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Hatsubai « Ibanez's take on a LP »
Published on 08/10/11 at 14:16Ibanez has long tried to tap into the Les Paul style market, and they've had varying success. Some of the really old pre-lawsuit Ibanez guitars are killer, but after that, they never quite captured the essence of what a Les Paul really is. This guitar kinda gets there, but it's not perfect. The guitar has a mahogany body, a mahogany set neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, a unique inlay on the 12th fret, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, one tone and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The first thing you notice is that the guitar feels nice and light. This is a pretty good thing as most heavy guitars are just dead weight more than anything else. The fretwork on this was pretty nice, and I was able to get some good action with this. The nut had no issues when it came to tuning, so I was able to bend to my heart's content. I'm not a huge fan of hard tail bridges, and these types of bridges are generally a bit tough on my hand, but I could live with it. The inlay didn't have any heavy fillers, and that's a good thing as it helps show the talent of the Ibanez crew. Aside from that, it's your average Ibanez.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds fatter than a normal Ibanez and a normal Les Paul. LPs are known to have maple tops, and they help extend the treble range on these. This is darker than a normal Les Paul. However, the pickups installed in this aren't that great. The bridge is decent, but you can't get a lot of clarity like you can with some of the high end Duncans and DiMarzios. It worked alright for metal, but anything else was pretty lacking. The neck pickup wasn't that great, either. It sounded muddy, and I was struggling whenever I tried to play leads with it.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a pretty good guitar for those looking to get a solid instrument made out of mahogany. It's very similar to a Les Paul Special in certain ways, but it still has that classic Ibanez touch to it. If you're into these kinds of guitars, check it out. You might be surprised.
UTILIZATION
The first thing you notice is that the guitar feels nice and light. This is a pretty good thing as most heavy guitars are just dead weight more than anything else. The fretwork on this was pretty nice, and I was able to get some good action with this. The nut had no issues when it came to tuning, so I was able to bend to my heart's content. I'm not a huge fan of hard tail bridges, and these types of bridges are generally a bit tough on my hand, but I could live with it. The inlay didn't have any heavy fillers, and that's a good thing as it helps show the talent of the Ibanez crew. Aside from that, it's your average Ibanez.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds fatter than a normal Ibanez and a normal Les Paul. LPs are known to have maple tops, and they help extend the treble range on these. This is darker than a normal Les Paul. However, the pickups installed in this aren't that great. The bridge is decent, but you can't get a lot of clarity like you can with some of the high end Duncans and DiMarzios. It worked alright for metal, but anything else was pretty lacking. The neck pickup wasn't that great, either. It sounded muddy, and I was struggling whenever I tried to play leads with it.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a pretty good guitar for those looking to get a solid instrument made out of mahogany. It's very similar to a Les Paul Special in certain ways, but it still has that classic Ibanez touch to it. If you're into these kinds of guitars, check it out. You might be surprised.