Crowdster vs. Acoustasonic: Is the Crowdster worth 2K More??

[rdamato]

I play in an acoustic cover band and really need (Want) one of these. To my ear, there is not a significant plugged in tonal difference. In fact, I give a slight edge to the Fender.

Any thoughts??

Best Ron

[rmp]

I never knew of these.

but anything with "Anderson" on it, I usually expect to experience a heavy hit to the wallet.

sounds like the Fender is the smart buy based on your findings.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by rdamato

I play in a GD acoustic cover band and really need (Want) one of these. To my ear, there is not a significant plugged in tonal difference. In fact, I give a slight edge to the Fender.

Any thoughts??

Best Ron

Grateful Dead?

My thoughts are that it's like asking if you prefer hamburger or ribeye. If you don't see a difference, there's no difference. The crowd won't care. If you don't either, it seems like an easy choice.

Personally, I continue to be glad I bought my Crowdster. Nothing sounds as good as it does, and presents as few problems, on a loud stage. it feels much better in the hand than any alternative I've tried out. Tom stands by his work like nobody else I know.

I think the Fenders, though over-priced like all Fenders, sound quite good for what they are.

[billyg]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

Grateful Dead?

My thoughts are that it's like asking if you prefer hamburger or ribeye. If you don't see a difference, there's no difference. The crowd won't care. If you don't either, it seems like an easy choice.

Personally, I continue to be glad I bought my Crowdster. Nothing sounds as good as it does, and presents as few problems, on a loud stage. it feels much better in the hand than any alternative I've tried out. Tom stands by his work like nobody else I know.

I think the Fenders, though over-priced like all Fenders, sound quite good for what they are.

I pretty much agree with this. I own a Crowdster ++. I love the electric pickups; really love the combined piezo + neck pickup. The neck is amazing. I really like the jazz tones out of the neck pickup. The nut is 1.72" I think. The Crowdster has an acoustic feel, and that is what I like. Did I mention the neck is amazing.Several years ago another poster noted the sustain in the Crowdster. I had not thought about that, but it does have a lot more sustain an acoustic.
I haven't played the Fenders. I would be interested in doing so. Their acoustic side sounds really good in the videos I have watched.
I bought a Taylor T5 the second year they were out and played it for many years. It played great, but I just migrated away from its tone. The Crowdster ultimately replaced it. They are expensive, no doubt, and really pretty.
TAGCrowdsterFull.jpg

[guitararmy]

I don't own either guitar, but I am a big Tom Anderson fan.
Part of the Crowdster magic is the voicing of the preamp for the piezo pickup.
And if you get one with either one or two magnetic pickups, it will rock with the best of them!
If you mainly need a faux acoustic sound, the Fender would probably be fine.

[Bushleague]

So where would an Godin A5 fit into this type of comparison, being the only guitar of this type that I've used? The one I used had a Humbucker in the neck position and a Piezo, I found it got really close to allot of different sounds while failing to really nail any of them... but I tend to feel that way about most modeling amps and digital processers too, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[mockchoi]

I own both, Crowdster plus and the American Acoustasonic tele.

It depends on what you’re after, but I like the magnetic pickup on the Crowdster more. It’s nice and chunky, takes distortion well, and is just more of what I’m looking for. The mag pickup in the Fender feels a little like a gimmick. It’s a useful gimmick sometimes, but it’s compressed sounding and tends to get lost compared to the acoustic. It’s nice if you’re running straight into a PA to be able to get a distorted sound without additional gear, but it doesn’t sound great, and I don’t use it unless I don’t want a whole lot of electric sound.

On the other hand I like the Fender Acoustic voice more than the Crowdster. The Crowdster sounds good, is very useable, but it quacks a bit. I run an IR to get a better sound, but the Crowdster just doesn’t respond much like an acoustic guitar. It feels like one, but the decay is more like an electric and that feels unnatural. The Fender acoustic voice just sounds good without having to work hard for it.

So it depends. If I’m wanting a lot of electric sound I go for the Crowdster, acoustic I go for the Fender.

[rdamato]

Reviving this thread.

I was set on a Crowdster until I heard a friend play live with the Acoustisonic> Could not believe the tones. Further, when he switched to the electric pup and hit it with some overdrive, it sang.

[Sev112]

I’ve played 2 Crowdsters and they were fantastic to play, especially if you’ve got the 2 different pickups.

Acoustsonic however has that extra electronics magicry

Build quality of the Crowdster was fabulous.

But I preferred the looks and style of the fender.