Review: Four LP Standard Style Guitars

Alkuperäinen, laajempi suomenkielinen juttu on luettavissa TÄÄLTÄ.

Thanks to technological progress and cheap Asian labour, you can already get a very decent Les Paul Standard copy these days for somewhere between 500 and 700 euros.

Here are four of those guitars presented in alphabetical order. I tried to obtain one of the new Epiphone-models from their Finnish distributor for this round-up, but to no avail.

****

GrassRoots G-LP-60S Honey Sunburst

• Current price in Finland: 559, – (incl. gig bag)

• Distributor: Musamaailma

GrassRoots is a brand in the ESP Guitars family, and concentrates on traditional electric guitars and basses. Even though the LP-60S is the least expensive guitar in this round-up, it comes in its own, high-quality gig bag. The finish on our review sample is called Honey Sunburst.

The G-LP-60S’ body is made from four side-by-side pieces of mahogany, with a top crafted from maple. The flame maple veneer on the curved top looks gorgeous.

The set mahogany neck is one piece of mahogany (!), except for the top half of the headstock. The bound fretboard has been made from beautiful pau ferro, while the LP-60S’ top nut is genuine bovine bone. The fretwork looks very decent.

The machine heads are nice copies of vintage Kluson tuners. The GrassRoots’ bridge is a modernised version of a Tune-o-matic, sporting six separate small metal clips to keep the bridge saddles in place.

The LP-60S’ pickups are GrassRoots’ own GH-1G humbuckers with metal covers. Looking beneath the electronics cavity covers, we found a closed three-way toggle switch, as well as four small pots and very clean soldering.

The first thing I noticed when I picked up the GrassRoots guitar is how light it is. I don’t know if GrassRoots uses any type of weight relief on the LP-60S, but the review sample’s weight clocks in at only 3.3 kgs.

The neck profile is a very ”fast” version of Gibson’s famous 60s neck, meaning a nicely rounded, but relatively slim C-shape. Musamaailma’s in-house guitar technician has expertly set up the review guitar, resulting in a buzz-free action of only 1.6 mm (bass-E) and 1.5 mm (treble-e).

I’d describe the GrassRoots humbuckers as vintage-powered, meaning they give a lot of scope for dynamics and a nice, rounded top end response. The neck ’bucker is flutey, while the bridge pickup offers ample kick and mid-range push. The GrassRoots G-LP-60S is a versatile LP Standard style guitar, which sounds great, offers a comfortably slender neck profile, and which doesn’t weigh a tonne.

****

Green LP STD Lemon Drop

• Current price in Finland: 498, –

• Distributor: Nordsound

Green Guitars is a Swedish brand with Far Eastern production to keep the prices musician-friendly. Green’s LP STD model comes in a fetching Lemon Drop finish, as well as sporting a few features that differ from standard vintage-fare.

The Green’s body uses three pieces of very lively mahogany. The arched maple top has been spruced up with a tiger striped flame maple veneer. Green’s LP STD sports a deeper cutaway than its famous forebear, resulting in a more pointed horn.

The set-in neck is carved out of three side-by-side strips of mahogany, which – in all probability – should add a little stiffness to the neck. The neck wrist is protected from headstock breaks by a volute.

The Green features a set of modern tuning machines, as well as an up-to-date version of the Tune-o-matic bridge.

The bound rosewood fretboard comes with 22 well-installed medium-size frets. The nut is made from a cream coloured plastic.

Green’s LP STAD model sports a pair of open, zebra-coloured humbuckers. The electronics comprise a closed three-way toggle, as well as four small diameter pots. The soldering looks nice and clean.

Green’s neck profile is a smidgen bigger than that of the GrassRoots – I’d say the profile is somewhere halfway between a ’59 and a ’60 Gibson. The set-up on our test sample was very good, with the action clocking in at 1.7 mm (bass-E) and 1.5 mm (treble-e), without any fret buzz.

I’d describe the Green’s humbuckers as ”hot vintage”. This guitar has a big sound with a nice, fresh dose of treble. If you’re into Slash, this is the guitar I’d try out first.

****

Tokai Guitars ALS-62 Honey Burst

• Current price in Finland: 659, –

• Distributor: Tokai Guitars Nordic/Musamaailma

Tokai Guitars must be the most famous ”copy brand” in the world, whose instruments caused Fender and Gibson to do something about their sagging quality control back in the 1980s.

