Launched about a year ago, the Fender California Series of acoustic guitars represents another attempt by a company which is, arguably, the name in solid body electrics to crack the acoustic market. The California Series adopts that image once borne by American-made Fender acoustics (an out-and-out flop in the 1960s) but, in this case, sees the transference of Fender's production from the USA to Japan, where these models are manufactured today. Currently, the California Series comprises several purely acoustic models: Newporter, Catalina, Malibu, Redondo, Del Mar and Capistrano. Two acoustic/electrics complete the range, the Balboa and El Rio, the latter model being the one sent to us for review. Superficially, the El Rio looked quite nice, the solid spruce top, sycamore back and sides (an odd wood to use, it must be said) being stained a rich sunburst. Closer examination, however, revealed a bad rippling effect on top - probably a lacquering fault. This was so pronounced that you could actually feel it, not the sort of thing you expect in a guitar of this price.

Functionally, the El Rio is a simple, rather straightforward instrument. It features a typical Fender headstock, fitted with gold plated machines of superb quality (probably Gotohs).

The El Rio has a plastic bound maple neck, a nicely made rosewood fingerboard with a good-looking set of fleur-de-lys inlays and good quality frets. The 22 fret neck is comfortable to handle and access to the top is excellent due to the deep Florentine cut-away. Regrettably, our sample El Rio came with an action far too high for proper comfort. There is no need for acoustics to be set up this high, especially if they purport to be suited for players more used to solid guitars with good actions. The changeover here would be considerable and, even for a player used to acoustics, the El Rio we tried had much too high an action - especially at the top frets. Sound from the El Rio, played acoustically, was also poor. Considering that the Japanese makers have used a solid spruce top, the result they have achieved sounds more like that from a cheap laminate-topped Japanese model. It's tinny, lacks depth, warmth and any real character. If Fender's RRP of £287.79 is to be taken seriously, they might profit from looking at just how many acoustic/electrics are on the market these days which, whilst they may not look as flash as the California Series, perform markedly better in our opinion. Undoubtedly the ultra-slim (and, yes, very comfortable) body doesn't help the tone and it is supposed to be an acoustic/electric. It should still work but this can be tamed with the tone control and, more importantly, the notch filter (which delivers up to 18dB of feedback rejection from any frequency between 60 and 500 Hz). This works well, and the El Rio certainly shouldn't present any serious problems on stage with feedback. If whistle and howl sets in, you just use the notch filter to wipe it out. This is a very welcome touch. The circuitry functions as a low impedance pre-amp, by the way, which is also a plus as it allows you to use decent length leads without fear of H.F. signal losses.

"THE 22 FRET NECK IS COMFORTABLE TO HANDLE..."

Even though the El Rio sounds a lot better through an amp than acoustically, it still lacks the natural warmth and character of tone one might reasonable expect from an acoustic at this sort of money.

Apparently the Fender is obtainable at discount prices which suggests that Fender's RRP is higher than you would expect to pay under many circumstances. The combination of too high an action, a tone which left us cold and (in the case of our sample) rather poor finishing, makes us very doubtful about it, almost regardless of what its 'street' price might be.

Although the El Rio handles its electric role well in some respects, we reckon we could find better guitars for the same, or less, money. Not for us, this one!

FENDER El-Rio Acoustic/Electric (California Series) RRP £287-79 inc. VAT