Caparison TAT

Yet another classic gem from Caparison. Handmade Japanese quality. This one is a 1996 and has the coveted mid-boost. Hand Carved archtop, Mahogany body and maple neck through body. Three way toggle pickup selector. Schaller Floyd Rose and Gotoh Height Adjustable Pole tuners. 24 jumbo frets in a rosewood board with Clock inlays and a Caparison "Devil's Tail" Headstock. Caparison PH-f and PH-R pickups. As usual, Caparison quality is perfect.

UTILIZATION

Ease of play is astounding. This is essentially Caparison's take on the Jackson USA Custom Shop Soloist. It does that. VERY well. Absolute rock-solid guitar. All frets are easily accessed, carve of the body holds your arm/wrist in the perfect shred position. The neck is extremely fast. Tone controls are about as basic as it gets.

SOUNDS

All my reviews are done through the same collection of Amplifiers:

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo
Soldano SLO
Fender Twin Reverb
Peavey XXX
Peavey Ultra 120
Rocktron Vendetta

Effects are typically not used. This guitar it the complete package for any style of music. Definitely geared towards the harder rock/metal crowd. When run through the orange channel on the Mesa, The TAT spits fire. I might replace the pickups soon however.

OVERALL OPINION

Precision built, the Soloist Jackson wishes they could still make. The TAT excels in it's genre of guitars. It is unique, well-designed, even better built and the newer models include coil tapping. The neck shape is comfy and exceptionally fast without being too thin. This is the classic Caparison. This guitar put them on the map and it continues to showcase their craftsmanship. I would not only buy it, but I would buy five. This is a lot of guitar for the price.

Yet another classic gem from Caparison. Handmade Japanese quality. This one is a 1996 and has the coveted mid-boost. Hand Carved archtop, Mahogany body and maple neck through body. Three way toggle pickup selector. Schaller Floyd Rose and Gotoh Height Adjustable Pole tuners. 24 jumbo frets in a rosewood board with Clock inlays and a Caparison "Devil's Tail" Headstock. Caparison PH-f and PH-R pickups. As usual, Caparison quality is perfect.

UTILIZATION

Ease of play is astounding. This is essentially Caparison's take on the Jackson USA Custom Shop Soloist. It does that. VERY well. Absolute rock-solid guitar. All frets are easily accessed, carve of the body holds your arm/wrist in the perfect shred position. The neck is extremely fast. Tone controls are about as basic as it gets.

SOUNDS

All my reviews are done through the same collection of Amplifiers:

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo
Soldano SLO
Fender Twin Reverb
Peavey XXX
Peavey Ultra 120
Rocktron Vendetta

Effects are typically not used. This guitar it the complete package for any style of music. Definitely geared towards the harder rock/metal crowd. When run through the orange channel on the Mesa, The TAT spits fire. I might replace the pickups soon however.

OVERALL OPINION

Precision built, the Soloist Jackson wishes they could still make. The TAT excels in it's genre of guitars. It is unique, well-designed, even better built and the newer models include coil tapping. The neck shape is comfy and exceptionally fast without being too thin. This is the classic Caparison. This guitar put them on the map and it continues to showcase their craftsmanship. I would not only buy it, but I would buy five. This is a lot of guitar for the price.

TAT stands for "Through and Through." Every TAT is a neck-thru guitar, which is how it got its name. Caparison uses Schaller floyds on their guitars, and on their floyd route, it's actually similar as if you'd route a flush mounted floyd. Basically, the bridge is higher on every Caparison, and you can pull up higher. Generally, that requires the neck to be shimmed, but the TAT is different. Caparison actually angled the body instead of angling the neck. This allows easier access for playing up in the higher frets. The older models have a fairly thin, soft D shape neck, and the newer models have a fairly thick, hard D shape. The finish on the older ones is also different than the newer ones. Personally, I prefer the older finish to the newer ones.

UTILIZATION

The neck-thru guitar allows for awesome access in the higher frets. The electronics aren't too terrible, but I prefer replacing them with American parts as they tend to last longer. This model has a maple neck, alder wings and an ebony fretboard. The famous clock inlays are equipped on this model, and the entire neck is completely bound in cream binding. Like nearly every Caparison, the neck is a compound radius which allows for easier chording at the lower frets and extreme bending at the higher frets. One thing that's a bit hard to get used to for me was that the bridge is physically higher on the guitar. It feels more like a Les Paul than a Strat because of the placement of the strings in relation to the body. Some people like this, some people don't.

SOUNDS

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of neck-thru guitars. They tend to sound bright, yet lack that "snap" that bolt-ons have. The ebony also gives it some additional presence, which I'm not a big fan of. The original came stock with two singles (I think VS-Is) and a PH-R. The PH-R is a pickup that quite a few people love. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of it as I feel there are better pickups out there. The guitar feels great, though. The thinner FD finish allows for more low mids to resonate through and thicken up the sound.

OVERALL OPINION

Caparison is a small company that only makes a few hundred models a year, and the lineup is constantly changing. The TAT is a great take on the Jackson Soloist with some of Caparison's own unique features. If you don't mind the headstock, these guitars should definitely be on your list to check out. The older ones also usually the cheapest on the used market for whatever reason.