In addition to their top-of-the-line Japanese LS-models, Tokai also offers more affordable Chinese versions under the ALS-banner. The flame maple veneer – finished in a fetching Honey Burst – looks stunning, deep and chatoyant.

The Tokai ALS-62’s body uses four pieces of mahogany and a veneered arched maple top. In this series Tokai uses hard rock maple for their guitar necks – in this case we’re talking about a three-piece affair of neck, headstock, and neck heel.

Tokai uses jatoba as the material for its bound fretboard. We find 22 expertly-finished, medium-sized frets, as well as a genuine bone nut. The bridge is a fine version of the vintage Tune-o-matic, with a single metal bracket keeping the saddles in place. The bridge and stopbar ferrules have been sunk into the top wood for a very clean look.

The Tokai ALS-62 sports a pair of covered LSC-F-humbuckers. The electronics comprise a closed three-way toggle switch, plus four small pots. The soldering is very clean.

Tokai’s neck profile is my personal favourite, I must confess. It’s a rounded, not-too-fat 1959-style neck profile, offering your fretting had a good amount of ”meat” without too much bulk. The action is buzz-free, while being comfortably low at 1.6 mm (bass-E) and 1.4 mm (treble-e).

The Tokai ALS-62 sounds like ”the real thing”, leaving nothing to be desired. The neck pickup is creamy and flutey, while the bridge unit adds the right amount of grit to proceedings. The Tommi’s output is vintage-to-medium. This is a gorgeous guitar with a versatile sound to boot.

****

Vintage V100PGM Lemon Drop

• Current price in Finland: 576, –

• Distributor: Nordsound

Vintage Brand’s V100PGM Lemon Drop is an ”unofficial” signature guitar, offering you an affordable shot at the legendary LP played by three legends in a row – Peter Green, Gary Moore, and Kirk Hammett. The original guitar’s burst has long faded into an ”unburst” lemon drop shade, which is why the Vintage V100PGM Lemon Drop was first only available in that shade. Our test sample, on the other had, is Vintage’s view of what the guitar must have looked like brand new. So, here we have a beautiful cherry sunburst-coloured guitar, that is called ”Lemon Burst”, go figure.

Trev Wilkinson, who has designed this guitar for Vintage Brand, has added a few nifty updates to prevent the V100PGM from being a straight copy instrument:

The V100PGM’s mahogany body (three pieces) has a rounder bass-side shoulder and a much deeper cutaway that Gibson’s original. The top’s flame maple veneer sports extremely pretty and deep figuring.

The guitar’s neck – crafted from three side-by-side pieces of mahogany – is glued into the body by means of an asymmetrical neck joint, making excursions to the dusty end more comfortable.

The Vintage’s fingerboard is made from a trademarked material, called ”Lignum Rosa”, which translates from Latin as ”wood of the rose”. I can’t tell you what it actually is, but it looks and feels great, and it is home to 22 medium-sized, well-dressed frets. The top nut is Graph Tech’s NuBone material, which is a man-made alternative to ivory.

Surprisingly, the V100PGM comes with a set of Grover Deluxe vintage-type machine heads, instead of the Wilkinsons I’d have expected. The bridge on this Vintage is a Wilkinson-version of a modern Tune-o-matic.

The V100PGM comes with a pair of Wilkinson WVC-humbuckers. Like on the original, the neck unit has been installed ”upside down”, meaning with the adjustable pole screws facing the bridge, and with the wires hooked up in reverse, too. Gary Moore swapped the bridge pickup’s controls from the original bell-type to the early-Sixties ”reflectors”, because he wanted to be able to find the correct control without having to look at the guitar. This has been copied on the Vintage as well.

The V100PGM uses a closed three-way toggle switch and four small diameter pots. The soldering looks very decent.

The Vintage V100PGM comes with a slightly flatter version of a Gibson 60s C-neck, so we’re talking about a very ”fast” neck feel. The review guitars comfortable set-up gives you plenty of acoustic dynamic range at 1.9 mm (bass-E) and 1.7 mm (treble-e).

Thanks to their moderate output the Wilkinson-humbuckers offer plenty of dynamics and openness, with a nice, bell-like treble response. The neck pickup is warm, while the bridge unit sounds brighter.

