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Hatsubai « Oozes tone »
Published on 07/15/11 at 18:37Gary Moore has always been one of my favorite Les Paul players. To be honest, I preferred it when he used to use his Charvel guitars, but the blues era he went through wasn't too bad. This is definitely meant for blues more than the 80s rock he used to do. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The inlay work on this was done nicely. There were no fillers or anything like that in there like I've found in some lower end Gibsons. The nut itself was cut properly, although the string gauge that was put on this guitar was wrong. Someone put 11s on it, and they were a touch too big for the nut on the bass side. The fretwork itself seemed to be great with no annoying edges slicing your hand or uncrowned frets.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounded pretty good stock. I'm not a huge fan of the Gibson pickups that come in this thing, so keep that in mind. The bridge is high output ceramic pickup, sounds thick and gives that standard Les Paul kind of vibe. The neck is a bit too bright for my liking, but it does the job. I like adding a JB/59 combo in these guitars. It's a bit cliché, but the combo really works well. With the JB in the bridge, you get that high output kind of vibe that really pushes the front end. The 59 in the neck is super fat and smooth. It allows for crazy legato while still remaining clear.
OVERALL OPINION
The biggest issue I have with this guitar is the fact that it costs a ton. If you're looking to get one, I recommend buying used as you'll get a better value for your dollar. The QC issues tend to be smaller, but be sure to pay attention to any tuning issues, as well as any potential dead frets once you start lowering the action. Some even have humps in the fretboards, but those are pretty rare. Keep in mind that this is different from the one with the P90 in the neck.
UTILIZATION
The inlay work on this was done nicely. There were no fillers or anything like that in there like I've found in some lower end Gibsons. The nut itself was cut properly, although the string gauge that was put on this guitar was wrong. Someone put 11s on it, and they were a touch too big for the nut on the bass side. The fretwork itself seemed to be great with no annoying edges slicing your hand or uncrowned frets.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounded pretty good stock. I'm not a huge fan of the Gibson pickups that come in this thing, so keep that in mind. The bridge is high output ceramic pickup, sounds thick and gives that standard Les Paul kind of vibe. The neck is a bit too bright for my liking, but it does the job. I like adding a JB/59 combo in these guitars. It's a bit cliché, but the combo really works well. With the JB in the bridge, you get that high output kind of vibe that really pushes the front end. The 59 in the neck is super fat and smooth. It allows for crazy legato while still remaining clear.
OVERALL OPINION
The biggest issue I have with this guitar is the fact that it costs a ton. If you're looking to get one, I recommend buying used as you'll get a better value for your dollar. The QC issues tend to be smaller, but be sure to pay attention to any tuning issues, as well as any potential dead frets once you start lowering the action. Some even have humps in the fretboards, but those are pretty rare. Keep in mind that this is different from the one with the P90 in the neck.