Kosh Naranek
New member
I thought I'd give Gibson some well deserved propz today. I stopped at a local dealer today and plugged one of these in for a while:
I was surprised to see it there since it was one of the guitar of the month models from probably two years ago. It looked like new.
It was in this same blue finish over a nice sorta subtle flamed maple.
The neck was very comfortable, on the small side of medium thickness. The fretboard was fairly flat, and the frets probably medium jumbo. It actually makes you want to shred on it. And I found I was able to play the fancy stuff quite easily on it.
The tone from both pickups was clear and tight. It looked like both were 85's, unless 81's are also now made with the gold logo. I think I'd prefer an 85 at the bridge rather than an 81. The tone cleaned up very nicely when I lightened my pick attack, which might not happen as readily with an 81. The tone in the middle position had a bit of that sweetness you hear with a pair of vintage pickups, but not as much as with real passive vintage pickups. Still great for clean passages.
What I didn't know about this guitar until today is that it also has piezo pickups at the brige, routed to a separate output. Handy for gigs, though I'm not sure how much gigging I'd wanna do with a sweet guitar like this.
I didn't inspect every inch of the guitar for workmanship, but what I saw looked great. The tone and playability are superb. I'd love to record tracks in my home studio with this guitar. And what's more, I think the body shape, finish, inlays, and general aesthetics are very classy and tasteful. An axe I'd love to rock one day.
I was surprised to see it there since it was one of the guitar of the month models from probably two years ago. It looked like new.
It was in this same blue finish over a nice sorta subtle flamed maple.
The neck was very comfortable, on the small side of medium thickness. The fretboard was fairly flat, and the frets probably medium jumbo. It actually makes you want to shred on it. And I found I was able to play the fancy stuff quite easily on it.
The tone from both pickups was clear and tight. It looked like both were 85's, unless 81's are also now made with the gold logo. I think I'd prefer an 85 at the bridge rather than an 81. The tone cleaned up very nicely when I lightened my pick attack, which might not happen as readily with an 81. The tone in the middle position had a bit of that sweetness you hear with a pair of vintage pickups, but not as much as with real passive vintage pickups. Still great for clean passages.
What I didn't know about this guitar until today is that it also has piezo pickups at the brige, routed to a separate output. Handy for gigs, though I'm not sure how much gigging I'd wanna do with a sweet guitar like this.
I didn't inspect every inch of the guitar for workmanship, but what I saw looked great. The tone and playability are superb. I'd love to record tracks in my home studio with this guitar. And what's more, I think the body shape, finish, inlays, and general aesthetics are very classy and tasteful. An axe I'd love to rock one day.