On the Vintage V100PGM the three-way switch’s middle position opens the door to a wide spectrum of different tones, which differ from the usual LP middle-position sounds. With both volume controls turned up fully, you get a very wiry and bright sound, due to the out-of-phase pickups. Turning one of the volume controls down by a little, gradually adds bottom end and mid-range width. Depending on which volume knob is turned down, the resulting sounds will differ somewhat. Experimentation is allowed and will be rewarded with many different shadings. I think it’s fantastic that Vintage Brand offers somethign a bit out of the ordinary at this affordable price point.

09/10/2023 0

Neljä LP Standard -tyylistä kitaraa – nyt Rockway-blogissa

Voit lukea testin TÄÄLLÄ.

06/09/2023 0

Tulossa Rockway-blogiin: Neljä LP Standard -tyylistä kitaraa

Here’s a demo song of four LP Standard style guitars based on ZZ Top’s classic track ”Stages”.
****
The demoed guitars are:
• GrassRoots G-LP-60S
• Green Guitars LP Standard Lemon Drop
• Tokai Guitars ALS-62
• Vintage ReIssued Series V100PGM
****
• Effects used: Dunlop CryBaby Mini, Ibanez Fuzz 850 Mini, Mad Professor Simble OD, Joyo Analog Chorus, EHX Memory Toy, EHX Germanium 4 Big Muff Pi
• Amp used: Bluetone Black Prince Reverb
• Mic used: Shure SM7B
• Preamp used: Cranborne Audio Camden EC2

****

13/08/2023 0

Review: Bluetone Atlantis Reverb

Here’s a demo of the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo. The demo is a cover version of the classic Fleetwood Mac track ”Albatross”.
• All guitar tracks have been recorded with the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo
• Guitars used: Epiphone Casino (main melody, stereo centre), Hamer USA Studio Custom (harmony melody, panned left and right; rhythm guitar), Squier Bullet Stratocaster (slide parts)
• Mic used: Shure 545SD
• Preamp used: Cranborne Audio Camden EC2

****

All pre-WWII guitar amps are muddy-sounding and uninspiring pieces of junk. Right? No, wrong!

Granted, some of those old-timers are almost completely geared towards clean Jazz tones, but you might be surprised by some of the forward-thinking features many of the early guitar amplifiers include.

The brand-new Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo (1,950 €) is a handcrafted Finnish all-valve amp, that is based on one of the most fascinating old designs, the Gibson EH-185 (c. 1940). The original Gibson combo included an active two-band tone stack, which is a feature still only found in a handful of guitar amp designs.

For Bluetone’s Harry and Lauri the ball started rolling, when a customer ordered a quasi-replica of the EH-185 from Bluetone. Intrigued by the challenge, the guys came up with a number of ways to realise the vintage circuit with modern components.

The Bluetone Atlantis Reverb takes these updated circuits, and combines them with a number of Bluetone’s modern features, to arrive at a modern and roadworthy alternative to the late-1930s original.

This is what the Atlantis Reverb looks like on the inside – super clean workmanship and top-notch components in a easy-to-service PCB layout.

The Atlantis is a single-channel guitar amp; the input section comprises controls for volume (gain) and the two-band active EQ (cut and boost), as well as a switchable preamp boost and a Bright-switch.

The effect section features an Accutronics spring reverb unit and Bluetone’s own, beautiful bias-modulated tremolo. Both effects can be switched on and off.

The output section sports a switchable Solo-boost and a post phase-inverter Master-volume control. The post phase-inverter design means that turning the Master full up takes the control out of the circuit completely.

The back panel offers additional speaker outputs, an unbalanced line-level output – with its own, built-in dummy load and level control – as well as the DIN-port for the footswitch unit.

A three-switch footswitch unit is included with the Atlantis Reverb combo, as is the necessary cable.

The Bluetone Atlantis’ preamp isn’t your run-in-the-mill 12AX7-based design, but instead runs a pair of NOS 6SL7-tubes and one 6SN7 to achieve its special tones. Both models were very popular among tube HiFi enthusiasts in the 1990s, but are extremely rarely seen in modern guitar amps.

