the guitar a month so i'll keep you posted.

i havn't had it long enough to really comment on this part. (my rating is lower because of this). played a few gigs- no problems.
strap buttons SEEM very solid as well as the input jack. am particularly impressed with the machine heads- very solid and keep it bang in tune. they are unbranded. I was a little worried because of this but they seem very good.
always have a backup though. you never know what could happen.
IT DOES SEEM LIKE A VERY WELL BUILT GUITAR.

have not dealt with fender at all. i hope i don't have to.

been playing for about 6 years. (mainly acoustic)
a good acoustic tone hits you in the face when you hear one and this guitar had that effect on me when i first plugged it in.
if your gonna play an acoustic that you want plugged in 90% of the time, there is not a better guitar in my eyes. i feel it is great value. very cheap. I stress again....
****This was built to produce acoustic tones when PLUGGED IN!!!***

As others have noted, this is a thin-bodied acosutic with a fiberglas back, piezoelectric pickup and preamp, shaped like a Telecaster. It seesm to be designed for electric players who want that acoustic sound while keeping the ease of electric playing. With the supplied strings- .011s, I think- it maintains that playability while delivering a pretty good sound. (I have to admit I found one reviewer's comments hilarious- the one who found it unplayable untuil he put .008s on it! I play .013s on my archtop and .012s on my flattops.)

I bought this guitar as a knocking around and beach guitar- it was that cheap. I was surprised, though, how good the sound was when I plugged it in. The preamp delivers plenty of range, and I found that leaving everything flat and rolling off the treble I could get a really good acoustic sound with a minimum of the piezo "quack" that plagues so many of these guitars.
In the past I've used a Guild D-35 with a magnetic pickup assembly whn I wanted an aocustic guitar sound for my band, but in the future I think I'll use this instead.

Fit and finish are as good as anything in the price range, The neck feels like a proper Tele neck, and the edges of the frets are smooth, with no edges to grad fingers. Mine was purchased used and did have some warping and craking of the top just in front of the neck pocket, but it looked stable and I don't think it's going anywhere. I suspect a lot of the early solid top models have suffered some warpin, as the design doesn't really aloow for the movement of solid wood.

Electrics, as noted above, are very good with plenty of range for fine tuning sound.

The tuners are a bit slippy, but other than that I don't see anything oin this guitar likely to fail under gig conditions.

I've been playing for 35 years and curently have around 12 guitars, all of which get used on a fairly regular basis. I picked this up on a whim, but since playing with it a bit I think it'll get used on stage, too.

Likes: The sound, the look, the easily playability, the slim shape, the light weight.

Dislikes? Well, as noted, the tuners could be a little better. That's about it.

At the usual list price of $299 this is a good, workmanlike guitar that would make a good second guitar for someone looking for more sounds for their band. At the price I paid, it was an absolute steal. I see a lot of used ones around at prices ranging from $125 to $200, and I think if I lost this one I'd pay up to $200 for a replacement.

I'm sure all the features have been covered by others who have submitted reveiws on this guitar. My Telecoustic is of the Candy Apple Red colour and the paintwork is amazing, This guitar is a real looker

Having read all on this site before actually purchasing the Telecoustic, I was a little worried. Let me just say that in owning an American Telecaster and a Custom Maton Fully Body Acoustic, I thought I would have a good base to compare this guitar to. Well, I was totally amazed by this guitar, It sounds better than my Maton plugged in, Don't bother trying to play this guitar unplugged, It was not designed for it, Plug it in. It is an awesome sounding acoustic guitar. It has a huge full sound plugged in. I simply plug it into a DI and then into the P.A.

I don't know what some people on this site are talking about, This guitar was perfect out of the box. The action is just a fraction higher than my Telecaster but what do you expect, It is acoustic after all. It is far easier to play than my full sized Maton Acoustic. This guitar had no flaws and the finish was brilliant

Having just bought this guitar I can't really say. But Yes the front strap holder came loose pretty quickly, But I've had to do work on both of the strap holders on my American Tele so what is new?

I've never needed to deal with Fender

As mentioned above I have an American Standard Telecaster, A custom Fully Body Maton Acoustic and an American Deluxe Jazz FMT Bass.
If this guitar was stolen I would be on the phone imediatly to buy another one

For all the specs you need to know, go here: http://www.fender.com/products/show.php?op=3&partno=0957500

Onboard electronics and a gig bag at this price range is almost unheard of.

