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tjon901 « My kind of shred guitar »
Published on 10/29/11 at 08:06Caparison is a small guitar maker out of Japan. Most of their guitars are Ibanez style guitars. The creator of the company use to work for Jackson. This is one of their few models that is setup for thicker heavier playing. It is part of their short lived HGS line. HGS stands for heavy gauge strings. I already play with really heavy strings so this guitar is perfect for me out of the box. I cant play to my maximum unless I have a low E string larger than .50, it doesnt matter what the tuning is I just cant play right without anything less. This guitar is setup for thick tone out of the box and this model has some mods. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top and a set machogany neck. The neck scale is 24.75. The guitar has 24 jumbo frets on an ebony fretboard free of inlays. This example had a set of EMG 85 pickups swapped in. The controls are simple with a master tone and master volume with a 3 way blade switch. From the factory the guitar comes strung with 12-54 strings. Personally I like the high strings a little lighter but the low strings have perfect tension for me and my style of playing.
UTILIZATION
Caparisons are known for their great playability. This guitar is no exception. The bridge is moved back a few mm for better intonation at lower tunings. Caparison uses Gotoh hardware all around so everything feels solid. The neck shape is beefy but thin, kind of like the thinner Gibson necks. The heel is nice even though its a set neck it kinda looks like a neck through there are no square edges on the joint, everything is smooth. With no inlays on the fretboard it may be a problem but the side dots on this guitar are super bright so they are impossible to miss. Jumbo frets and ebony feel like you are playing on air, its just you and the strings with this guitar.
SOUNDS
A guitar like this with tons of natural tone when you add some super pickups to it the tone is crushing. A setup like this is similar to what the guy from Soilwork used at one point. Angelus with EMG 85's. This setup is like thick on thick. The guitar comes from the factory in Drop B tuning. I am not a huge fan of drop tunings so I just cranked it back up to C. This guitar has some super thick grind. Its like a Les Paul but with super a super action. The 85 in the neck is super smooth for leads. It can get kind of muddy for this setup. This guitars natural tone is not really meant for lead playing. The bridge pickup is where the action is on this guitar. With the 85 in the bridge the tone is super thick and heavy. The 81 has a thinner high end grind sound to it. If you are seeking ultimate clarity the 81 might be better but for me the balls of the 85 is what I like.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are pretty hard to find because everyone wants them. Everyone wants them for a good reason. They are perfect for modern metal music. They have the same feel as any guitar but hold their composure through much lower tunings. You do not have to switch to a long scale guitar or 7 string with these because they can handle it. If you can afford one and find one these guitars shouldnt be passed up.
UTILIZATION
Caparisons are known for their great playability. This guitar is no exception. The bridge is moved back a few mm for better intonation at lower tunings. Caparison uses Gotoh hardware all around so everything feels solid. The neck shape is beefy but thin, kind of like the thinner Gibson necks. The heel is nice even though its a set neck it kinda looks like a neck through there are no square edges on the joint, everything is smooth. With no inlays on the fretboard it may be a problem but the side dots on this guitar are super bright so they are impossible to miss. Jumbo frets and ebony feel like you are playing on air, its just you and the strings with this guitar.
SOUNDS
A guitar like this with tons of natural tone when you add some super pickups to it the tone is crushing. A setup like this is similar to what the guy from Soilwork used at one point. Angelus with EMG 85's. This setup is like thick on thick. The guitar comes from the factory in Drop B tuning. I am not a huge fan of drop tunings so I just cranked it back up to C. This guitar has some super thick grind. Its like a Les Paul but with super a super action. The 85 in the neck is super smooth for leads. It can get kind of muddy for this setup. This guitars natural tone is not really meant for lead playing. The bridge pickup is where the action is on this guitar. With the 85 in the bridge the tone is super thick and heavy. The 81 has a thinner high end grind sound to it. If you are seeking ultimate clarity the 81 might be better but for me the balls of the 85 is what I like.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are pretty hard to find because everyone wants them. Everyone wants them for a good reason. They are perfect for modern metal music. They have the same feel as any guitar but hold their composure through much lower tunings. You do not have to switch to a long scale guitar or 7 string with these because they can handle it. If you can afford one and find one these guitars shouldnt be passed up.