The power amp can run most of the common octal power amp valves, such as the 6V6GT, the EL34, the 5881 or the KT66. The design is cathode-biased, which means you can drop in a new pair of tubes without the need for manual biasing. The only thing to remember is that if you want to use a pair of 6V6GTs you have to put the small switch (hidden in the picture by the back panel) to ”6V6GT” to prevent any damage to the amp. All other valves are supposed run on the 6L6GC setting.

From the workshop the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb comes equipped with a pair of 6L6GCs, giving you a Fender-style power amp with an output somewhere between 25 and 30 watts.

The black round thing in the picture’s right-hand corner is a toroidal mains transformer. The guys at Bluetone swear by toroidal mains transformers, because of their reduced weight, great reliability and superior (read: lower) hum-induction levels.

The combo’s cabinet is a traditional Fender-type open-back design. The speaker is a 12-inch Celestion Neo Creamback unit rated at 60 watts.

The cabinet is made of lightweight and ecologically sound solid paulownia wood, making the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb far lighter to carry than what you’d expect from a 12-inch speaker equipped traditional design.

****

Here’s a demo based on Santana’s classic ”Samba Pa Ti”.
• Guitar: Hamer USA Studio Custom (no effect pedals were used)
• Mic: Shure 545SD
• Preamp: Universal Audio Volt 2

****

The Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo’s forte definitely lies in its clean and break-up tones. The cleans have a charming chime to them that’s all their own – the sound, at least to my ears, is even sweeter than on a Fender ”Blackface” offering a lot of three-dimensional depth to your playing.

The two-band active EQ allows you to tailor the amp perfectly to any guitar you might pick, proving to be a very effective tool both on stage and in recording situations.

Overdriven sounds have their charms, too, as long as you don’t expect any creamy distortion from the Atlantis Reverb on its own. This combo’s crunch is of the late-Sixties/early-Seventies type, perfect for early-Santana, classic The Who, or T. Rex style excursions, which put dynamics and attitude front and centre.

The Atlantis also works exceedingly well with all types of effect pedals.

If you have an opportunity to test drive one of these beautiful handcrafted gems, you should definitely grab it!

25/04/2023 0

Bluetone Atlantis Reverb ++ Working on a review ++ Testi tulossa

Here’s a demo of the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo – a handmade Finnish valve combo, based on a Gibson EH-185.
The demo is a cover version of the classic Fleetwood Mac track ”Albatross”.
****
• All guitar tracks have been recorded with the Bluetone Atlantis Reverb combo
• Guitars used: Epiphone Casino (main melody, stereo centre), Hamer USA Studio Custom (harmony melody, panned left and right; rhythm guitar), Squier Bullet Stratocaster (slide parts)
• Mic used: Shure 545SD
• Preamp used: Cranborne Audio Camden EC2

Bluetonen Atlantis Reverb -kombo on käsintehty suomalainen putkivahvistin, joka perustuu Gibson EH-185 -malliin nykyaikaisilla parannuksilla.
Demobiisi on coverversio Fleetwood Macin klassikosta ”Albatross”.
****
• Kaikki kitararaidat on soitettu Bluetone Atlantis Reverb -kombon läpi
• Kitarat: Epiphone Casino (päämelodia, stereokuvassa keskellä), Hamer USA Studio Custom (kaksiääninen melodia, vasemmalla ja oikealla, sekä komppikitara keskellä), Squier Bullet Stratocaster (bottleneck-kitara)
• Mikrofoni: Shure 545SD
• Esivahvistin: Cranborne Audio Camden EC2

20/04/2023 0

Review: J. Leachim Guitars Jazzcaster

You could call J. Leachim Guitars Finland’s answer to Nash Guitars. Just like the American maker, JLG, too, don’t make their guitars from scratch, from the raw wood. Instead, J. Leachim assembles guitars from bought in unfinished necks and bodies, as well as parts and hardware sourced from a number of reputable sources. J. Leachim Guitars’ forte lies in their finish work, and the relicing of guitars.

J. Leachim’s main man, Jan Merivirta, supplied Kitarablogi.com with an example of his Jazzcaster model, which sports a pristine, “NOS” nitro finish.

****

The J. Leachim Guitars Jazzcaster (prices start from approx. 1,300 €; hard case incl.) is a very enticing mix of different classic guitars:

The Jazzcaster’s maple neck has been sourced from Northwest Guitars. It’s a Tele-style neck sporting jumbo frets, as well as a modern fretboard radius of 9.5 inches.

