Caparison Dellinger II SE

Caparison is a small company in Japan that makes hand crafted guitars. The Dellinger II was one of the models that was released shortly after the first successful run back in 1995. There are some variations in the Dellinger series, but the Dellinger II I have has an oiled mahogany body, HH configuration, maple neck with an ebony fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, a Schaller floyd rose, a 3 way switch with a single volume and push/push tone to split the bridge/neck pickups.

UTILIZATION

Since Caparison is a small company, they tend to pay attention to detail a bit more than the average guitar company. The body and layout itself is very similar to the Jackson Soloist, and that should be no surprise considering the company's founder was a luthier for Jackson. The oiled finish feels very nice on your wrist, too. One thing that's different about Caparisons compared to most guitars is that the bridge is actually raised more than a normal floyd would be. It feels more like the old school Chavels where they used to route out the flush mount bridges. The neck is a medium D shape, so it's not a paint stirrer neck like certain other necks tend to be.

SOUNDS

These are some of the better pickups that Caparison offers. A lot of people really love the PH-R in the bridge, and the PH-F isn't bad, either. Personally, however, I usually replace the pickups. The guitar is extremely resonant, just like all Caparisons tend to be. Caparison pays special attention to the finish thickness as it has a directly correlation to tone. A thinner finish means the guitar will resonate more so than a thicker one.

OVERALL OPINION

This is one of my favorite six string guitar models out there. It sounds amazing, the fit/fish is awesome, the electronics are fairly high quality (the push/push can sometimes flake out, though), and it's just an overall nice guitar. You don't have to worry about buying a "dud" when you buy Caparisons, too.