Fender Highway Series Dreadnought — 3.5 Years On, Would I Buy It Again?

Why I bought a thin-body acoustic

I bought the Highway Series Dreadnought about three and a half years ago for around $1,400. At the time I was gigging in an acoustic duo and a country band, and the split was roughly 80% acoustic, 20% electric. I wanted one guitar that could cover the acoustic songs without the hassle of a big box on stage, and without swapping guitars mid-set.

The Acoustasonic was the obvious Fender answer, but it was $2,400, which was way too much. The $899 Acoustasonic with the humbucker did not exist yet. The Highway Series was the middle ground: a thin body, a narrow neck, and a Fishman pickup, for a price I could live with.

I went in knowing the trade. A thin body is never going to resonate like a full-size acoustic. I was giving up some of that in exchange for a guitar that was light, comfortable, and easy to gig with.

How it plays

This is the part Fender got right. The Highway Series plays and feels like an electric. The neck is slim, the body is thin, and the whole thing sits against you like a Tele rather than a dreadnought.

If you have smaller hands or stubby fingers, or you just find a big boxy acoustic awkward, this guitar is a relief. I can go from my Sire T7 to the Highway and nothing about my hands has to change. That was the point of buying it, and three and a half years later it still delivers on that.

It is also the guitar I pick up on the couch. It is light, it is quiet enough to noodle on, and it does not get in the way.

The electronics, and the contour knob

The controls are simple: a volume knob and a contour knob, driving a Fishman pickup. Plugged in, the tone is crisp and mid-focused. It takes a little overdrive well, which is not something you can say about most acoustics with a pickup.

The contour knob is the one I need to be honest about. Fender's pitch is that it shifts the tone between a thinner sound and a fatter low-mid sound. When I recorded it and listened back, I could not hear it doing much of anything. Maybe there is a difference on a stage through a PA, but in the recorded examples in the video it is close to no effect. I would not buy this guitar for the contour knob.

Then I bought a Yamaha FGX800

The reason this is a comparison and not just a review is the Yamaha FGX800 I picked up for $499. I bought it for one job: a fuller, traditional acoustic tone for recording.

It is a standard full-body acoustic-electric with a built-in pickup and EQ. It is not a fancy guitar. But it has the deep low end and the natural warmth that a thin-body hybrid simply cannot produce. In the camera audio and in the recorded examples, the difference is not subtle. The Yamaha sounds like an acoustic guitar. The Fender sounds like a very good electric-ish version of one.

Head to head

Playability. Fender, and it is not close. Thin neck, electric feel, comfortable for hours. The Yamaha is a normal bulky acoustic.

Acoustic tone. Yamaha, and it is not close either. Fat, warm, full-bodied. The Fender is crisp and lives in the mids.

Live use. Fender. It is light, it plugs straight in, and I never have to think about feedback or where to stand.

Studio use. Yamaha, whenever the part needs to sound like a real acoustic.

Both together. This is the part I did not expect. On a recorded track, the two guitars blend really well. The Fender gives you the crisp mid-range definition and the Yamaha fills in the warm low end underneath. Doubling a strummed part with one of each gives a fuller acoustic bed than two passes of either guitar alone.

Would I buy it again?

Honestly, it is a nuanced answer. If I only needed an acoustic for recording, no. The $499 Yamaha does that job better, and for a third of the price.

But I am not selling the Fender. It is still the most comfortable acoustic I have ever played, it is the one I gig with, and it has found a real job in the studio as the top layer of a doubled acoustic part. That combination is enough to keep it on the wall.

Who it's for

• You gig acoustic songs and want an electric-style neck and a light body.
• You have small hands or you find full-size acoustics uncomfortable.
• You already own a proper acoustic and want a second voice to layer with.

Skip it if you need one acoustic that sounds like an acoustic on a recording. Spend $499 on the Yamaha instead and keep the change.

Verdict

The Highway Series Dreadnought is a great-playing guitar with a real weakness: it does not sound like a full acoustic, and the contour knob does not fix that. Three and a half years in, I reach for the Yamaha when I need acoustic tone and the Fender when I need to play comfortably or layer. I would not call that a regret. I would call it two guitars doing two different jobs.