The Guitarbuild body has been crafted from very lightweight swamp ash. Filtertron-sized pickup routs have been added at the J. Leachim workshop.

J. Leachim Guitars clearly know how to use nitro lacquer properly:

The body has received an exquisite, thinly applied gloss finish in Surf Green, while the neck has been finished with a thin satin clear coat.

The fretwork on the Jazzcaster is great. The rosewood fingerboard comes with 21 jumbo-sized frets.

The top nut has been carved from a piece of genuine bovine bone. Some may find the nut’s shaping a tad angular, but I don’t mind; it’s only cosmetics, after all.

A nice set of lightly-aged Klusons takes care of tuning duties on this J. Leachim model.

The Jazzcaster’s bridge and vibrato tailpiece have both been sourced from WD Music:

The vibrato is a version of the Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar-vibrato, albeit without the original’s lock-off mechanism. The original locking mechanism is notoriously difficult to set up properly, so leaving it off is actually a good thing (in the view of most guitarists).

Many guitarists today dislike the original Jazzmaster-bridge, too, because the individual height-adjustment screws on the bridge saddles tend to work themselves loose with modern (light gauge) strings. Originally, this bridge – as well as the vibrato – has been designed to work with the stiffer string sets of the late 1950s (mostly 012 or 013 sets). With a set of 010s or 009s the Jazzmaster-bridge’s adjustment screws tend to rattle a lot.

Many modern makers – like J. Leachim Guitars – substitute the Jazzmaster-bridge with a Fender Mustang-bridge for this very reason. The Mustang-bridge is a direct replacement, and it uses differently sized bridge saddles to preset the fretboard radius permanently, so nothing can work itself loose and rattle.

Gretsch Filtertron-style pickups are the ”in” thing at the moment.

J. Leachim’s Jazzcaster comes with a pair of TV Jones-pickups – there’s a vintage-type TV Classic in the neck position, and a more powerful Powertron model placed near the bridge.

The customer who ordered this particular Jazzcaster specified a reverse tone control (working clockwise), so this is what can be found on this instrument.

J. Leachim Guitars use a stereo phone jack, which keeps a firmer grip on the guitar lead’s plug, as well as making sure you always have a good connection to ground.

****

In my view, the J. Leachim Jazzcaster very successfully blends the ergonomics of the Jazzmaster body with a Gretschy tone. Thanks to its very smooth Jazzmaster-vibrato, the JLG Jazzcaster has a more open sound than, for example, a Cabronita Telecaster.

The Jazzcaster plays like a dream, as long as you’re willing to live with the typical, well-known compromises of the Jazzmaster/Jaguar-vibrato.

With modern, slinky strings, big bends – especially, when played higher up the neck – can quite easily make the high e-string jump out of its bridge groove. In a way this isn’t so much a fault, but more of a feature of this vibrato system, because the strings cross the bridge at a relatively shallow angle. With the stiff string sets of the late Fifties the system works fine, but for huge Blues bends with a contemporary 010-gauge set you should maybe invest in an additional bridge roller.

I would like to see a smoother taper on the tone control, though. On the review instrument the treble roll-off was more a matter of on or off, with everything happening right at the end of of the knob’s travel.

The Jazzcaster has a beautiful acoustic tone, with a bell-like ring and an open, yet firm body.

TV Jones’ acclaimed Filtertron-style pickups seem like a perfect fit for this model, adding a good deal of chime and twang, without sounding too bright or biting. Being humbuckers, the TV Jones pickups are also immune against hum and buzz, unlike a traditional Jazzmaster’s singlecoil units, which are not a million miles removed from a Gibson P-90.

This clip gives you an idea of the J. Leachim Jazzcaster’s clean sounds (starting with the neck pickup):

When plugged into an overdriven channel, the Jazzcaster wins you over with a chunky, aggressive and compact voice, which is just the ticket for Seventies-style Rock or Punk. Famous Filtertron-users in the Rock genre include AC/DC’s original rhythm guitarist Malcom Young, and the Who’s Pete Townshend, who frequently used Gretsch guitars as his ”secret weapon” in the studio.

Here’s the track from the Youtube-video – ”Seabird Flavour (Homage to Peter Green)”:

There are three rhythm parts – left channel (neck pickup), centre (neck pickup), and right channel (both pickups) – as well as the lead part, which uses both pickups (and the vibrato tailpiece).

