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Hatsubai « Archtop soloist guitar that rivals the USA ones »
Published on 07/31/11 at 17:46The Soloist Archtop was never quite as popular as the normal model, but I always found them to be pretty cool myself. The guitar has the following specs:
Mahogany body
Maple set neck with an ebony fretboard
24 jumbo frets with sharkfin inlays
Licensed floyd rose
Two humbuckers
One volume knob
One tone knob
Three way switch
UTILIZATION
This model is yet another reason why I believe some of these Pro guitars are just as good as the USA rivals. The guitar had some good weight to it, and I found it to be a touch lighter than the Ltd. 91 version thanks to the fact that there's no maple top. The maple can really add some weight which isn't necessarily a good thing. The fretwork on this was awesome, and I was able to get some sick action without much of an issue at all. The bridge on this is pretty good for a licensed floyd, although it was starting to show its wear after all these years. The neck itself felt very nice, and the arch top body was a nice touch on this model.
SOUNDS
This guitar had the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and the Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck. These aren't the stock pickups, so keep that in mind. The JB in the bridge is great for that 80s metal tone. However, it can really do anything from fusion to death metal thanks to its versatility. The mahogany wings helped calm down some of the treble that's normally associated with the JB. I tend to like darker tones these days, so that was a benefit. The Jazz in the neck was a fairly clean sounding pickup, and it worked great on clean tones. Lead tones were a bit "direct," but it still sounded great for some of those shred lines that I like to bust out.
OVERALL OPINION
This is another one of the guitars that rival the Jackson USA series, and it's no surprise that these were so coveted back in the day. If you can find one of these at a good price, I recommend buying it immediately. Unfortunately, most people today seem to know that these are high quality guitars and price them accordingly.
Mahogany body
Maple set neck with an ebony fretboard
24 jumbo frets with sharkfin inlays
Licensed floyd rose
Two humbuckers
One volume knob
One tone knob
Three way switch
UTILIZATION
This model is yet another reason why I believe some of these Pro guitars are just as good as the USA rivals. The guitar had some good weight to it, and I found it to be a touch lighter than the Ltd. 91 version thanks to the fact that there's no maple top. The maple can really add some weight which isn't necessarily a good thing. The fretwork on this was awesome, and I was able to get some sick action without much of an issue at all. The bridge on this is pretty good for a licensed floyd, although it was starting to show its wear after all these years. The neck itself felt very nice, and the arch top body was a nice touch on this model.
SOUNDS
This guitar had the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and the Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck. These aren't the stock pickups, so keep that in mind. The JB in the bridge is great for that 80s metal tone. However, it can really do anything from fusion to death metal thanks to its versatility. The mahogany wings helped calm down some of the treble that's normally associated with the JB. I tend to like darker tones these days, so that was a benefit. The Jazz in the neck was a fairly clean sounding pickup, and it worked great on clean tones. Lead tones were a bit "direct," but it still sounded great for some of those shred lines that I like to bust out.
OVERALL OPINION
This is another one of the guitars that rival the Jackson USA series, and it's no surprise that these were so coveted back in the day. If you can find one of these at a good price, I recommend buying it immediately. Unfortunately, most people today seem to know that these are high quality guitars and price them accordingly.