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Hatsubai « Elegant and as good as the USA models »
Published on 07/31/11 at 17:43The guitar has the following specs:
Mahogany wings with a flame maple top
Maple neck-thru neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 jumbo frets with sharkfin inlays
Two humbucker configuration with EMGs (not stock)
One volume knob
One tone knob
Three way switch
Binding
UTILIZATION
These guitars really do rival the USA models in nearly every aspect. First of all, the guitar felt great in terms of overall weight. The guitar even has similar specs as most of the USA models, so you can do a direct comparison, almost. The neck felt great, and the fretwork was top notch. The floyd on this is actually a pretty solid floyd, and I've used it in the past without any issues. It's very similar to the Schaller, if not the same. The flame maple top on this was very striking, and the construction was up there with the best.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounded phenomenal. The guitar had EMGs installed in it which weren't the stock pickups. I forget what they were, but they were similar to EMGs in terms of looks. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 60A in the neck. The EMG 81 in the bridge had some nice cut going on, but the mahogany wings helped calm down some of that treble that's normally associated with the 81. It was a very nice marriage of proper pickup choice and woods. The 60A in the neck was great for cleans, and I personally prefer the 60A to the 60 in most situations as it tends to sound a bit warmer. Lead tones were almost single coil-esque, and it got a pretty cool tone that most other neck humbucker guitars don't seem to exhibit.
OVERALL OPINION
If you can find one of these at a good price, I recommend jumping on it. These are the well kept secret in the Jackson lineup. The quality is super high, and they sound amazing. The necks on them, the fretwork, everything seems to be just as good as the USA models out there.
Mahogany wings with a flame maple top
Maple neck-thru neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 jumbo frets with sharkfin inlays
Two humbucker configuration with EMGs (not stock)
One volume knob
One tone knob
Three way switch
Binding
UTILIZATION
These guitars really do rival the USA models in nearly every aspect. First of all, the guitar felt great in terms of overall weight. The guitar even has similar specs as most of the USA models, so you can do a direct comparison, almost. The neck felt great, and the fretwork was top notch. The floyd on this is actually a pretty solid floyd, and I've used it in the past without any issues. It's very similar to the Schaller, if not the same. The flame maple top on this was very striking, and the construction was up there with the best.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounded phenomenal. The guitar had EMGs installed in it which weren't the stock pickups. I forget what they were, but they were similar to EMGs in terms of looks. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 60A in the neck. The EMG 81 in the bridge had some nice cut going on, but the mahogany wings helped calm down some of that treble that's normally associated with the 81. It was a very nice marriage of proper pickup choice and woods. The 60A in the neck was great for cleans, and I personally prefer the 60A to the 60 in most situations as it tends to sound a bit warmer. Lead tones were almost single coil-esque, and it got a pretty cool tone that most other neck humbucker guitars don't seem to exhibit.
OVERALL OPINION
If you can find one of these at a good price, I recommend jumping on it. These are the well kept secret in the Jackson lineup. The quality is super high, and they sound amazing. The necks on them, the fretwork, everything seems to be just as good as the USA models out there.