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Hatsubai « Your standard Custom »
Published on 10/06/11 at 15:34Gibson releases tons of these guitars every year, and they're probably one of their more consistent guitars. I find that they tend to be put together a bit more than your normal Standard, even though they're all made in the same factory by the same guys. Maybe it's just in my mind. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had some nice inlay and binding work. There were no fillers anywhere, and you could see that they took their time with it. The nut on this was cut properly, and that's a fairly rare thing to see from Gibson. I normally find their nuts to be roughly cut and need some extra work once they get to the shop. The frets on this were good, and I was able to get some nice and low action without much of an issue. There was some slight choking out on certain frets, but it wasn't a big deal given how low I had the action. The rest of the guitar is pretty much your standard Les Paul but with an ebony fingerboard instead of the standard rosewood one.
SOUNDS
The guitar had EMGs swapped into it. It had the EMG 81 in the bridge and the EMG 60A in the neck. The 81 was great for metal, and it worked super well with this guitar. It could do In Flames to a T, and that was something that I was real happy with. Boost a 5150 and plug this guitar in -- instant Bjorn tone. However, it lacked the versatility that you'd normally get from a stock Custom due to these pickups. The neck was a 60A, and it worked great for cleans. It's a bit fatter than the normal 60, and I find it has a little more character for lead tones as well. It has an almost single coil tone to it at times, but it's somewhat beefy thanks to the natural construction of the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
These are some of my favorite Gibsons due to the extra bite they tend to have. Gibsons can be a bit too thick at times, and the ebony board really helps keep that in check. It may seem like a small piece of wood, but I always felt it has a big impact on tone. I'm not normally a big fan of ebony as a tone wood, but it works quite well on these guitars. Maybe I'm just too used to how Customs sound to hear the harshness that I hear in other guitars.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had some nice inlay and binding work. There were no fillers anywhere, and you could see that they took their time with it. The nut on this was cut properly, and that's a fairly rare thing to see from Gibson. I normally find their nuts to be roughly cut and need some extra work once they get to the shop. The frets on this were good, and I was able to get some nice and low action without much of an issue. There was some slight choking out on certain frets, but it wasn't a big deal given how low I had the action. The rest of the guitar is pretty much your standard Les Paul but with an ebony fingerboard instead of the standard rosewood one.
SOUNDS
The guitar had EMGs swapped into it. It had the EMG 81 in the bridge and the EMG 60A in the neck. The 81 was great for metal, and it worked super well with this guitar. It could do In Flames to a T, and that was something that I was real happy with. Boost a 5150 and plug this guitar in -- instant Bjorn tone. However, it lacked the versatility that you'd normally get from a stock Custom due to these pickups. The neck was a 60A, and it worked great for cleans. It's a bit fatter than the normal 60, and I find it has a little more character for lead tones as well. It has an almost single coil tone to it at times, but it's somewhat beefy thanks to the natural construction of the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
These are some of my favorite Gibsons due to the extra bite they tend to have. Gibsons can be a bit too thick at times, and the ebony board really helps keep that in check. It may seem like a small piece of wood, but I always felt it has a big impact on tone. I'm not normally a big fan of ebony as a tone wood, but it works quite well on these guitars. Maybe I'm just too used to how Customs sound to hear the harshness that I hear in other guitars.