One note is that, because of its electric appeal, you'll almost definitely want to put strap locks on this guitar. You'll have to drill two new holes, because the screw used on the top strap button is actually bigger than the one used for strap locks (at least with Dunlop brand locks). The bottom strap button, on the bridge end, is even trickier because the input jack is actually built into the strap button. Unless you feel the need to re-rout the input jack somewhere else, I suggest that you keep the button where it is and drill a new hole. Make sure that you positon the hole far enough away from the old strap button/input jack. Too close and your strap will be blocking the input jack. Remember, the back material is fiberglass so drilling will take awhile.

I haven't used the electronics but the acoustic sound is about what you'd expect from a thin body with an artificial back material. It's pretty much an Ovation. I don't think it sounds nearly as bad as many of the other reviewers have said, who I suspect are mostly gear-obsessed non-musicians that inexplicably expected a Martin for some reason. It sounds as good as it possibly can, and as good as it needs to.

The action on this guitar has taken a beating on this site. I really don't think that the other reviewers have given enough time to setup and care. And you don't need to fork out cash to get a proper setup on anything that doesn't have a tremolo system. I think that many people who bought the Telecoustic actually expected a Telecaster, which is unfortunate. Bottom line is, if you're a prospective buyer reading this right now, learn about setup. It's easy and if you have a basic understanding of physics (which you should since, presumably, you're alive) you'll be fine. Don't forget that many of the other reviewers are, like I said, Guitar Player subscribers who use their hands more for handing out credit cards than actually playing. They just might not have the hand strength to fret anything that's not an electric with extra-light gauge strings.

I didn't go in-depth on the features and specifics of the guitar because many of the other reviews, although useless in terms of realistic criticism, give you all you need to know (and then some) about the technical aspects of the guitar. I just caution any prospective buyer to take the other reviews with a grain (ok, a tablespoon) of salt. No guitar is perfect. Everything, from a Rogue to a Martin, needs to be consistently cared for and worked on. In this age of precision mass production, no one really "builds" a guitar wrong anymore. 99% of guitars made today don't have some sort of inherent flaw that makes them unplayable. Don't blame the company, or, as many of the reviewers have shamefully wrote about, the country it is made in. It's really unfortunate how much racism I've found in these other reviews. You get what you pay for, period. Of course something that costs five thousand dollars is going to sound better than this, but I'd say that the Telecoustic is one of the best deals in its price range. And it doesn't sounds any worse than an Ovation or any other COMPARABLE acoustic. If you're an electric player looking for a comfortable first acoustic, or an acoustic player (like me) who has felt left out from the electric parade, you should seriously consider the Telecoustic. And, after you buy it, set it up and play your ass off. Don't go back to reading Guitar Player.

2004 (possibly 2003?) Made in China. Solid Top (this has since been discontinued, now come with laminated top) Paisley design, Fishman Classic 4 undersaddle pickup with active EQ. Maple bolt on neck with rosewood fretboard, medium frets, 1 11/16" nut with, 25.5" scale. Decent Grover-type 6-in-line tuners. Thin composite body (think Ovation). Included Fender gig bag, truss rod wrench, and spare saddle.

I use a Marshall AS100D, and plug this into the 1st channel. Very thin sound unplugged, but plugged in, it gives a surprisingly good sound. My primary instrument is a Taylor 410 with a previous generation Fishman passive pickup, run through a DOD preamp. While not as resonant and full as the Taylor, the Fender's string-to-string definition and sustain is better than the Taylor, with much less feedback. I attribute it to the pickup system in the Telecoustic, which is better than the one in the Taylor. I actually prefer the Fender to the Taylor when playing fingerstyle. Unlike other posters, mine hasn't suffered from an overly bright sound. I usually find myself dialing down the base a bit.

The manufacturing quality of this guitar was very good for it's price, but the setup was terrible out of the box. I bought from Musician's Friend, and apparently they did nothing to it before shipping to me. There was very little tension on the truss rod, and it needed several adjustments before it was adequate. The biggest problem was the nut, which was installed backwards and was not cut deeply enough, which caused intonation problems. Once this was corrected, though, and the truss rod was tightened, the action was not bad. The positioning of the neck and bridge relative to each other was dead on accurate, and I only needed to shave a hair off the saddle (and a spare one was included in case I screwed this up) before the action was exactly to my liking. I'm giving this a 5, but I would attribute the low score in part to Musician's Friend for apparently not even removing the guitar from it's factory box, and therefore not catching the nut problem and not doing a final set-up on the instrument before it left their store.