****

In my view, J. Leachim’s Jazzcaster is a beautiful, and very well-made, Fender-inspired guitar, with a sound that’s all its own. You could think the Jazzcaster was only for Jazz or Country, but in reality this fine guitar covers a much wider area of musical styles.

In any case, J. Leachim Guitars is yet another Finnish guitar brand worth keeping on your radar.

****

J. Leachim Guitars Jazzcaster

Price approx. 1,300 € (incl. hard case)

Contact: J. Leachim Music

****

Pros:

+ workmanship

+ finish

+ playability

+ smooth vibrato action

+ sound

Cons:

– shallow string angle across bridge (read the review)

– tone control could work smoother

18/02/2015 1

Testipenkissä: J. Leachim Guitars Jazzcaster

Riihimäkiläistä J. Leachim Guitarsia voisi kutsua Suomen vastineeksi amerikkalaiselle Nash Guitarsille. Samoin kuin Nash Guitarsissa myös JLG:ssäkään ei rakenneta soittimia suoraan raa’asta puusta, vaan firmassa keskitytään puolivalmiiden runkojen ja kaulojen viimeistelyyn, osien relikointiin (jos toivottu), sekä kitaroiden kokoamiseen.

Saimme J. Leachimin pomolta, Jan Merivirralta, juuri valmistuneen Jazzcaster-mallin, joka on yksi firman ei-relikoiduista soittimista.

****

J. Leachim Guitarsin Jazzcaster (hintaluokka noin 1.300 €; kova laukku kuuluu hintaan) on mielenkiintoinen ja tutunoloinen yhteentörmäys eri klassikkokitaroiden aineksista:

Jazzcasterin kaula on Northwest Guitarsilta hankittu nykyaikainen Tele-kaula jumbonauhoilla, sekä (alkuperäistä hieman loivemmalla) 9,5-tuumaisella otelaudan radiuksella.

Erittäin kevyt suosaarnirunko tulee Guitarbuildin valikoimasta, ja siihen on lisätty J. Leachimin pajassa oikean mittaiset kolot Filtertron-tyypisille mikeille.

J. Leachimissä tiedetään ilmiselvästi miten nitrolakkaa käytetään oikein:

Rungon erittäin ohut, kiiltävä Surf Green -viimeistely on suorastaan herkullisen näköinen, kun taas kaulan satiinipinta tuntuu todella mukavalta.

Jazzcasterin nauhatyö on kiitettävällä tasolla. Ruusupuiseen otelautaan on asennettu 21 jumbo-kokoista nauhaa.

Soittimen satula on aitoa naudanluuta. Satulan ulkoreunojen kulmikkuus on pelkästään kosmeettinen makuasia, joka ei ainakaan minua haittaa pätkäkään.

Tässä J. Leachim soittimessa käytetään hienoja – ja kevyesti vanhoitettuja – Kluson-virittimiä.

Jazzcasterin talla ja vibrato tulevat WD Musicilta:

Vibrato on firman versio Fenderin Jazzmaster/Jaguar-vibrasta. Tarkkasilmäinen lukija on varmaan jo huomannut, että tässä versiossa alkuperäinen lukitusnappi puuttuu. Monien mielestä tämä on kuitenkin hyvä asia, koska alkuperäisen Fender-vibran lukitusmekanismi on melko hankala säätää toimivaksi.

Nykykitaristeille alkuperäinen Jazzmaster-tallakin on usein harmaiden hiuksien aiheuttaja. Tallapalojen yksittäiset säätöruuvit toimivat nimittäin suhteellisen hyvin ainoastaan 1950-luvun paksuilla kielisatseilla. Kevyillä nykysatseilla pikkuruiset säätöruuvit alkavat usein löystyä omatoimisesti soiton aikana, ja räminä voi alkaa.

Helpoin lääke tähän ongelmaan on käyttää Jazzmaster-tallan sijaan Fender Mustang -kitaran tallaa – se on muuten samanlainen, mutta Mustang-tallassa otelaudan kaarevuutta kompensoidaan eripaksuisilla tallapaloilla.

Gretsch Filtertron -tyyliset humbuckerit ovat tällä hetkellä erittäin ”in”.

