Hot on the heels of the launch of the new Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster, Tim Shaw, the guitar maker’s Chief Engineer spoke to Audio Media International about the development of its latest hybrid guitar and how the team managed to combine the latest technology with Fender’s 75-year heritage…
What was the initial inspiration for the Fender Acoustasonic series?
Brian Swerdfeger [Fender’s Vice President for Research and Design], who’s been a friend of mine for a long time, had an idea for a guitar, which would be a hybrid – an electric acoustic that would do things that previous versions didn’t. There have been tonnes of these things over the years. But they hadn’t quite got it right yet.
So Brian came in initially as a consultant with an idea. He talked to a bunch of our high-level people including [former Fender Chief Product Strategist] Richard McDonald and our CEO Andy Mooney. And Andy basically threw out a challenge and said, ‘okay, what would Leo [Fender] have done if he was doing this?’. And we started on that basis. We wanted to create something that was a valid musical tool, but was also something where we could break new ground…
You can read the full article on Audio Media International (published on 25 March 2021).