This seems like a very solid instrument, although I've only had it for a month. I probably wouldn't use it without a backup until I'm convinced that the electronics are trouble-free. They've given no indication of troubles yet, though.

I didn't bother contacting customer support about the nut because I've found Fender customer support lacking in the past, and it wasn't worth shipping the guitar back to Musician's Friend for such a minor repair.

I've been playing off and on for 25 years. This certainly isn't the best instrument I've owned, but in terms of bang for the buck, it's up there with the best. I've had good luck with Fender's import guitars. I bought a MIM Fender Squire Series in '94 (very similar to the Mexican Standards but with cheaper tuners and 1 ply pickguard) that had similar set-up issues, but it was put together with decent quality parts, and once tweaked to my satisfaction, became one of my favorite instruments. If the Telecoustic were stolen, I might replace it if I could find one with a solid top. The newer versions of this instrument have laminate tops.

Most basic features are covered under other reviews such as slim, hollow body, fiberglass back, Fishman pickup, .

Specifics on my particular Telecoustic: 1) purchased on Ebay for a decent price, 2) is about 4 months "new", 3) purchased originally as a present by the Ebay seller's parents (all this is important later in review), 4) color is Brown Sunburst, 5) finish is good to very good, 6) came with gig bag, 6) made in China, 7) Fishman pickup, etc...

If my son's mid-range Takamine is a 9, this is an 8. Actually sounds decent both plugged and unplugged.

BUT NOTE: THIS IS AFTER MAJOR SETUP WORK (see below).

OMG!

Measured from the top of the 12th fret the strings were 1/4" above the neck! This was apparently the way it was received from the factory. In talking with the original owner, he got this guitar as a present from his parents. Apparently they did not have the original guitar shop do a setup. In fact, I believe this guy was likely selling this on Ebay as he felt he had a major lemon. It was so bad, after tuning the thing when I got it, I couldn't get through one chord progression. In fact, when I first played it I thought I was ripped off, twisted neck or something, but it wasn't the case.

So I went out to my garage/shop and started a major setup...

(O.K., a qualifier on this: I have only been playing the guitar for 4 months. I decided it was a good way to fill my time after being layed off from an executive position. My 13 year old son plays very well and has two guitars, 1) mid-range Takamine acoustic that sounds fabulous and, 2) an Ibanez he plays in a band. Of course, the Ibanez is off limits and frankly, being new, I didn't want to screw up the fit/finish of the Takamine so I bought this guitar as kind of a compromise. Now, why did I embark on the setup work? Well, I figure the guitar is just a bunch of acoustic physics and mechanics both of which I was pretty good at in school (and the guitar was pretty cheap anyway). So I took out my caliper and reverse engineered the Takamine and Ibanez setups and did kind of an average leaning toward the Takamine. In doing this, I actually assumed that Fender wasn't totally screwed and if the guitar could actually be setup, i.e., didn't have a major issue like a cranked neck, and the body was built right and it would resonate correctly, etc., then I could get it sounding right. So I followed crib sheets from www.guitarnotes.com and well...)

First checked the neck with a straight edge and it actually measured out correctly. Not bowed with a nice concave--so no truss adjustment. I did some angle calcuations and found that 80% of the string height was coming from the bridge. So I pulled it out, measured the gap, etc. I needed to take nearly 1/16" off the bridge height. But only one problem, with that much removed from the bridge the strings would hit the saddle on fret 17 and above. So reluctantly I pulled out my electric finish sander and started working on the saddle. I had to take off 1/16" plus on this baby. When I started I actually didn't know whether this was natural or finished wood, but I have done picture frame paneling/staining/finishing in my house and I figured I could fix most anything I messed up (and as I said, the guitar was cheap anyway). But it was a nice surprise that this was apparently buffed rosewood (I'm guessing on the wood type) on the saddle. After removing a major section off the top of the saddle, and touching up with Liquid Gold, it actually looked better than when I started (like Fender doesn't even do finishing sanding on their saddles!). Anyway, final adjustment was done by pulling out the nut and sanding another nearly 1/16" in height. I restrung with extra light D'Addario strings (based on recommendations from this site). When I was done, the action was still a little high, but I since placed on order a nut and bridge set from Graph Tech, so I'll wait to do final tuning when I get those in...

