Monday, February 9, 2015

Fender: Sandblasting

Nothing too evolutionary in the Fender camp this 2015 but I notice there's a generous embrace for humbuckers in many of the established models. It cuts both ways; good for the manufacturer that is well known for crystalline single coil tones to move away into the thicker humbucking zone. Not so good if single coil is your forte, humbuckers are distractions from the real gem. I wouldn't pay good money for a humbucking Fender because I know it's not their thing.

Anyway, I like the fact that Fender is preserving the ash culture in their instruments albeit for selected models for a simple reason- Fender started with ash & the legendary Fender tones you hear out there are from instruments sporting ash bodies, mostly. For 2015 & for a limited time only, Fender offers a few instruments in a specially finished ash bodies called the Sandblast. As seen above, the process, above everything else, accentuates the wood grain via a pressure assisted method so it's nothing too alien. So there you have it, a regurgitation that isn't philosophically wayward- that's right, no robot tuners to challenge your intellect over simple matters or the likes.

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