A Really Cool Fender Acoustic:

Inspector #20

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Ok, so you know that im not a fan of acoustics in general, but I encountered some of these this week. They are known as the "California Player Series" and the three stand-out models were the Newporter, Sonoran and the Kingman ASCE.


Very, very good build and finish and super slick fret ends. Mahogany necks with walnut boards just give them a really rich look and the satin finish on the Newporter and Sonoran are super low maintenance.

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The Kingman has block.inlay and fretboard binding.

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Really? Interesting. I don't like them myself - the keys are too small and too close together for me. I can tune a Gibson without even looking at the headstock but not so with a Fender.

I've always preferred playing with six inline. Aside from being more ergonomic and having superior string alignment across the nut, I'm loving it all over again for a new reason:

It's much easier to setup on the bench...you might not think it makes that much difference, but when you may setup over 100 guitars in a shift, the time savings is substantial.
 
I've always preferred playing with six inline. Aside from being more ergonomic and having superior string alignment across the nut, I'm loving it all over again for a new reason:

It's much easier to setup on the bench...you might not think it makes that much difference, but when you may setup over 100 guitars in a shift, the time savings is substantial.

That's what I was saying, for me at least they are not so ergonomic because I have to contort my hand and really pay attention to tune them because of the tight space.

I can see the setup thing though but of course that's not an issue for most of us who might have to only set up a guitar once or twice a year.
 
That's what I was saying, for me at least they are not so ergonomic because I have to contort my hand and really pay attention to tune them because of the tight space.
Exactly. Things which are ergonomic for one may not feel quite the same for another. Personal physiology plays into that.

For me, the most comfortable and ergonomic design is a classical guitar headstock. Since the keys point straight back, there is no need to twist your wrist to access and adjust the tuning keys. It‘s a more natural and fluid motion to the keys,

Of course, others may differ, and that’s fine. But, I really liked that about a classical guitar when I had one. The other cool thing about them is because of how the strings wind onto the horizontal roller, they don’t splay out as dramatically as they do on Gibson-type 3x3 headstocks.
 
I agree with you on that part of it , but I don't like the looks of that headstock on an acoustic. just looks un attractive on that guitar.

Yeah, I feel the same way. It may sound like a sacrilege to some, but I also am not a fan of the plain, flat Martin headstock. Whether electric or acoustic, the Gibson open-book is probably one of the most attractive to me. However, there are others which I think look good on an acoustic. I also liked the headstock design that Washburn uses.
 
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