So, I tuned the thing and prayed... And damn if it didn't sound sweet--VERY SWEET! Checked all chord progressions (that I know at this point) and they were great! Checked notes up and down the neck and it sounded great (called intonation, right?). It probably is not quite as good as my son's Takamine but almost. After setup I'd give it an 8 in sound quality (if my son's acoustic is a 9).

So moral is two things: 1) I don't know, maybe I really screwed things up, but setup of a guitar isn't rocket science, it is actually pretty logical and easy, 2) MAJOR FENDER DOUBTS!--how could they let this thing get out of the factory? Why can someone

This is one reason I bought this guitar. Actually liked the fiberglass back/body. Looks like it will hold up very well. As stated before the finish is actually very nice.

N/A

At the same time I bought the Telecoustic, I also found a good Ebay deal on a Drive EA-30 Acoustic amp. This amp is fantastic--should check it out.

Would I buy this guitar again?, yeah, but probably only because of the the price I got it for... As I said, I'm having major Fender doubts at this point given my experiences above. If I had to pay retail, I'd probably look at another manufacturer (Gibson, Ibanez, Washburn, ?).

HOWDY,
FIRST: OUT OF THE BOX THE TELECOUSTIC/STRATACOUSIC/ACOUSASONIC STRATOCASTER ALL STINK!!!!!!!!
THE STRINGS ARE TOO HEAVY DUTY. THERE IS NO NOTE BENDING. THE STRINGS FEEL LIKE RAZORBLADES. I DUMPED THE 6TH, E. MOVED THE OTHERS DOWN AND I CAN NOW BEND A NOTE. THIS GUITAR NOW PLAYS LIKE THE AD'S STATE. RATING BEFORE CHANGING THE STRINGS 1, AFTER 9.

THE SOUND: I AM NOW, AFTER CHANGING THE STRINGS, GETTING A SIMILAR TONE TO THAT OF MY THE UNPLUGGED TELE, EXCEPT WITH A SLIGHT ACOUSTIC SOUND. I AM NOW ABLE TO HEAR WHAT I AM PLAYING WHEN A CAR GOES BY. NOW, AS THEY SAY, THIS IS NOT THE FULL TONE SOUND OF A BIG BOX MARTIN. I DON'T WANT THAT TONE. I WANT THE TONE OF MY UNPLUGGED TELE. I WANT THE COMFORT/PLAYING EASE OF AN ELECTRIC, (A TELE OR A STRAT.) IN SHORT, I AM GETTING THE UNPLUGGED TONES I PRESENTLY WANT, (INCLUDING NOTE BENDING.) I HAVE A TELE NECK AND NOTES.
NOTE: I FOUND, OUT OF THE BOX, UNPLUGGED THE TELECOUSTIC AND STRATACOUSTIC SOUND VERY MUCH THE SAME. AN UNPLUGGED ACOUSTASONIC STRATOCASTER HAS THE SAME SOUND, EXCEPT IT HAD A SLIGHT REVERB. ALL THREE FELT AND PLAYED THE SAME TO ME, AS FAR AS FEEL, OUT OF THE BOX WITH NO CHANGES. THEY ARE ALL EQUAL, THEY ALL STINK!!!!!!!!

ACTION: OUT OF THE BOX, WORDS CAN NOT EXPRESS HOW BAD. HOWEVER AS EARLIER STATED, I DUMPED THE LOW "E", KEEPING THE REST OF THE STRINGS. I MOVED ALL THE STRINGS DOWN ONE. SO THE "A" BECAME THE LOW "E". I WENT TO A LOCAL MUSIC STORE, PURCHASED AN 8 FOR THE HIGH "E". NOW ITS LIKE PLAYING WITH BUTTER. I CAN NOW BEND NOTES.... WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!! DRAWBACK: UNPLUGGED, NOT QUITE AS MUCH VOLUME. SO THE STRINGS ARE NOW 08,12,16,24,32,AND 42. FENDER USES BALL END 80/20 BRONZE STRINGS ON THE TELECOUSTICS. USE KITE STRING IF YOU DON'T HAVE A STRINGWINDER TO SLIP UNDER THE HEADS OF THE BRIDGE PIN'S, TO PULL THEM OUT. IF YOU WANT TO DO WHAT I DID. REMEMBER, BE GENTLE PULLING OUT THE BRIDGE PINS. ALSO, HOLD DOWN ON THE BRIDGE.

