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Hatsubai « Great upper access but at a price »
Published on 08/13/11 at 19:19If you're like me, you've always been complaining about the upper fret access on Les Pauls. Gibson has finally fixed that, and they even offer it with a floyd. This is the standard tail piece model, though. 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
This guitar was put together great. The nut on this was cut properly, so there were no issues regarding nut angle, having it too deep or whatnot. You can tell when you have a bad nut because you'll always be going out of tune, and you'll sometimes even notice the string snag on the nut. The frets on this were also top notch. They were crowned nicely, and the edges weren't sharp. The biggest improvement with this is the upper fret access. You no longer have to struggle with getting towards the upper frets anymore with this model.
SOUNDS
This guitar was pretty light, and it was very resonant. The pickups in this aren't exactly my favorite, but I've never been a huge fan of Gibson stock pickups to begin with. The bridge pickup got a very fat sound, but it was also clear, so no issues there. I wish it had some more output since I'm used to pickups like the JB and whatnot, but whatever. The neck was a bit bright for my tastes, but a turn of the tone knob seemed to fix that issue. Again, a little more output would be nice on these.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is probably my favorite playing Les Paul. However, the price on these models is outrageous for what you're getting. I can get a Gibson Les Paul Classic which is roughly the same thing minus the sculpted heel and pickups for about two grand cheaper. If you can afford this, go for it. It was too rich for me, though.
UTILIZATION
This guitar was put together great. The nut on this was cut properly, so there were no issues regarding nut angle, having it too deep or whatnot. You can tell when you have a bad nut because you'll always be going out of tune, and you'll sometimes even notice the string snag on the nut. The frets on this were also top notch. They were crowned nicely, and the edges weren't sharp. The biggest improvement with this is the upper fret access. You no longer have to struggle with getting towards the upper frets anymore with this model.
SOUNDS
This guitar was pretty light, and it was very resonant. The pickups in this aren't exactly my favorite, but I've never been a huge fan of Gibson stock pickups to begin with. The bridge pickup got a very fat sound, but it was also clear, so no issues there. I wish it had some more output since I'm used to pickups like the JB and whatnot, but whatever. The neck was a bit bright for my tastes, but a turn of the tone knob seemed to fix that issue. Again, a little more output would be nice on these.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is probably my favorite playing Les Paul. However, the price on these models is outrageous for what you're getting. I can get a Gibson Les Paul Classic which is roughly the same thing minus the sculpted heel and pickups for about two grand cheaper. If you can afford this, go for it. It was too rich for me, though.