Can Fender's new FINNEAS signature models bring new musicians over to the Acoustasonic guitar cause?
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Where now for the Acoustasonic? Artist models it seems – Finneas O'Connell becomes the first official Fender Acoustasonic signature guitars and after road-testing them for a few years, he had some specific suggestions for his own models.
“The most important thing to me about a guitar is versatility,” said Billie Eilish collaborator and sibling FINNEAS, who uses guitars as another tool in his songwriting palette and is about to launch his own solo career. “I was first introduced to the Acoustasonic guitar in 2019 when I was on tour with Billie, and I played it at every show that year. When we started conversations about my signature model, I knew this guitar was great in a live setting, and I wanted to find ways to take it into the studio and make it a versatile, expressive studio instrument. This is the result of that.”
So what's changed? Well, as the plural alludes – there are two Finneas models – and the great news is the compromise is actually minimal between the more affordable and limited edition models. A US guitar and an Esendada Player model, priced at $2,499.99/￡1,999 and $1,399.99/￡1,199, respectively and available from Sweetwater, Andertons – or even cheaper from Thomann.
Both have the magnetic Acoustasonic Shawbucker pickup found on the Jazzmaster Acoustasonic models, but here in a Tele shape. Both feature a Fishman undersaddle transducer pickup for "clean electric, small-body acoustic, and dreadnought acoustic tones" to create a total of six combinations via Fender and Fishman's technology that mixes the pickup signal with a kind of miked acoustic modelling where required.
New to Acoustastonic, both models include an onboard chorus effect requested by the man himself. The main differences are the finishes: the Player model has a Cappuccino Fade satin finish (they missed an opportunity to call it FINNEAS Fog there) on a solid spruce top, while the limited edition US guitar features an all-Arctic White satin finish.
“We are incredibly proud to collaborate with FINNEAS on his first signature guitar,” said Justin Norvell, EVP of Product at FMIC. “The FINNEAS Acoustasonic Player Telecaster and LE FINNEAS Acoustasonic Telecaster capture the unique blend of acoustic, electric and onboard effected tones that characterise his music.
"This guitar is more than an instrument; it's a versatile tool meant to inspire the next generation of producers and artists to explore new sonic landscapes and push their creative boundaries," adds Norvell. "FINNEAS's innovative spirit and dedication to authenticity shine through in every detail of these signature models.”
I don't have any amps onstage, I don't have any amps in the studio
"I'm very picky about my electric guitar sound, so we worked on the pickup modelling of these two electric models," explains the musician in the interview above, demonstrating jazzy and chorused tones.
"It's such a fun built-in feature that you can dial in and out," he says of the chorus effect. "I'm a big DI guy and the fact I have this running into an amp here is super atypical. I don't have any amps onstage, I don't have any amps in the studio, so to me how it sounds plugged straight from the guitar into an audio interface or into a PA is what I'm looking for.
"To me the fantasy with this guitar was you can not know anything about me, you can hate every piece of music I've ever made and still pick this up and be like, 'That's got some cool features'" he adds later in the video. "Part of the reason that was important to me, and I'm not going to name names because I don't want to piss anybody off, is I've got signature models of guitars in my rep and the signature player means nothing to me. They've made a beautiful instrument and I love it."
