Hatsubai « 80s power »
Published on 08/17/11 at 17:15These are old school Jacksons where they had different options you could choose from. The guitars vary depending on the model, so this review may not apply to whichever guitar you're trying to look up. The guitar has an alder body with a bullseye finish, a bolt-on maple neck, 22 jumbo frets, dot inlays, an original floyd rose that's flush mounted, a single humbucker in the bridge and one volume knob.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is truly a relic of the past. It has an old school Zakk Wylde style finish on it, for one. This was very popular back in the old days when Zakk Wylde made it popular. Everyone back then tried to emulate it, and it was super popular. The guitar itself has some normal wear on it for its age, and that's to be expected. It could use a nice once-over on the frets as they're slightly grooved from the wear. The floyd on this is an old school original floyd with no ability to pull up. I'm not a huge fan of that as I prefer the ability to pull up with my trems, but it was the standard at the time.
SOUNDS
The guitar really rips, and I find that the aged finish on older guitars allows them to be a bit more resonant than a brand new factory guitar. As the finish wears, it starts to sound a bit more open, and this is another reason why older instruments are so highly sought after. The guitar only has one pickup in the bridge, and it's an old 80s JB. The JB really rips in this. It can do nearly any genre you can think of. However, the clean tones are extremely lacking on this. That, and since I have no neck pickup, I can't do a lot of the smoother legato tones I tend to go for. That's the biggest reason why I rated this the way I did.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is old school through and through. If you're a fan of single humbucker pickups, this could very well be exactly what you're looking for. It also has the 80s looks, to boot. If you happen to find one at a good price, I recommend jumping on it. Otherwise, look for an old school GMW with the older headstocks as they should get you there as well.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is truly a relic of the past. It has an old school Zakk Wylde style finish on it, for one. This was very popular back in the old days when Zakk Wylde made it popular. Everyone back then tried to emulate it, and it was super popular. The guitar itself has some normal wear on it for its age, and that's to be expected. It could use a nice once-over on the frets as they're slightly grooved from the wear. The floyd on this is an old school original floyd with no ability to pull up. I'm not a huge fan of that as I prefer the ability to pull up with my trems, but it was the standard at the time.
SOUNDS
The guitar really rips, and I find that the aged finish on older guitars allows them to be a bit more resonant than a brand new factory guitar. As the finish wears, it starts to sound a bit more open, and this is another reason why older instruments are so highly sought after. The guitar only has one pickup in the bridge, and it's an old 80s JB. The JB really rips in this. It can do nearly any genre you can think of. However, the clean tones are extremely lacking on this. That, and since I have no neck pickup, I can't do a lot of the smoother legato tones I tend to go for. That's the biggest reason why I rated this the way I did.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is old school through and through. If you're a fan of single humbucker pickups, this could very well be exactly what you're looking for. It also has the 80s looks, to boot. If you happen to find one at a good price, I recommend jumping on it. Otherwise, look for an old school GMW with the older headstocks as they should get you there as well.