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I went to Japan for my honeymoon about two months ago, so I figured I would do a little guitar shopping and see if Caparison was worth the fuss. I was only interested in a 27 fret model, so that left the Horus or Applehorn. I checked Ikebe before going so I knew what guitars the stores had in stock.
My first stop was the Shibuya store where they had a Deep Blue Sea Horus, a Snow Cloud Horus, an Orange AH and a Sandstone AH. The Orange and Sandstone finishes on the AHs look like ass. The look and feel like cheap PVC or plastic. They may or may not be great tonally, but they make the guitar look much cheaper than it is. The Snow Cloud Horus and also their sunset finish on the TAT-SSH model look very bad and very cheap. That only left the Blue Horus, which I handed to the salesman to set me up. I was tuned up and plugged into a little Mesa combo for a test drive. The neck felt superb (I have small hands, for reference). Not too thin, not too thick, slick and unfinished. However, either because the guitar was not set up well or because the fretwork was off, frets 24 - 27 were a bit high on the high E string so there was some fretting out when playing there. Also, the guitar was absurdly scratched up (probably partially due to its really thin finish), like a Guitar Center special. I tried to get the salesman to cut the price to no avail, so I decided that that particular guitar was not for me.
My next stop was the Akihabara store that had a Aurora color Apple Horn with a special price. The finish looked much better to me and my wife than the Blue Horus. After a quick tuning I was ready to test again. Different guitar, but the neck still felt great... Perfect for my small hands. After playing for 15 minutes I knew I would be taking the guitar home with me. After talking the salesman down a little on the 5% tax, I was on my way home.
Now that I have had the guitar for a while she feels like an old friend in my hands. The combination of the neck and the short scale feels very comfortable to me. The bridge pickup has a high output Dimarzio like sound... voiced a little bright but also very clean and clear sounding. The single coil is basically useless. If I set it close enough to match the volume of the bridge pickup it pulls on the strings a little and reduces sustain. I will definitely replace it later. The bridge is a Schaller Floyd that stays in tune very well, even after full dives (I am using 4 springs and 10s). The guitar feels a bit light in my hands, but she still has ample sustain. The tone is a little bright so I need to pump up the bass and mids on my amp to get the heavier/darker sound I like.
Overall she is a fine instrument and Caparison deserves their reputation for being able to make high quality instruments. However, I would highly suggest try/look before you buy to make sure it is right for you... but I guess that does not help people who cannot travel to Japan . If you do make it to Japan, the salespeople are very nice and helpful and speak just enough English to make things not too difficult.
Specs:
HEAD
Head Stock: Caparison Devil's Tail
Head Inlay: "IA" (Silver)
Head Finish: Black / Ivory Binding
Machine Heads: Gotoh SGS G.H.A.P.
NECK
Neck Scale: 24 3/4inch
No. of Fret: 27F
Neck Material: Hard Maple
Fingerboard Material: Ebony /Ivory Binding
Position Inlay: Clock
Frets: Jumbo
Nut: Schaller Locking Nut R2
Neck Finish: oil Finish
Neck Joint: Bolt-on
BODY
Body Style: Apple Horn
Body Material: Mahogany
Bridge: Schaller S-FRT II
Body Finish: Aurora with Silver Apple Horn
PICKUP
Pickup Front: Caparison VS-IA
Pickup Rear: Caparison PH-R
Control: One Volume with 2 way Switch
Pics:
Body - The paint is like holoflake, so the colored dots come out bigger and brighter than they should. The skull knob was added aftermarket.
Headstock - Gives a much better representation of the paint.
Inlays - The time on the clock tells you what fret. Here it is 7 and 9. The inlays are simply fantastic.
Neck - All 27 frets
Back of the neck
-Mike
My first stop was the Shibuya store where they had a Deep Blue Sea Horus, a Snow Cloud Horus, an Orange AH and a Sandstone AH. The Orange and Sandstone finishes on the AHs look like ass. The look and feel like cheap PVC or plastic. They may or may not be great tonally, but they make the guitar look much cheaper than it is. The Snow Cloud Horus and also their sunset finish on the TAT-SSH model look very bad and very cheap. That only left the Blue Horus, which I handed to the salesman to set me up. I was tuned up and plugged into a little Mesa combo for a test drive. The neck felt superb (I have small hands, for reference). Not too thin, not too thick, slick and unfinished. However, either because the guitar was not set up well or because the fretwork was off, frets 24 - 27 were a bit high on the high E string so there was some fretting out when playing there. Also, the guitar was absurdly scratched up (probably partially due to its really thin finish), like a Guitar Center special. I tried to get the salesman to cut the price to no avail, so I decided that that particular guitar was not for me.
My next stop was the Akihabara store that had a Aurora color Apple Horn with a special price. The finish looked much better to me and my wife than the Blue Horus. After a quick tuning I was ready to test again. Different guitar, but the neck still felt great... Perfect for my small hands. After playing for 15 minutes I knew I would be taking the guitar home with me. After talking the salesman down a little on the 5% tax, I was on my way home.
Now that I have had the guitar for a while she feels like an old friend in my hands. The combination of the neck and the short scale feels very comfortable to me. The bridge pickup has a high output Dimarzio like sound... voiced a little bright but also very clean and clear sounding. The single coil is basically useless. If I set it close enough to match the volume of the bridge pickup it pulls on the strings a little and reduces sustain. I will definitely replace it later. The bridge is a Schaller Floyd that stays in tune very well, even after full dives (I am using 4 springs and 10s). The guitar feels a bit light in my hands, but she still has ample sustain. The tone is a little bright so I need to pump up the bass and mids on my amp to get the heavier/darker sound I like.
Overall she is a fine instrument and Caparison deserves their reputation for being able to make high quality instruments. However, I would highly suggest try/look before you buy to make sure it is right for you... but I guess that does not help people who cannot travel to Japan . If you do make it to Japan, the salespeople are very nice and helpful and speak just enough English to make things not too difficult.
Specs:
HEAD
Head Stock: Caparison Devil's Tail
Head Inlay: "IA" (Silver)
Head Finish: Black / Ivory Binding
Machine Heads: Gotoh SGS G.H.A.P.
NECK
Neck Scale: 24 3/4inch
No. of Fret: 27F
Neck Material: Hard Maple
Fingerboard Material: Ebony /Ivory Binding
Position Inlay: Clock
Frets: Jumbo
Nut: Schaller Locking Nut R2
Neck Finish: oil Finish
Neck Joint: Bolt-on
BODY
Body Style: Apple Horn
Body Material: Mahogany
Bridge: Schaller S-FRT II
Body Finish: Aurora with Silver Apple Horn
PICKUP
Pickup Front: Caparison VS-IA
Pickup Rear: Caparison PH-R
Control: One Volume with 2 way Switch
Pics:
Body - The paint is like holoflake, so the colored dots come out bigger and brighter than they should. The skull knob was added aftermarket.
Headstock - Gives a much better representation of the paint.
Inlays - The time on the clock tells you what fret. Here it is 7 and 9. The inlays are simply fantastic.
Neck - All 27 frets
Back of the neck
-Mike
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