"Known for tele's and strat's, Fender also has some acoustic gems too...."
By James Wall
Fender is probably most famous for their electric guitars, but they also so make some very affordable acoustic guitars.
Since 1946 Fender has been innovating and implementing manufacturing methods to create modestly prices guitars with quality features. This year is no different as Fender introduces the California Series. This series appears to join the industry trend of smaller guitars with quality components. With the California Series Fender has created a line of guitars with a smaller body, quality materials and a fresh look that should appeal to all.
In addition to the new line of guitars, Fender offers several guitars with a traditional look that are an excellent value. While you can purchase these guitars a la cart, many of the entry-level guitars come in player packs giving the beginning guitarist everything they need to get started.
For those looking for more refined appointments and solid wood construction, Fender Acoustic offers the Paramount series. These are more traditional looking guitars using upgraded materials to provide a guitar with characteristics usually only found on more expensive guitars.
Summary of our top Fender Acoustic Guitar picks:
Best All Solid Wood - Paramount PM-1
Best Dreadnought Electric - FA-125CE
Best Acoustic Modern Design - Newport Player (California Series)
Best Acoustic Electric Package - CD-60SCE Bundle
Best Acoustic Beginner Guitar - CC-60SC
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Best Fender Acoustic Guitars
1. All Solid Wood - Fender PM Series Guitar PM-1
- Mahogany back and sides provide a rich and balanced tone
- Grade "A" Sitka spruce top for strong and balanced projection
- The Mahogany neck with Ebony fingerboard provide comfort and a sharp attack
- Fishman-designed preamp
- A hard shell case and Limited Lifetime Warranty is included to help protect your investment
The Fender PM-1 acoustic guitar is a full-featured acoustic guitar that comes packed into a very traditional looking dreadnought body. This guitar is well suited for the player that is looking for a traditional look and high-quality components at a reasonable price.
Fender's Paramount models don't cut any corners on the materials as they are constructed of a solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard, and bridge. The checkerboard pattern on the edge of the guitar and the sound hole, give this guitar an 'Art Deco' look for the player that likes their guitar to have that extra flair without being too flashy.
In addition to the solid wood construction, the guitar comes with a Fender and Fishman designed pre-amp and pick up. The controls on the pre-amp have a low-profile modern design and allow you to contour the sound with bass, mid-range, treble and phase controls. All these features including the bone nut and compensated saddle make this guitar a tremendous value that sounds great.
2. Dreadnought Electric - Fender Acoustic Guitar FA-125CE
- Body: Laminated Spruce Top with Laminated Basswood Back and Sides
- Neck: Nato
- Scale Length: 25.3" (643 mm)
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 11.81" (300 mm)
The FA-125CE guitar is an excellent value that provides a budding guitarist everything needed to get started with a basic guitar built with essential features.
Tuning can sometimes be problematic for new guitarists, so Fender has provided a built-in electronic tuner as part of the Fishman Electronics to make tuning a snap. This lets the player focus on learning how to play the instrument.
The laminate spruce top is an industry standard for the top and coupled with the x-bracing on the inside, ensures that the guitar will produce quality a tone. The cutaway design allows for easy access to frets above the 12th fret. All this makes for a perfect package to get the beginning guitarist started.
3. Acoustic Modern Design - Fender California Series Newport Player
- Fender-exclusive Newporter body shape
- Painted solid spruce top; painted mahogany back and sides
- Fishman pickup/preamp system
- Mahogany neck with slim-taper "C"-shaped profile; walnut fingerboard and bridge
- Matching painted 6-in-line headstock
This guitar is perfect for the guitarist that is looking for a modern looking guitar made of quality materials. The fully painted spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides offer tremendous tone for a medium-sized guitar.
It comes in two fun colors, Cosmic Turquoise, and Candy apple red. The back and sides are natural wood giving the Newporter classic a two-toned look. This guitar comes with the Fender and Fishman designed Pre-amp and pickups allowing you to plug in and play to larger settings or to give you the volume boost you need when playing in a group.
The Newporter Classic also comes with the 6 in-line slotted tuners giving a nod to the famous look of the headstock associated with fenders electric models. Fender pairs this guitar with a deluxe gig bag to protect this beautiful instrument and to make it easier to carry around safely.
In summary, while the Fender acoustic Newporter Classic is a fun guitar with its shape and colors, its quality materials and electric components make this a serious guitar to use for both casual settings and performances.
The lightweight modern design of this guitar is well suited for those that are looking for a lightweight guitar that is a little different than a standard acoustic guitar shape.
