Help with a Fender Stratacoustic

No, no, no, no, no....

That's my opinion.

Have you played one?

I thought they looked cool and might be Fender's answer to Ovation. Boy was I wrong.

IMHO, they strive for the best of both worlds, electric and acoustic, and they fail on both counts.

The sound is really thin and tinny with absolutely no bass response whatsoever.

If you are looking for an inexpensive guitar that sounds okay unplugged, but great plugged in, get an Ovation.

I'll second Nick opinion. The Stratacoustic is so reasonably priced, I considered getting one as a hang-around-the-house play-anytime guitar. Plus, I saw a good review "somewhere." But after picking one up and playing it for a minute it was a no go: disappointing sound and nasty action on several samples that would require more work than the guitar is worth to correct -- at least some neck shimming, maybe more. I've bought new guitars in worse shape when I saw potential -- not this one.

-Greg

Well, your opinions are great... thank you. Let me tell you why I decided to buy this guitar.
I'm a lefthanded player and I live in Romania. Here it's almost impossible to find a lefthand electric guitar. I haven't seen yet a lefthand electro-acoustic guitar around here. I have like 200$ and all the righthanded guitars in this price range (we're talking the final price here) are kinda crap. I've tested a couple Stagg electro-acoustic and some guitars they make here, in Romania. Those are really BS. Yesterday I've played a little with this Stratacoustic and i liked it because it's light, the neck is thin and well build and it sounds ok. I'm gonna pay for it less than 200$. I need a guitar which I can easily take on the road because I also take with me 2 electric guitars (Epiphone Les Paul LH and Yamaha 421DL), 2 multieffect pedals (V-amp 2 and Boss ME8), a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby and a volume pedal. Don't laugh, this is my stage gear which in fact is really heavy and hard to manipulate. So the Fender Stratacoustic will fit perfectly in here. I'll also receive an original Fender gig bag and an original Fender strap. If this is not a good deal, please let me know. Any other guitar that i can afford is in my opinion, less suitable for me than this one.

Thank you

Hey Felix,

You just got two really negative reviews. Are you just waiting for a good one?

I've told you my price range and where I live... an Ovation here is expensive.... I could get for 400$ a Cort which is not a good guitar if you compare it with a Fender. Also i played the Stratacoustic a little and I liked it. I was wondering if I will put the strings like on a lefthand guitar, i will have / not have problems with it. This is my main concern.

Felix, are you able to get one of these?

http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=850849%7C1136902&PRID=1335750

A friend of mine got one and he says it's really quite good.

I've told you my price range and where I live... an Ovation here is expensive.... I could get for 400$ a Cort which is not a good guitar if you compare it with a Fender. Also i played the Stratacoustic a little and I liked it. I was wondering if I will put the strings like on a lefthand guitar, i will have / not have problems with it. This is my main concern.

Are you asking if stringing a right-handed Stratacoustic to play lefty will cause intonation problems? If so, the answer is "yes," as a Stratacoustic has an acoustic-style fixed bridge with a slanted saddle to compensate intonation. If you reverse the stringing, the bridge saddle slant will be in the wrong direction and very likely cause significant intonation issues. However, this is pretty much true of any steel string acoustic with a slanted saddle, not just the recently maligned Stratacoustic.

-Greg

DemoEtc: Thank you for the link... man that guitar is really gorgeous but unfortunatelly, after I send them a mail to ask if they ship to Romania, they told me: "Currently we do not to Romania".

gnease: Yes, that is what i wanted to know... but fortunatelly, before i will decide to buy it or not, i will reverse the strings to see the intonation problems.

Thank you guys... you've been very helpfull.

I'll give you my decision after I fully test this Fender.

Good luck, Felix -- despite my views on this model, I do hope you've found a good one.

I'm back and ready to give you the news. I reversed the strings order, I worked a little bit at the guitar action which was a liitle high and my first impression is that the guitar's intonance is OK. Today I'll play it with my band and see if i was right or not. I really like it because the action now is pretty much like the action on my electric guitars. I put on it some new elctric guitar strings and the sound through my v-amp (a little compressor and some reverb, and, of course, the EQ) is ok. I'm quite impressed by the fact that the intonance is great and the neck is straight. I'll tell you more tomorrow after I see how it will sound along with the fulll band.

Thank you for your time,

Felix

Don't know about the left handed intonation issue, but I've heard some mighty fine blues played on Telecoustics. Fairly similar guitar.

in my opinion stratacoustic is a good little guitar. I replaced the standard bridge, use .09 strings, and ajusted the trust rod. very very low action for an acoustic, infact its lower then some of my electrics. It also stays in tune well.

but there are some downsides. It sounds very thin if its not plugged in.(actually this worked out very well for me because i needed a lightweight acoustic that couldn't be heard thru walls.) the paint on top cracks and chips easy at least from the ones i've seen and others. and i've seen guitars with better intonation in the same price range. But it still plays nicely up the board.

i wouldn't buy this guitar brand new for the asking price-- its something like 300? but used in good condition i'd buy it for up to 180 or so.
anyways thats my 2 cents but only way you'll truely find out is try it yourself.

Well, i bought it and I payed for it something around 180$ (including strap and fender gig bag).

If that's 180 USD or equivalent, good price -- enjoy!

-Greg