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Amarth « A superb guitar »
Published on 09/24/14 at 13:24
Value For Money :
Excellent
- Mahogany body
- Maple top
- Mahogany neck
- Granadillo fretboard (an interesting rosewood alternative)
- Standard Gibson 24.75" scale with 22 frets
- Neck pickup: Gibson 490R Humbucker
- Bridge pickup: Gibson 498T Humbucker
- 2 volume and 2 tone controls
- Made in the USA
- Lefty version, in my case
UTILIZATION
This guitar isn't what I would call light, but it's also not extremely heavy. It can be easily carried with a good strap and it doesn't tip down, which is a good point.
The neck is nice, its '50s profile allows fast playing much better than my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. Access to the upper frets is good but it requires some time to get used to it, especially if you have your guitar below the ankles!
The tuners hold the pitch pretty well, I was very surprised by their effectiveness! It stays in tune even if you play really aggressively, so you won't need to tune the guitar every two chords, like on some guitars.
The pickups were a great surprise! When I first bought the guitar I thought about changing them, but I finally kept them. I play essentially metal and they suit my needs, besides being splittable and having a very convincing sound.
I also recommend you to get a straplock, regardless of the guitar. It will avoid ugly surprises on the varnish and the painting!
SOUNDS
As I said before, I play essentially metal, but I also play blues and rock, and the pickups are up to standard! Except maybe for extreme styles, but that's a matter of taste, too!
The neck pickup renders a wonderful clean sound with a triaxis and a chorus, to play nice ballads. In split mode the sound remains very good. A good point is that the volume is almost the same, regardless of whether you use it as a single-coil or a humbucker, and the same goes for the bridge pickup.
In lead mode, the neck pickup allows you to play great solos, it is round and warm, without being muddled. You can even try more high-voltage things while always having a good precision and a good dynamic response.
The bridge pickup is, in my opinion, great to play rhythm guitar. It's precise without being sharp, it allows you to play different styles from blues to metal!!
It also comes out pretty good with clean sounds, and it's even better in split mode, you can easily find Ennio Morricone "western"-like sounds. But that's not its main strength, a strat would certainly do better.
I play with a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp and a cab with G12T75 speakers to get a Master of Puppets sound! It's perfect for me!
OVERALL OPINION
I bought it in an auction for $900 in January 2014 and I'm more than thrilled with it. It's my first Gibson and my first mid-range guitar. I now find it difficult to use my other guitars!
What I like best: The SOUND and look!
The Studio series is a good value for money and secondhand it's even better!
Don't let its lower price in relation to a Standard nor the fact that it's a Studio model deceive you. This guitar has all the features of a Standard without the flame maple top nor the body and neck binding, that's why it's less expensive!
- Maple top
- Mahogany neck
- Granadillo fretboard (an interesting rosewood alternative)
- Standard Gibson 24.75" scale with 22 frets
- Neck pickup: Gibson 490R Humbucker
- Bridge pickup: Gibson 498T Humbucker
- 2 volume and 2 tone controls
- Made in the USA
- Lefty version, in my case
UTILIZATION
This guitar isn't what I would call light, but it's also not extremely heavy. It can be easily carried with a good strap and it doesn't tip down, which is a good point.
The neck is nice, its '50s profile allows fast playing much better than my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. Access to the upper frets is good but it requires some time to get used to it, especially if you have your guitar below the ankles!
The tuners hold the pitch pretty well, I was very surprised by their effectiveness! It stays in tune even if you play really aggressively, so you won't need to tune the guitar every two chords, like on some guitars.
The pickups were a great surprise! When I first bought the guitar I thought about changing them, but I finally kept them. I play essentially metal and they suit my needs, besides being splittable and having a very convincing sound.
I also recommend you to get a straplock, regardless of the guitar. It will avoid ugly surprises on the varnish and the painting!
SOUNDS
As I said before, I play essentially metal, but I also play blues and rock, and the pickups are up to standard! Except maybe for extreme styles, but that's a matter of taste, too!
The neck pickup renders a wonderful clean sound with a triaxis and a chorus, to play nice ballads. In split mode the sound remains very good. A good point is that the volume is almost the same, regardless of whether you use it as a single-coil or a humbucker, and the same goes for the bridge pickup.
In lead mode, the neck pickup allows you to play great solos, it is round and warm, without being muddled. You can even try more high-voltage things while always having a good precision and a good dynamic response.
The bridge pickup is, in my opinion, great to play rhythm guitar. It's precise without being sharp, it allows you to play different styles from blues to metal!!
It also comes out pretty good with clean sounds, and it's even better in split mode, you can easily find Ennio Morricone "western"-like sounds. But that's not its main strength, a strat would certainly do better.
I play with a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp and a cab with G12T75 speakers to get a Master of Puppets sound! It's perfect for me!
OVERALL OPINION
I bought it in an auction for $900 in January 2014 and I'm more than thrilled with it. It's my first Gibson and my first mid-range guitar. I now find it difficult to use my other guitars!
What I like best: The SOUND and look!
The Studio series is a good value for money and secondhand it's even better!
Don't let its lower price in relation to a Standard nor the fact that it's a Studio model deceive you. This guitar has all the features of a Standard without the flame maple top nor the body and neck binding, that's why it's less expensive!