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Hatsubai « HSS 22 Fretter »
Published on 11/03/11 at 17:13The Concept Series is a pretty interesting line, mainly because you don't see a lot of them. They can be a bit hit or miss, but for the most part, they're generally all pretty average. They were meant for people who didn't want to spend a lot of money on a guitar, but some of them can be real quality players. The guitar features a basswood body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 extra jumbo frets, dot inlays, a licensed floyd rose bridge, HSS configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was pretty decent, overall. The fret ends were a bit sharp, but they can be fixed with a special triangle file. It only takes about 10 minutes to fix it. If you're doing it yourself, be careful not to take too much off. The frets themselves were fairly level, and I didn't have any issues getting the action I was looking for on this guitar. The guitar has a licensed Jackson bridge, and they're not exactly the highest quality bridges in the world. The baseplate isn't as strong as other floyds on the market, and I find the screws strip easily. I also don't like the way the arms are as they seem to be real sloppy when compared to the older floyds.
SOUNDS
This guitar had a Hot Rails in the neck, a Cool Rails in the middle and an Invader in the bridge. I was never really a huge fan of the Invader. It has tons of gain and bass, but it doesn't seem to have much overall clarity. It can work for certain genres, but there are better pickups out there that do this kind of style. The Cool Rails is also a pickup I was never super crazy about. It's like a mix between a single coil and humbucker sound, but it doesn't seem to do either of them great. The Hot Rails in the neck can work great for leads, but it kinda sucks for cleans. I might have chosen some different pickups for this guitar, but it wasn't too terrible overall.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is fairly decent, and with a bit of TLC, you can make these into some nice players. They can be hard to find, but if you keep searching different forums and/or eBay, I'm sure you'll be able to get a nice deal on one of these considering how few people actually know about them. Just be prepared to spend a bit of extra cash to help make this guitar into something better.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was pretty decent, overall. The fret ends were a bit sharp, but they can be fixed with a special triangle file. It only takes about 10 minutes to fix it. If you're doing it yourself, be careful not to take too much off. The frets themselves were fairly level, and I didn't have any issues getting the action I was looking for on this guitar. The guitar has a licensed Jackson bridge, and they're not exactly the highest quality bridges in the world. The baseplate isn't as strong as other floyds on the market, and I find the screws strip easily. I also don't like the way the arms are as they seem to be real sloppy when compared to the older floyds.
SOUNDS
This guitar had a Hot Rails in the neck, a Cool Rails in the middle and an Invader in the bridge. I was never really a huge fan of the Invader. It has tons of gain and bass, but it doesn't seem to have much overall clarity. It can work for certain genres, but there are better pickups out there that do this kind of style. The Cool Rails is also a pickup I was never super crazy about. It's like a mix between a single coil and humbucker sound, but it doesn't seem to do either of them great. The Hot Rails in the neck can work great for leads, but it kinda sucks for cleans. I might have chosen some different pickups for this guitar, but it wasn't too terrible overall.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is fairly decent, and with a bit of TLC, you can make these into some nice players. They can be hard to find, but if you keep searching different forums and/or eBay, I'm sure you'll be able to get a nice deal on one of these considering how few people actually know about them. Just be prepared to spend a bit of extra cash to help make this guitar into something better.