HP Signature EXP Review

The HP Signature Series EXP double-cutaway guitar is the culmination of 40 years of design, engineering and manufacturing excellence.

Features:	8.5
Sound:	9.5
Action:	8.5
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.3
Users rating:	8.2
Comments:	25

overall: 9.6

Featured review by: E V H 5150, on october 02, 2006

Purchased from: Voigt Music Center

Features: This guitar was handcrafted in Korea, according to the back of the headstock. It has 24 frets that are pretty easy to access. The top wood is quilted maple veneer with the Tiger Eye finish, with a 3-peice mahogany body, and synthetic binding. The fretboard is ebony, and the neck also has binding. It has a Stratocaster-style body, but that's about the only thing it has in common with a Strat. The guitar has two humbucking pickups, that give some good sustain and harmonics sound nicely. It has two volumes and a tone, with a 3-way switch. Grover tuners, non-locking. The bridge is a Dual Compression string-through-body bridge. // 9

Sound: It suits me perfectly. It has a nice clean sound, and with the distortion it sounds better. I use it with my Marshall MG15DFX and a Bad Dog Distortion. It isn't noisy, but sometimes it's hard to get enough bass out of it. I don't know if it's my amp or the guitar, and in some songs it's not the easiest to do a volume swell and flick the toggle while holding a chord formation. But it's so sweet to play Cathedral on this guitar. It takes all kinds of harmonics greatly, when I can pull them off right. I can tap pretty fast, and I can slide up and down the neck enough so that I can play the Thunderstruck intro. I like to set up the delay sometimes and do some random volume swells, like in Cathedral, and I can get some nice sound with my amp and distortion. I have also played it through an ME-50 and some random amp at the music store, where I was actually going to buy a Jack Daniel's guitar. It was nice to mess around with the ME-50, and the sounds through that were also great. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The pickups, action, and the strings and everything was proper. The people where I bought it probrably checked everything to make sure it was fine, considering I purchased it off the shelf, after putting it on lay-away for a few days. Everything seems okay and flawless, except that within two days of purchasing my guitar, the A-string broke, but the strings weren't new, and I don't know what kind of strings were on it. All I know is that they weren't Ernie Ball, my strings of choice. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is an EXP. As far as I understand, that stands for Electric Professional. I'm just assuming, though. The world will end before this becomes un-playable. That is, if you do take proper care and maintenance of this guitar, store it properly, and don't abuse it. I'm going to get better strap buttons because I've always had problems with keeping the strap on any guitar, and after my Squire fell on the floor becaused of a faulty strap, I got kind of paranoid due to the huge dent that I eventually sanded smooth during the painting process. I wouldn't want to damage the finish in any way on this guitar, and if the finish I put on my Strat (which people said would last only a month or two) is still there, then I'm pretty sure a professional finish will last longer than my amatuer EVH stripes. // 10

Impression: The HP Signature EXP fits my style, which is classic rock. I have been playing since April when I was in eighth grade. I'm in 10th grade now. I'm too lazy to figure out how long that's been. I own a Squire acoustic (which I cannot play due to a broken nut) and a Squire Strat (which I cannot play electrically because I took it apart and need new pickups), a Frontman 15G (which I cannot use due to broken input), a Marshall MG15DFX, and a Bad Dog Distortion. I chose this guitar over a Jack Daniel's because I'm more comfortable with a Strat body, and the JD felt weird to play and didn't sound as good. I like everything about this guitar, and I don't think I'll need to get a new guitar for a while. I will fix my Strat, though. It still won't be as good as my Peavey. I did compare it to several Epiphone Les Pauls, a Peavey Jack Daniel's, several Stratocasters, a Peavey Rotor, and an HP Signature EX. At first I wasn't even considering getting this guitar until one of the employees showed it to me. I chose this because of the finish, the ease of playing, the familiar Strat body, the gold hardware, the sound, and partly to get back at my friend and his Rotor. I wish it had floyd rose. It's not that important, though, because none of the songs I play really need the whammy/tremolo bar. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: datzach, on march 18, 2009

Price paid: $ 300.00

Purchased from: Jerry's Music

Features: It's a 1979 model, it was made in Korea, 6 frets, Rosewood frets, solid top, it's made of Mahgany, it's finish is Tiger Eye, I don't know the body style, it's bridge style is Tune-O-Matic bridge with Dual Compression, it's Passive electronics, controls are one master tone and two master volumes, two pickups, non-locking tuners and they are Grovers, no included accessories, and that's my guitar. // 8

Sound: It goes great with my music style of hard rock, I use a Fender G-DEC and a Boss DS-1, it's really noisy on U14-Underworld, it's a really hard distortion exspecially with the Boss pedal. But other than that it has a rich sound. It can a few special sounds that I've heard guitarist do and I tried but I can't do all of them. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: It was set up great overall I think it's the best guitar I'm going to have. The pickups were adjusted just right when we got the guitar, there is a properly routed bridge, there was no flaw it was used and I still think it was better than the Strat. (Just a little dust everywhere and used strings) // 7

Reliability & Durability: It will withstand Live playing, not all the hardware will last but I don't really know, the strap buttons are solid, of course I can depend on it, it's an amazing guitar, I might use it without any backup, it's an old guitar but the finish is like new and it doesn't wear off while I play. // 10

Impression: Hard rock is what I play and this is a good match for it. I've been playing for three years but I got his in February 26, 2008. I own guitar effects and one amp, I also own a old Acoustic guitar. No there is nothing I wished I had said. I'd buy it again. It's great, I love it, there is no down side to it. My favorite features would have to be the body, it's so creative and everything. I compared it to an Ibanez and a Black Strat with a whammy. I chose this one because it sounded the best and it looked amazing. It really doesn't need anything else. // 10

Comments

[Slayer2655]

floyds are a pain in the ass unless you really need it, it takes forever to change strings, you have to reconfigure it if you want to change tunings, and you dont get as much sustain as if you had a fixed bridge. so you shouldnt wish it had one.

