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Hatsubai « Offset dot inlay'd Fusion »
Published on 06/25/11 at 12:19This is yet another low end Jackson made overseas. The guitar has the following specs:
Basswood body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 extra jumbo frets
Offset dot inlays
A Jackson licensed floyd rose
HSS configuration
One volume, no tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The Japanese guitars back during this day had some hit or miss things going on with them. There were some that were killer. These were the ones made with the same woods as the American counterparts. They were also built by a certain luthier. The lower end ones made with basswood don't really sound that great, and I find their quality isn't quite as good.
This guitar had an original floyd rose swapped into it. I much prefer these to the stock Jackson floyds as they hold tune better and generally sound better. The cheaper pot metal of the lower end Jackson floyds tends to suck tone. The frets weren't too bad on this, but the neck joint had a slight gap in it that could potentially affect tone.
SOUNDS
This guitar had aftermarket pickups swapped into it, so I'll be going on the tone based on those. There was a DiMarzio Evo in the bridge with two FS-1 single coils in the neck and middle. The Evo in the bridge gave this guitar some serious bite. It really cuts through the mix, but it might be a bit too bright for some people. It's very high output, and you can hear every little mistake you make, so it might not be for everyone. The FS-1 pickups are pretty cool in that they give a unique, powerful kinda single coil tone going on. There was a noticeable volume difference going from the neck to the bridge, so that might bother some.
OVERALL OPINION
If you start modding these guitars, there is some potential in them. However, I think you can do better if you spend a bit more money and buy something that has alder or mahogany. I'm a fan of basswood on my Ibanez guitars, but it just feels wrong to have a basswood Jackson for whatever reason. Maybe I'm too traditional.
Basswood body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 extra jumbo frets
Offset dot inlays
A Jackson licensed floyd rose
HSS configuration
One volume, no tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The Japanese guitars back during this day had some hit or miss things going on with them. There were some that were killer. These were the ones made with the same woods as the American counterparts. They were also built by a certain luthier. The lower end ones made with basswood don't really sound that great, and I find their quality isn't quite as good.
This guitar had an original floyd rose swapped into it. I much prefer these to the stock Jackson floyds as they hold tune better and generally sound better. The cheaper pot metal of the lower end Jackson floyds tends to suck tone. The frets weren't too bad on this, but the neck joint had a slight gap in it that could potentially affect tone.
SOUNDS
This guitar had aftermarket pickups swapped into it, so I'll be going on the tone based on those. There was a DiMarzio Evo in the bridge with two FS-1 single coils in the neck and middle. The Evo in the bridge gave this guitar some serious bite. It really cuts through the mix, but it might be a bit too bright for some people. It's very high output, and you can hear every little mistake you make, so it might not be for everyone. The FS-1 pickups are pretty cool in that they give a unique, powerful kinda single coil tone going on. There was a noticeable volume difference going from the neck to the bridge, so that might bother some.
OVERALL OPINION
If you start modding these guitars, there is some potential in them. However, I think you can do better if you spend a bit more money and buy something that has alder or mahogany. I'm a fan of basswood on my Ibanez guitars, but it just feels wrong to have a basswood Jackson for whatever reason. Maybe I'm too traditional.