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The Gibson Vegas High Roller is a new release in Gibson’s long line of semi acoustic guitars. The high roller features a new design for Gibson and whilst still being a double cutaway design the horns on this guitar are a little more angular than a 335 – the headstock is also a departure from the standard three on each side – and is more Firebird like (although we think reminiscent of a Gibson Explorer). Size wise it’s a littler smaller than a 335
Gibson have kept their eye on quality here and the looks wise the guitar is a beauty featuring a AAA maple top – it’s available in a number of different colors (all vegas themed) such as Roulette red, Felt Green and Desert Sunset. As typical with a lot of Gibson’s the High Roller has a mahogany neck featuring what Gibson call a “classic 60’s style neck – the neck is a set neck and it’s joined to the body at the 19th Fret. The fingerboard is ebony and features 22 frets and white ply binding. Hardware wise the controls are gold finished (which adds to the tasty looks) and it’s a typical Gibson setup of tune-o-matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece – the single volume and tone knobs are also gold topped with chrome inserts. Tone wise the guitar comes equipped with Gibson’s Burstbucker pro pickups (one neck one bridge) these produce a really raw (somewhat trebly) sound which can produce some really great lead tones – as it’s a hollowbody – expect the normal earthy tones to shine through – it’s loud though which is a good thing! The pickups are similar to the standard BurstBucker pick up's but with the extra oomph of an Alnico 5 magnet. These pickups get fitted to Gibson’s Les Paul’s so it’s easy to see why the sound produced here does not entirely fit what’s expected of a normal hollow body – they also feature a wax potted coil to reduce feedback. All this adds up to a guitar that can produce some nice versatile tones – and perhaps this is the key – we can’t help wondering where Gibson is pitching this guitar – sure it’s modern looking – the pickups create a great sound – but we can’t help thinking that if you want a hollow body Gibson your more than likely to go for a 335 and if you want the lead tones you’ll have a Les Paul – the Vegas High Roller seems to offer something in between – it’s no bad thing mind – just a little modern – and while the rest of the industry is pitching themselves towards the vintage market this guitar seems to offer a little something different. The Gibson Vegas High roller retails at around $2,000. |
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