All user reviews for the Hondo L-5 Fatboy

- In what country was she made?
This is my model of a Hondo II FatBoy L-5 1981 (and not all short Hondo): in other words, it belongs to the second generation of the production of the brand, and is therefore Japanese. The Hondo factories were born in Korea in 1969 and then left for Japan in 1974 and will remain there until 1983, during which the plants back to Korea, where they were born: Clearly, this Japanese period represents the age of Gold Hondo, with beautifully crafted guitars, equipped with micro DiMarizo.
The Hondo II Fatboy L-5 is also cited as the reference model. Hehe!

- What type of race?
Bolt typical guitars of the 50s a real highway.
Ability to adapt a Bigsby vibrato types.

- Frets? Pickups?
20 frets, though filed down. No hitches.
Original DiMarzio (a bridge humbucker, a humbucker neck). An incredible meeting, hyper-typed and clean way. Jewelry.

- Settings?
2 volume knobs, two tone knobs. Each microphone.
Micro switch to activate one pickup / pickup + neck pickup / neck pickup alone.

UTILIZATION

- Is the handle comfortable?
A real highway. Good grip, rather broad, dense, jazz, runny. Perfect.

- Ergonomics?
The body is very large, very heavy guitar. I do cheek seated in concert, even if it is possible to cinch.
Speaking of the body, it is beautiful: sunburst very successful, then this form ... sublime gills, generous curves. The best guitar I've owned.

- Access to acute easy is it?
Frankly, it is average, but not too bad for this type of guitar.

- Gets it easy to sound good?
Yes, yes and yes. Already in acoustics, it not bad planning. So we imagine the future. I come back in the '3. Sounds ".

SOUNDS

- What kind of sound do you get and with what settings?
There clearly is the PT.
I play on Vox AC15 and Fender Blues Junior: jazz sound to perfection, but not cartoonish way, like a guitar that would "jazz sound." Not rough at all, fat but well defined.
Neck pickup, its dense and even hot with tone to 10. More is reduced, the more it heats and it thickens. Giant.
In pickup, sound quite incisive, almost metallic. The aggressiveness decreases the tone.
Easel / sleeve combination allows for a balance between the two. This is perfect: the combinations are many, the sound always accurate, with heat variations from one extreme to the other ...

- They are suitable to your style of music?
I am first a blues enthusiast (BB King, Robert Cray): I play mostly with fingers to the blues. The pickups are hyper respondents, fully qualified.
I started to jazz with this guitar: clearly difficult at first to the extent that the bridge fleet and where it is impossible to put his hand to strike a balance (like on a guitar gypsy). So, approach difficult for me to pick at the beginning. The thing grip, excellent potential shades: According pick attack, angle or intensity, the sounds are even more numerous.

OVERALL OPINION

- How long do you use?
Since March 2013, so a little over a year. I acquired from a collector who had kept it in excellent condition (1981, anyway!) And made a revised North luthier.

- Have you tried many other models before buying it?
No, but some anyway, and not the least. Especially on the side of Eastman, who make incredible jazz guitars. I found a clearly its equivalent at Eastman. However, it was on models 1600/2000 € (I became Hondo for 950 €).
What made me crack: the shape, color, beauty. For an equivalent sound, it is the criterion that starts counting not bad ...
And the aspect of "collection of guitar" clearly, it is extremely rare and is a little remnant of a great era of Hondo. Many models copy L-5 Hondo are findable on the Net, but belong to production while short Hondo, not Hondo II. Clearly, nothing to see.

- For the price / quality ratio: I find excellent, clearly. Although it is still a fairly substantial sum, get a playable instrument with microphones so pleasurable, the "collection" and beautiful, for that price, it's downright fun ...