Gear: Fender CD-60BK (2008)


What a find! Another one from Nextdoor.

Every now and then I still browse the “neighbourhood market” just to see what’s on there, even though I now have virtually no space for my instruments lol, plus I have a big project on my mind which I might share some other time. So there I am, thinking, well, you never know what you might find.

And indeed! The ad for this guitar with the below picture came up about 2 months ago, it was advertised for £50, which is not a bad deal, but I didn’t really look to buy another acoustic, my old Ibanez served the purpose very well since I got it around 2004. I even remember right before I bought it, I did try a Fender acoustic as I was looking for a standard acoustic sound, something you can hear on Bryan Adams’ “Room Service” album, for example. Nothing special, just a good all-rounder, almost without a personality. I remember putting the two side by side, and the Fender, for some reason didn’t feel as comfortable, nor was its sound convincing, so despite the Ibanez having a very distinctive sound (so not what I was looking for), I ended up picking it over the Fender in the end. Not that regret it though.

So two months ago I gave it a miss again, but 2-3 weeks ago, it came up again, discounted to £30. Hmm with no visible faults, it must be worth that. So I messaged the seller, but she hasn’t responded to me…until last Sunday morning!

Let me quote here: “Yeah I still have it, you can actually have it for free if u can collect by EOW?”

How could I not. :)

It still can’t believe all it cost me was the bus journeys and some bin liners to protect it from rain until I got it home. And the capo came with it too! Thanks very much you kind Nextdoor user!

Thankfully all it needed was a good clean and a set of new strings and it only has some minor cosmetic damage, all the frets and tuners are in perfect condition. It has been played on, but I would imagine it has spent at least the past 5-7 years as decoration. The neck is just a tiny bit more narrow than what would be ideal for my sausage fingers, but that’s about all the negatives (if even this is one) I can think of.

So how does it sound? Just what I was looking for some 18 years ago. Nothing special, just a solid standard acoustic sound. What surprised me was that it has more of a balanced sound no matter how high up on the scale you play and it is also balanced in terms of volume; even when you strum it hard, it remains modest - perfect for a rhythm guitarist, I suppose. Very solid all-rounder, is how I would describe it. It most certainly will not replace the Ibanez, but as I said earlier, they are very different, and great within their own rights - one because of its personality and the other because of the lack of it.

Absolutely love it, can’t wait to hear how it performs on recordings :)

Here’s what others had to say about it.

And here it is as it was advertised:

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