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tjon901 « Simple Riff Machine »
Published on 08/30/11 at 08:49Joan Jett is the frontlady for the band the Blackhearts. They are a pretty simple band with simple music. So she has a rugged guitar to throw out all her riffs on. The body is a modified double cut melody maker. The body is a bit thinner than usual for lightness. It has a set mahogany neck and the neck is a slim 60s profile neck. The finish on the guitar is a faded type Gibson finish so the neck is very smooth and fast. The fretboard is ebony and has a 12 inch radius with 22 jumbo frets. The tuners up top are mini Grover tuners. The bridge is your standard tune-o-matic setup. The controls are a bit unusual for a single pickup guitar. You get one pickup but the switch on the body is a kill switch. There are volume and tone knobs as well.
UTILIZATION
This guitar has a pretty fast feel for a Gibson in some says but in some other ways it does not feel fast. The satin finish gives a smoother feel to the finish but the neck profile itself is not super fast. The guitar is lightweight and comfortable. The neck is not to big as you would imagine being designed for a woman. The neck radius is not super flat though it is more set up for rhythm playing. This is what I mean when I say it is kinda fast but isnt. The kill switch is a pretty cool touch since it just has one pickup. A hot pickup like this may provide some unwanted feedback and turning on the kill switch when you are not playing and prevent this when playing live. The jack is mounted flat on the body on the pickguard which I do not like. Playing live with a guitar like this one errant tug on your cable and you can crack your pickguard since the jack is perpendicular to it. It is better when the cable faces downwards towards the ground where a pull will just pull it out completely instead of pulling it sideways and putting stress on your pickguard. It is pretty silly that simple things like this are still done on guitars. Its like the people designing them do not play guitar.
SOUNDS
This guitar is as close to a one trick pony as you can get without fully being one. This guitar is not a singing lead machine. This guitar is at its best when it is cranking out thick powerchords. This guitar has a burstbucker 3 pickup which I am normally not a fan of but it fits well in this guitar. With this guitar you are not really going for smooth warm sounds you are more going to gritty distortion. The distorted tone offered punch, thickness, and clarity, and it was a nice mix of rumbling lows and singing highs that really cut through without being too harsh. The humbucker had plenty of crunch and sustain, making the guitar great for aggressive rhythm playing in punk, hard rock, or heavy metal.Since there is no neck pickup or coil tap or anything this guitar is a one tone tool pretty much. You can sorta get a neck pickup tone if you roll off all the tone but the design of the guitar is still limiting.
OVERALL OPINION
These are one of those signature guitars where Gibson made them more to pay tribute to the artist and not really to give consumers what they want. I dont think many people were looking for a guitar like this. This guitar is good for people who want to be like Joan Jett or Blackhearts fans other than that this guitar is overly limiting and there are way better guitars you can get for the money. This guitar gives you some versatility but it is way below that of a normal guitar. I would pass on this unless you are a Joan Jett in the making or a big Blackhearts fan.
UTILIZATION
This guitar has a pretty fast feel for a Gibson in some says but in some other ways it does not feel fast. The satin finish gives a smoother feel to the finish but the neck profile itself is not super fast. The guitar is lightweight and comfortable. The neck is not to big as you would imagine being designed for a woman. The neck radius is not super flat though it is more set up for rhythm playing. This is what I mean when I say it is kinda fast but isnt. The kill switch is a pretty cool touch since it just has one pickup. A hot pickup like this may provide some unwanted feedback and turning on the kill switch when you are not playing and prevent this when playing live. The jack is mounted flat on the body on the pickguard which I do not like. Playing live with a guitar like this one errant tug on your cable and you can crack your pickguard since the jack is perpendicular to it. It is better when the cable faces downwards towards the ground where a pull will just pull it out completely instead of pulling it sideways and putting stress on your pickguard. It is pretty silly that simple things like this are still done on guitars. Its like the people designing them do not play guitar.
SOUNDS
This guitar is as close to a one trick pony as you can get without fully being one. This guitar is not a singing lead machine. This guitar is at its best when it is cranking out thick powerchords. This guitar has a burstbucker 3 pickup which I am normally not a fan of but it fits well in this guitar. With this guitar you are not really going for smooth warm sounds you are more going to gritty distortion. The distorted tone offered punch, thickness, and clarity, and it was a nice mix of rumbling lows and singing highs that really cut through without being too harsh. The humbucker had plenty of crunch and sustain, making the guitar great for aggressive rhythm playing in punk, hard rock, or heavy metal.Since there is no neck pickup or coil tap or anything this guitar is a one tone tool pretty much. You can sorta get a neck pickup tone if you roll off all the tone but the design of the guitar is still limiting.
OVERALL OPINION
These are one of those signature guitars where Gibson made them more to pay tribute to the artist and not really to give consumers what they want. I dont think many people were looking for a guitar like this. This guitar is good for people who want to be like Joan Jett or Blackhearts fans other than that this guitar is overly limiting and there are way better guitars you can get for the money. This guitar gives you some versatility but it is way below that of a normal guitar. I would pass on this unless you are a Joan Jett in the making or a big Blackhearts fan.