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Hatsubai « Unique neck »
Published on 10/05/11 at 12:52This has the special V neck that Fender used to do way back when. The V necks on these are fairly pronounced, and if you're not used to V necks, this guitar might take you back a bit. It's quite a bit different from what most guitars utilize today. Still, some people absolutely love them. The guitar features an alder body with a maple neck, 22 frets with dot inlays, a two point tremolo system, three single coils, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The strings that were on this were absolutely dead. I had to replace those and give the guitar a full setup before I could allow this on the show floor. The frets needed to be polished, and I think it sat for awhile before we even got it. The access to the higher frets is the same in any other Fender in that it's pretty poor, but it's not a huge deal. There are some times when it can be a pain, but it's nowhere near as bad as a normal Les Paul. The frets themselves were decent, but they could have been a bit better. The neck needed to be tweaked, but that tends to happen during transport. The extreme heat from the shipping trucks and humidity changes between states can really take its toll on guitars at times.
SOUNDS
The guitar had the SCN pickups in it. If you've never heard of these pickups before, they're special pickups designed for Fender by Bill Lawrence with some unique magnets. The overall design is super quiet, and they have tons of output. As a result, they're more modern sounding than what you would normally expect from a Fender. The S1 switch on this guitar is useless, and I recommend never using it. You can even convert the pot to a normal one if you're worried you might press it by accident. All it does is make the guitar really muddy. The bridge is powerful, and you can play metal with it without much of an issue. In between positions get very nice cleans/funk tones, and the neck is great for leads.
OVERALL OPINION
The neck on this takes some getting used to if you've never played a V neck before. It's different, and that can be good or bad, depending on what your own personal tastes are. The quality is pretty standard for what you'd expect from Fender in that it's good, but it's nothing mind blowing. I tend to prefer the older Fenders, despite them having a bit of QC issues at times. Either way, if you find a good deal on this, check it out. Maybe you'll like it.
UTILIZATION
The strings that were on this were absolutely dead. I had to replace those and give the guitar a full setup before I could allow this on the show floor. The frets needed to be polished, and I think it sat for awhile before we even got it. The access to the higher frets is the same in any other Fender in that it's pretty poor, but it's not a huge deal. There are some times when it can be a pain, but it's nowhere near as bad as a normal Les Paul. The frets themselves were decent, but they could have been a bit better. The neck needed to be tweaked, but that tends to happen during transport. The extreme heat from the shipping trucks and humidity changes between states can really take its toll on guitars at times.
SOUNDS
The guitar had the SCN pickups in it. If you've never heard of these pickups before, they're special pickups designed for Fender by Bill Lawrence with some unique magnets. The overall design is super quiet, and they have tons of output. As a result, they're more modern sounding than what you would normally expect from a Fender. The S1 switch on this guitar is useless, and I recommend never using it. You can even convert the pot to a normal one if you're worried you might press it by accident. All it does is make the guitar really muddy. The bridge is powerful, and you can play metal with it without much of an issue. In between positions get very nice cleans/funk tones, and the neck is great for leads.
OVERALL OPINION
The neck on this takes some getting used to if you've never played a V neck before. It's different, and that can be good or bad, depending on what your own personal tastes are. The quality is pretty standard for what you'd expect from Fender in that it's good, but it's nothing mind blowing. I tend to prefer the older Fenders, despite them having a bit of QC issues at times. Either way, if you find a good deal on this, check it out. Maybe you'll like it.