Nile Rodgers Plays a New Song on the Acoustasonic Stratocaster

Funk legend Nile Rodgers called on a wide range of acoustic and electric sounds to create his new song, “Inside the Box.” But he only needed one guitar to help him do it – his Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster.

Introduced in 2020, the Acoustasonic Strat is already established as a modern-day classic, exuding timeless (albeit slightly tweaked) Fender flair on its surface and packed with cutting edge features – including a proprietary Fender and Fishman-designed Acoustic Engine, which utilizes both analog and digital technology to provide a curated collection of acoustic and electric voices – under the hood.

One guitar, infinite sounds

It’s an instrument with endless possibilities, and an ideal companion for a Strat-obsessed, adventurous artist like Rodgers, whose singular but also highly adaptable style can be heard in the music of everyone from David Bowie and Mick Jagger to Madonna and Daft Punk, not to mention on his own era-defining hits with Chic.

A musician this versatile requires an instrument that can follow him wherever inspiration leads. And Rodgers puts the Acoustasonic Stratocaster to the test on “Inside the Box,” tapping into the guitar’s diverse tone options to craft a unique, one-of-a-kind composition that highlights each of the instrument’s distinct voice pairings.

Though Rodgers has been a Stratocaster player for decades – in 2014, the Custom Shop produced a signature model based on his main Strat, dubbed, quite appropriately, the Hitmaker – he only became familiar with the Acoustasonic after his manager dropped one on his lap while he was on the way to a session at London’s Abbey Road Studios. “I was in the back of a taxi cab, and you know those English cabs have a lot of space,” Rodgers says. “So I put the case on the floor, pulled out the guitar and started playing it.”

His verdict? “It was almost love at first feel, if you will.”

Exploring new territories

As Rodgers familiarized himself with the Acoustasonic during the writing and recording of “Inside the Box,” the song began to take form. At first, he says, “I wasn’t trying to show what the Acoustasonic could do – I was just playing. Then my engineer read the manual and said, ‘Oh dude, check this out! It’s supposed to do this!’ Then I started to experiment with all the different voice stylings, and we rewrote the song based on what the guitar could do.”

And the Acoustasonic can do a lot. In just the first section of “Inside the Box,” Rodgers utilizes Mahogany Dreadnought, Walnut Small Body Short-Scale and dirty electric guitar tones, mixing and matching sounds via a five-way blade voice selector and Fender’s Mod knob, which blends between two voices in each of the five positions.

And when he wants to play the Acoustasonic just like a traditional Strat, he dials in his standard lead setting – neck pickup on, volume knob full open, tone rolled back just a hair –and lets it rip for his solo. “For all its tech,” he says, “it looks and feels like a Strat.”

At the same time, the Acoustasonic Stratocaster also offers so much more, unlocking a world of bold and boundless creativity.

“That’s a cool thing to me, because at my age I want to be better,” Rodgers says. “I don’t want to just rest on my laurels.” He laughs. “And it’s so light. I can take it everywhere!”