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Hatsubai « Awesome for metal »
Published on 07/07/11 at 16:00This is really just a standard Les Paul with a few slight tweaks to make it Zakk Wylde's own personal signature guitar. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top, a maple neck that is unfinished, a maple fretboard, trapezoid inlays, 22 frets, a tune-o-matic bridge, a unique paintjob, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The neck is easily the #1 thing about this guitar. It's a maple neck with an ebony fretboard, so it gives that old school 70s Les Paul kinda vibe. They're a bit snappier, and they cut through better. It's also unfinished which is a huge plus. The finishes on a lot of Gibson guitars tend to be sticky, and this guitar doesn't have that problem. The guitar itself was put together nicely, and the finish didn't have any drips or runs. It's definitely a love or hate finish, though. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the way it looks.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounded phenomenal. The EMG 81 in the bridge is perfect for this. It was super tight, aggressive, saturated and completely balls to the wall. It had bite, but it was never too harsh. It works awesome for any type of metal, but it starts to lack when it comes to rock and anything with lower gain. The EMG 85 in the neck is super fat and smooth sounding. It's kinda like playing on easy mode. Legato comes scary easily, and you can do all kinds of signature pinch harmonics with this guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is really a metal machine. It sounds awesome, was built nicely and felt killer. I honestly think that if this didn't have the obnoxious finish, it would be one of Gibson's best selling signature models out there. That's the #1 problem with this guitar. The finish is just awful. That, and it's not really meant for classic rock.
UTILIZATION
The neck is easily the #1 thing about this guitar. It's a maple neck with an ebony fretboard, so it gives that old school 70s Les Paul kinda vibe. They're a bit snappier, and they cut through better. It's also unfinished which is a huge plus. The finishes on a lot of Gibson guitars tend to be sticky, and this guitar doesn't have that problem. The guitar itself was put together nicely, and the finish didn't have any drips or runs. It's definitely a love or hate finish, though. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the way it looks.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounded phenomenal. The EMG 81 in the bridge is perfect for this. It was super tight, aggressive, saturated and completely balls to the wall. It had bite, but it was never too harsh. It works awesome for any type of metal, but it starts to lack when it comes to rock and anything with lower gain. The EMG 85 in the neck is super fat and smooth sounding. It's kinda like playing on easy mode. Legato comes scary easily, and you can do all kinds of signature pinch harmonics with this guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is really a metal machine. It sounds awesome, was built nicely and felt killer. I honestly think that if this didn't have the obnoxious finish, it would be one of Gibson's best selling signature models out there. That's the #1 problem with this guitar. The finish is just awful. That, and it's not really meant for classic rock.