I WANTED A TELECOUSTIC BECAUSE I PLAY TELE'S AND STRAT'S. I WANTED SOMETHING I COULD GO TO THE BEACH WITH. NOTE: I DO NOT TAKE MUSIC EQUIPMENT TO THE BEACH, EVER. I DID WANT TO BEABLE TO GRAB, PLAY, AND NOT HAVE TO DRAG OUT THE AMPS. THIS GUITAR, (NOW) MEETS AND EXCEEDS MY PRESENT NEEDS AND DESIRES.

I WANTED TO PURCHASE THIS FROM AMERICAN MUSICAL SUPPLY. USE THEIR 3 PAYMENT PLAN. HOWEVER, THEY WERE OUT OF THE NATURAL COLORED TELECOUSTIC. I WANTED TO USE ONE OF THE OTHER ONLINE MUSIC OUTLETS, THEY DID NOT OFFER THE GUITAR IN THE COLOR I WANTED, AGAIN THAT BEING NATURAL. OTHER ONLINE STORES OFFERED FREE S/H FOR PURCHASES OF $199.00.

OVERALL RATING: AFTER CHANGING THE STRINGS TO LIGHTER GUAGE, MAKING THE GUITAR FUN FOR ME TO PLAY, HAVING A TELE/STRAT NECK. I WOULD PAY UP TO $199.00 (NEW), WITH FREE SOFTCASE, WITH FREE S/H FOR A REPLACEMENT TELECOUSTIC IN NATURAL COLOR. METHOD OF PAYMENT. FIRST CHOICE, USING A 3 PAYMENT PLAN, NO TAX. SECOND, FREE S/H AND NO TAX. (BUT), I WOULD FIRST BUY USED. AGAIN, ONLY IN THE NATURAL COLORING. I WOULD NOT GIVE OVER $150.00 USED, WITH FREE S/H AND A HARDCASE. I WOULD ALSO BE CRYING MYSELF TO SLEEP MISSING THIS TELE OR ITS REPLACEMENT. HOPE THIS REVIEW HELPS YOU IN MAKING OR NOT MAKING YOUR PURCHASE OF THE FENDER TELECOUSTIC/STRATACOUSIC/ACOUSTASONIC. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU. HAVE A SUPER SPECIAL DAY, GARY.

2003 ... the year is early yet
you've read the other reveiws so let me say Natural top acoustic / electric

WOW ! I read other reviews and was scared when I had because I had already ordered one and let me tell you.... SOME PEOPLE DON'T KNOW A GOOD GUITAR... this IS NOT a $2000.00 guitar. It is , however, underpriced. I payed $199.00 and was blown away. I'd compare it to Epiphone's Chet Atkins SST on sound and a classic Tele combined. The sound stinks unplugged - know why ? BECAUSE IT'S MEANT TO BE PLAYED PLUGGED UP ! You can get a decent acoustic for $200.00 , so don't buy this if you aren't plugging in somewhere. It's not a travel guitar either , buy you a Baby Taylor off Ebay if you want one of those.
For it's purpose , this guitar is awesome...no sound I can't duplicate

Where was the horrible set-up everyone talked about ? I either got lucky , or everyone else expects the same set-up on an acoustic as they get from their Jackson or Music Man. Acoustics don't sit that low because if they do they either (A) buzz like crazy or(B) sound like crap because there is no room for a BRONZE string to vibrate.
the finish was nice... it's not a real frilly peice (curly maple ain't an option) so I guess it was perfect.
Also it included a spare bridge pin and bridge saddle for those morons who want to lower it too far and ruin it

Everything seemed solid. Will be "gigging" with it Sunday morning.

payed a small price (17.00) for Musicians Friend's warranty for a year , so so if something does happen I can swap it for another and not deal with a time-consuming effort with Fender. Also has , though, a LIFETIME warranty from Fender , so I think I'm in the clear

This is one great guitar for what I do and that's live playing. My Axis will get less clean-channel use now. I HIGHLY recomend this for anyone who plays live or records....not for "sitting on a sofa trying to look cool for some girl cause Lord knows no other guy in this world can play Stairway To Heaven" types. lol That said , go get one...I believe they may be discontinuing them and thats a shame, (but the price DID drop so its a catch 22)