J. Leachim Jazzcasteriin on asennettu kaksi TV Jones -mallia – vintage-tyylinen TV Classic on valittu kaulamikrofoniksi, kun taas tallamikrofonina toimii selvästi alkuperäistä tuhdimpi Powertron.

Tilaajan toiveesta tässä Jazzcasterissa on käänteisesti toimiva tone-potikkaa.

J. Leachim Guitarsin stereojakki pitää plugia tiukasti paikoillaan ja lisää maadoituksen toimintavarmuutta.

****

Tämä Jazzcaster-kitara yhdistää onnistuneesti Jazzmasterin ergonomiaa ja soitettavuutta Gretsch-maiseen soundiin. Sulavasti toimivan vibran ansiosta J. Leachim -kitaran soinnissa on kuitenkin hieman enemmän avoimuutta kuin sellaisissa risteyksissä kuin esimerkiksi Cabronita Teleissä.

Jazzcasterin soitettavuus on ensiluokkaista, kun vaan ottaa huomioon Jazzmaster- ja Jaguar-faneille tutut rajoitukset:
Nykyaikaisilla (lue: ohuilla) kielillä suuret Blues-venytykset (etenkin ylänauhoilla) nostavat usein korkean e-kielen ulos tallapalan uralta. Tämä on enemmän ominaisuus kuin vika, koska Jazzmaster-vibra – jossa kielet menevät tallan yli suhteellisen loivassa kulmassa – on suunniteltu 1950-luvun lopussa käytettäväksi hiotun 013-kielisatsin kanssa. Isot bendaukset 010-satsilla onnistuvat tällä vibratolla esimerkiksi asentamalla vibratoon kieliä alas vetävän lisärullan.

Ainoa pieni kritiikkikohta koskee tässä kitarassa tone-säätimen toimintaa, jossa diskantin vaimennus tapahtuu vasta ihan liikeradan lopussa.

Jazzcasterin kaunis akustinen ääni on kellomaisen helisevä ja hyvin avoin, muttei missään nimessä liian kevyt.

TV Jonesin Filtertron-tyyliset mikrofonit ovat mielestäni todella hyvä valinta tähän malliin, koska ne lisäävät soundiin oman twänginsä, joka on kuitenkin vähemmän pureva kuin esimerkiksi perinteinen Telecaster-tallamikki. Kaksikelaisina TV Jonesit ovat myös hyvin immuuneja ulkoisia häiriöitä vastaan, jotka voivat olla tavallisissa Jazzmaster-mikrofoneissa oikea riesa.

Tässä esimerkkejä J. Leachim Jazzcasterin puhtaista soundeista (alkaen kaulamikrofonista):

Särön kanssa Jazzcasterista lähtee loistavan ärhäkkä ja sopivan kompakti ääni, joka sopii mainiosti jopa 1970-luvun Rockiin ja Punkiin. Tunnetuin Filtertron-käyttäjä Rock-piireissä on ollut varmaan AC/DC:n Malcom Young. Myös Pete Townshend (The Who) käytti 70-luvulla usein Gretsch-kitaroita Filtertron-mikeillä ”salaisena aseena” studiossa, juuri niiden erikoisen särösoundin takia.

Viimeiseksi vielä videon ääniraita – ”Seabird Flavour (Homage to Peter Green)”:

Biisissä on kolme komppikitaraa – vasen kanava (kaulamikki), keskellä (kaulamikki) ja oikea kanava (molemmat yhdessä) – sekä molempia mikrofoneja (ja myös vibratallaa) käyttävä soolokitara.

****

J. Leachim Jazzcaster on mielestäni hyvin kaunis ja laadukas Fender-henkinen kitara omalla soundilla ja virtaviivaistetulla elektroniikalla. Ensisilmäyksellä Jazzcasteria voisi ehkä lokeroida pelkäksi Jazz- ja Country-kitaraksi, mutta todellisuudessa kitaran soundilliset antimet kattavat huomattavasti laajemman kirjon musiikkityylejä.

J. Leachim Guitars on joka tapauksessa yksi suomalainen tekijä lisää, jota tästedes kannattaa pitää silmällä.

****

J. Leachim Guitars Jazzcaster

Hintaluokka 1.300 € (sis. kovan laukun)

Lisätiedot: J. Leachim Music

****

Plussat:

+ työnjälki

+ viimeistely

+ soitettavuus

+ pehmeästi toimiva vibrato

+ soundi