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Hatsubai « Slightly different lower horn »
Published on 10/06/11 at 15:17This was a guitar made in the 80s, and they started to change things up a bit. While they were built in Nashville, small things like the lower horn and whatnot were changed. The picture above actually isn't a true representation of what this guitar is. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had some wear on it, but it was nothing too bad. I actually find these 80s guitars to be pretty cool, although there are some things about them that are not 100% standard Les Paul. The lower horn is what sticks out the most. If you've ever seen an ESP Eclipse model that comes over here to the US, you'll notice they have a pointer lower horn. These guitars have the same. It's just something a bit different. They also have a slightly different serial number. The headstock is also different on these, so not everyone likes them. I believe these were the predecessors to the well known Heritage company that is now up and running.
SOUNDS
These have special PAFs in them generally known as Shaw PAFs. They're pretty sweet PAF pickups, and they work great for rock. The bridge is like your normal PAF, but it has a little bit more sweetness to it. I plugged this through the JCM800 we have, boosted it, and I got an amazing Slash tone going on. The neck was also pretty cool. I got a very sweet blues tone in the neck with this guitar. However, if it were my personal guitar, I'd probably replace them. If you do replace them, you might want to keep the pickups for a bit as they can be a bit hard to find. If you decide to sell them, you might be able to get some good money for them on the used market depending on how the economy is going.
OVERALL OPINION
While these guitars are a bit different from what you normally see, I find that they're pretty much all your standard Les Paul. It may look just a hair different, but it still has that classic sound that everyone knows and loves. The guitar was also weight relieved, so it didn't have that back breaking issue like the 70s one tended to have. They can be hard to find on the used market, but you can generally get a good deal once you find one as purists tend to not like these.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had some wear on it, but it was nothing too bad. I actually find these 80s guitars to be pretty cool, although there are some things about them that are not 100% standard Les Paul. The lower horn is what sticks out the most. If you've ever seen an ESP Eclipse model that comes over here to the US, you'll notice they have a pointer lower horn. These guitars have the same. It's just something a bit different. They also have a slightly different serial number. The headstock is also different on these, so not everyone likes them. I believe these were the predecessors to the well known Heritage company that is now up and running.
SOUNDS
These have special PAFs in them generally known as Shaw PAFs. They're pretty sweet PAF pickups, and they work great for rock. The bridge is like your normal PAF, but it has a little bit more sweetness to it. I plugged this through the JCM800 we have, boosted it, and I got an amazing Slash tone going on. The neck was also pretty cool. I got a very sweet blues tone in the neck with this guitar. However, if it were my personal guitar, I'd probably replace them. If you do replace them, you might want to keep the pickups for a bit as they can be a bit hard to find. If you decide to sell them, you might be able to get some good money for them on the used market depending on how the economy is going.
OVERALL OPINION
While these guitars are a bit different from what you normally see, I find that they're pretty much all your standard Les Paul. It may look just a hair different, but it still has that classic sound that everyone knows and loves. The guitar was also weight relieved, so it didn't have that back breaking issue like the 70s one tended to have. They can be hard to find on the used market, but you can generally get a good deal once you find one as purists tend to not like these.