If you thought guitar hero Nile Rodgers was a great player on his own, watch what happens when there are FOUR of him creating music together. Fender’s newest video in their Acoustasonic Sessions series features the always fashionably dressed Rodgers playing an original funky jazz-inflected tune called “Inside The Box.”
Rodgers specifically wrote the song to showcase the wide range of tonal possibilities of the Acoustasonic Stratocaster, proving in no uncertain terms that it is possible to play funky licks on an acoustic-wound guitar. You can read our review of the Acoustasonic Stratocaster, a versatile instrument that combines multiple acoustic and electric capabilities and a wide palette of sounds, here.
Rodgers, who’s guitar and production work with Chic, David Bowie and Madonna is legendary, goes deep in the video’s accompanying notes, explaining the subtle nuances he and engineer Russell Graham were able to coax out of the guitar by running straight into the board and then with an amp to create the tune’s sonic palette.
“The voices available on the Acoustasonic are designed to evoke the real-world sources that they are based on (core acoustic, alternate acoustic, electric clean, electric fat, etc.) without traditional guitar amplification… as such, most of the voice indications on this cue sheet are marked 'no amp.'”
However, putting the guitar through a traditional guitar amplifier yields interesting and sometimes unexpected tones. In particular, we found that the acoustic/electric blended voice, with traditional guitar amplification applied, was reminiscent of a classic hollow-body jazz guitar - and so for the guitar solo we’ve noted that the tone is 'amped.'”
You can learn more about the Acoustasonic and the differences between the Stratocaster and Telecaster models by clicking here or the photo below.