Hatsubai « Unity gain buffered Les Paul »
Published on 10/12/11 at 14:18This guitar is unique compared to other guitars in that it has a special buffer installed in it. For those who don't know, these buffers are very useful on stage when you have a lot of cable going on, and they can help preserve the highs. 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 guitar looked great. The finish was traditional, and it just had that old school look to it. The off white binding was very well done, so no issues there. The nut needed to be cut a touch better, but it wasn't a huge deal for me. The frets on this were nice and level, but they could have been crowned a bit better. I just noticed they were slightly flat once I started getting in there and polishing them. The binding ends are annoying, but it's something I have to deal on every Les Paul I play that comes with the stock frets, so it's not really a deal breaker for me.
SOUNDS
The guitar has Burstbucker pickups. These pickups are medium output, and they're suited for quite a few genres. They can get some great blues tones, especially with the neck pickup and the tone rolled down a touch. The bridge is great for that hard rock sound, and you can get a nice, cutting lead from it. I wish they were a bit more aggressive and had some more character to them, but that's mostly because I'm a metal player more than anything else. The guitar has a unity buffer in it, and this preserves your high end when running tons of cabling to effects. Very cool to have if you have all true bypass pedals.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a very solid guitar, and it looks great as well. Once I set this up, everything seemed to be pretty much what I was expecting both tone wise and playing wise. The guitars can be a bit of money, and you're going to have to pay for that traditional Les Paul sound, but once you find the right one, you'll be glad you spent the money that you did. If you buy used or blind, be prepared to have to flip it just in case.
UTILIZATION
The guitar looked great. The finish was traditional, and it just had that old school look to it. The off white binding was very well done, so no issues there. The nut needed to be cut a touch better, but it wasn't a huge deal for me. The frets on this were nice and level, but they could have been crowned a bit better. I just noticed they were slightly flat once I started getting in there and polishing them. The binding ends are annoying, but it's something I have to deal on every Les Paul I play that comes with the stock frets, so it's not really a deal breaker for me.
SOUNDS
The guitar has Burstbucker pickups. These pickups are medium output, and they're suited for quite a few genres. They can get some great blues tones, especially with the neck pickup and the tone rolled down a touch. The bridge is great for that hard rock sound, and you can get a nice, cutting lead from it. I wish they were a bit more aggressive and had some more character to them, but that's mostly because I'm a metal player more than anything else. The guitar has a unity buffer in it, and this preserves your high end when running tons of cabling to effects. Very cool to have if you have all true bypass pedals.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a very solid guitar, and it looks great as well. Once I set this up, everything seemed to be pretty much what I was expecting both tone wise and playing wise. The guitars can be a bit of money, and you're going to have to pay for that traditional Les Paul sound, but once you find the right one, you'll be glad you spent the money that you did. If you buy used or blind, be prepared to have to flip it just in case.