4. Acoustic Elecric Package - Fender CD-60SCE Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric
- CUTAWAY DREADNOUGHT BODY: Designed with a single-cutaway dreadnought body, offering robust sound and easy access to higher frets for versatile playing styles
- PREMIUM ELECTRONICS: Equipped with a Fishman classic design pickup and preamp system, providing clear, amplified sound and precise tonal control for live or studio performance
- SOLID WOOD CONSTRUCTION: Built with a solid spruce top and scalloped "X"-bracing, complemented by mahogany back and sides, delivering enhanced resonance, durability, and rich tonal quality
- ERGONOMIC DESIGN: Features an easy-to-play neck with rolled fingerboard edges, offering maximum comfort and smooth fretting for beginners and experienced players alike.
- EVERYTHING IN A BOX: Austin Bazaar bundles your instrument with top-notch accessories, including a hard case for protection, a tuner for precise tuning, an instrument cable, strap, extra strings, picks, an instructional DVD for easy learning, and an Austin Bazaar polishing cloth - ensuring all you need for playing, maintenance, and care is right at your fingertips.
The CD-60SCE bundle comes with everything you need to get started playing the acoustic guitar. The beginner's mahogany guitar bundle comes with a tuner, instructional material, hard shell case, strap and polishing cloth. The guitar is smaller in size, so it is well suited for most younger players.
The hard-shell case protects the guitars beautiful mahogany finish, and the tuner helps beginners that are still learning the basics to keep the guitar in tune. Having trouble figuring out if the guitar is out of tune or whether an incorrect note is being played is a common complaint among young beginning guitarists.
The cut-away design provides easy access to frets about the 12th Fret. With its low entry price, and all-in-one bundling, this guitar is a great value for any beginning guitarist.
5. Beginner Guitar - Fender CC-60SCE Concert Acoustic Guitar - Blac
- Single-cutaway concert body style
- Fishman low-profile pickup/preamp
- Solid spruce top with scalloped "X"-bracing
- Mahogany back and sides
- Easy-to-play neck with rolled fingerboard edges
Fenders cc-60SCE acoustic guitar offers professional features and sound at a very affordable price. This guitar is similar to the previously mentioned FA-125CE, but with has the concert body style.
For some, this shape is more comfortable than the dreadnaught shape and is more suited to players with a smaller frame. The FA-135CE acoustic guitar comes straight from the factory with the Fishman Presys pickup and the active pre-amp installed in the upper bout of the guitar. The pre-amp has controls for treble, midrange, bass and phase signals giving the guitarist full control of the tone right from the top of the guitar.
The concert cut-away is smooth shaped cut-out in the body of the guitar that offers easy access to frets above the 12th. This guitar offers many features at a great entry price and is an upgrade to most beginner models.
Comparison of Fender Acoustic Guitars
Still not sure if a Fender guitar is the right guitar for you? Check out our favorite models from other manufacturers on our Best Acoustic guitars page.
What Should You Look For in a Fender Acoustic Guitar?
Shape/Size
Fender like other manufacturers, offer a variety of shapes and sizes. Here is a list of the common fender shapes:
- Dreadnought - larger bout size, offers more projection, traditional shape
- Concert - slightly smaller body than the fender dreadnoughts, more rounded in shape
- Parlor - smaller size perfect for playing around the house or travel
- Triple-0 - Similar to the fender concert, looks similar to an Martin-OM pattern not as rounded as a concert shape
- California Series - a 3 distict shapes and a headstock that looks more like a stratocaster headstock
Wood Selection
For the most part Fender acoustic guitars use laminates for their back and sides. The very least expensive ones even have a laminate top. In general you want to get a guitar with a solid wood top for tone. But if your using electronics and/or will be using it out camping etc... a laminate maybe an acceptable option.
The paramount series offers all wood designs with traditional tone. If your a serious guitarist that is looking for great tone the Paramount Acoustic Guitar series offers a great value.
Bracing/Nut/Saddle
Fender acoustis use traditional bracing and a variety of materials for the nut and saddle. In general with Fender guitars, the more expensive the guitar the better quality the nut and saddle.
Cost
You can find a pretty decent Fender acoustic for less than $500. However if your looking for the richer tones provided by an all wood guiltar you'll likely have to spend at least $700 or even more depending on the features. Even at $800-$900 for Fenders Paramount series, this is a bargin compared to what i always refer to as the big 3 Martin, Taylor, and Gibson.
Extra Features
Fender has always had colorful acoustic guitar entries through the years starting with the "King" series in 1963. One can never say they are affraid to push the limits when it comes to style. The California series is a quirky-cool looking series with modern takes on the dreadnought, concert, and triple-0 shapes. The bodies are a little smaller, usually have electronics and come in a variety of colors and unusual looking wood pairings.
Most fender acoustic models have an electronics option if you are looking for an acoustic guitar to gig with. Another option is to get the inexpensive guitar and a nice sound hole pickup to add on afterwards. Check out our article on soundhole pickups.
That’s it, that’s quick rundown of options availale for fender acoustic guitars.