Hatsubai « The original Caparison »
Published on 07/24/11 at 14:22A luthier in Japan named Itaru Kanno was one of the head luthiers for Jackson and oversaw quite a few special builds in the Pro Series line up. This is a special guitar he made for Doug Aldrich during the days when Doug still played Jackson and Charvel guitars. There were actually four of these guitars, and they had different specs. The one in this review has the following specs:
Mahogany body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and slight scallop from the 12th to 24th frets
Reverse sharkfin inlays and reverse headstock
24 jumbo frets
Jackson licensed floyd
HS configuration
One volume knob
One three way switch
UTILIZATION
These guitars were put together a bit better from some of the other professional series guitars, I've found. I think these are some of the few that directly had Itaru working on them vs the other regular luthiers in the shop. The fretwork on this model was pretty nice, but considering it was a used guitar, you could notice pits in the frets. The edges were nice and rounded off, so no issues there. The stock floyd on this is pretty decent, but I find them to be stiff at times. The routing is unique as it's actually like someone added the rear cavity after the fact, so your hand is actually higher than if you were playing an ESP or something. Just a different feel, I guess. You can really tell how the Caparison guitars that Itaru would later make were modeled after this.
SOUNDS
While the guitar didn't come with these stock, the guitar had a Seymour Duncan Custom and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails. These pickups came in the two special models that they released, but the normal artist models came equipped some Japanese wound pickups. The Duncan Custom in the bridge sounds awesome in mahogany. You have this nice bite, but it's also very thick. Leads work great, and rhythm is killer as well. The Hot Rails in the neck is probably one of my favorite single coil sized humbuckers. You get a super fat rhythm sound with sustain for days. Switching back and forth between the bridge and neck can be a bit of a pain, but if you're used to the ESP M-II style switching, it shouldn't be a huge deal.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars can be pretty hard to find, and this is one of the more higher production models. There are some where there were only a handful made. They're great guitars, and if you can find them at a good price, I recommend jumping on them. However, I honestly think you're better off just getting a newer Caparison guitar as they'll have even better fretwork, better tone woods and be more consistent overall.
Mahogany body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and slight scallop from the 12th to 24th frets
Reverse sharkfin inlays and reverse headstock
24 jumbo frets
Jackson licensed floyd
HS configuration
One volume knob
One three way switch
UTILIZATION
These guitars were put together a bit better from some of the other professional series guitars, I've found. I think these are some of the few that directly had Itaru working on them vs the other regular luthiers in the shop. The fretwork on this model was pretty nice, but considering it was a used guitar, you could notice pits in the frets. The edges were nice and rounded off, so no issues there. The stock floyd on this is pretty decent, but I find them to be stiff at times. The routing is unique as it's actually like someone added the rear cavity after the fact, so your hand is actually higher than if you were playing an ESP or something. Just a different feel, I guess. You can really tell how the Caparison guitars that Itaru would later make were modeled after this.
SOUNDS
While the guitar didn't come with these stock, the guitar had a Seymour Duncan Custom and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails. These pickups came in the two special models that they released, but the normal artist models came equipped some Japanese wound pickups. The Duncan Custom in the bridge sounds awesome in mahogany. You have this nice bite, but it's also very thick. Leads work great, and rhythm is killer as well. The Hot Rails in the neck is probably one of my favorite single coil sized humbuckers. You get a super fat rhythm sound with sustain for days. Switching back and forth between the bridge and neck can be a bit of a pain, but if you're used to the ESP M-II style switching, it shouldn't be a huge deal.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars can be pretty hard to find, and this is one of the more higher production models. There are some where there were only a handful made. They're great guitars, and if you can find them at a good price, I recommend jumping on them. However, I honestly think you're better off just getting a newer Caparison guitar as they'll have even better fretwork, better tone woods and be more consistent overall.