[pariah452]

floyds are only a pain in the ass if your a noob to guitar. Once you mess with them they are so easy to use.

[BleedBlack247]

changing stirngs with different gauges definitely sucks with floyds though

[santhony1987]

BleedBlack247 wrote:

changing stirngs with different gauges definitely sucks with floyds though

That's why you don't bother... Buy a different guitar for different tuning... I found my special string gauge for my floyd rose and it's the easiest thing to play ever. Changing strings is absolutely simple, it's all common sense. I wouldn't wanna change from super tops/reg bottoms just simply coz they have made my guitar sustain and play so much easier - Something i wouldn't have expected from a guitar with a floyd and bolt-on neck.

[E V H 5150]

For some reason, the price doesn't show. I paid $550 for it. But definitely, if you get the chance, just try this thing out. And about the Floyd Rose, I've even heard some big-time rockers complain about the difficulties of Floyd Rose.

[teamzaius]

People who complain about Floyds are either noobs or lazy. Yeah, they're more work than a fixed bridge but once you get used to them they're pretty easy to deal with.

[Thunderstrucked]

isn´t it 1-piece mahogany body and not veneer finish?

[JS5150]

How does the black finish look?

[ILoveGuitar07]

JS5150 wrote:

How does the black finish look?

The Black looks good. It looks better on stage with the lights on you.. as the quilt shows and looks hot! Sometimes I do wish I would have bought the tiger eye tho. lol Either way its a great guitar. The tuners alone are like $70 or $80. Pickups are good, the ebony fingerboard is very good. No need to spend $2000. Its a very gigable guitar that compares to guitars 4 times as much.

[Anjohl]

You need the tiger eye finish...this guitar is a beast. I am pretty sure the fingerboard is rosewood, not ebony (I wish!).

I am thinking about getting one of these, I am heading out to the local store tommorow to put some quality time in on it...I will post my impressions then. Visually and feature wise, its brilliant. I need to find out how it SOUNDS.

[SERIALTRENDKILL]

hp special is one of the best guitars ive ever picked up. that thing has a range that les pauls are incapable of. its like a fender banged a les paul and birthed something better than both of em. the range, tone, quality, depth, are unbeatable. you can hit harmonics you never knew existed. the floyd rose is not a problem with htis guitar, but in fact a solution to many other guitars problems.. if you are going to complain about a floyd rose, your no real guitarist.

[ElectriPUNK]

Slayer2655 wrote:

floyds are a pain in the ass unless you really need it, it takes forever to change strings, you have to reconfigure it if you want to change tunings, and you dont get as much sustain as if you had a fixed bridge. so you shouldnt wish it had one.

I totally ****ing agree, floyd roses are a huge pain in tha ass.

[SERIALTRENDKILL]

you dont need a floyd rose for punk rock anyways. you wont use any of its capabilities, nor do you need a tuned guitar, or the skills to play one for that matter. so anything with a floyd rose is useless to anyone who thinks using it is tedious.

[Rustypig]

ElectriPUNK wrote:

Slayer2655 wrote:

floyds are a pain in the ass unless you really need it, it takes forever to change strings, you have to reconfigure it if you want to change tunings, and you dont get as much sustain as if you had a fixed bridge. so you shouldnt wish it had one.

I totally ****ing agree, floyd roses are a huge pain in tha ass.

nope once you get used to them they're alright, just remember to keep that allen wrench handy. You can get little allen wrench holders that clip them onto the back of your heastock for you and i think some ibanez prestige models come with it standards.

personally i prefer kahler tremelos, they're easier than floyd's too \m/

[drewkilljoy]

SERIALTRENDKILL wrote:

you dont need a floyd rose for punk rock anyways. you wont use any of its capabilities, nor do you need a tuned guitar, or the skills to play one for that matter. so anything with a floyd rose is useless to anyone who thinks using it is tedious.

While I do agree with not using a floyd rose for punk rock, the other 2 comments were quite ignorant. Ever listen to Bad Religion? While not shredders, the guitarists that they have are quite good.

[Metalhead3333]

I was going to buy this guitar last spring but didn't, but Im considering buying it now. Should I? Is it worth the money?

[SERIALTRENDKILL]

thats one band.i'd hope there'd be some good ones. All punk i've heard is usually a "statement" or as i hear it, incompetent of creating. Kinda like rap. Except it takes more than the "skill" of speaking (or lack there of) and you actually have to know how to hold an instrument. haha.

[SERIALTRENDKILL]

Metalhead: i've used the HP special to cover everything from old school country to Opeth and everything in between. I'd highly recommend this guitar to any player, regardless of what you play. the range is just absurd.

[xGeeTaR4LiFEx]

It's a 1979 model, it was made in Korea, 6 frets, Rosewood frets, solid top, it's made of Mahgany, it's finish is Tiger Eye..

did anyone else notice this guitar only has six frets? lol what a range!

[drewkilljoy]

Punk is a "statement". One of the main essences of punk is that message that they convey, but it does take some creativity to create the actual music. Just as a note, I wasn't calling you personally ignorant. I don't prefer to get personal over a website and other's opinions, lol.

[enselmis]

Lmao, thats like what? 1 octave? its like a junior banjo!

[gopikris02]

nice

[gopikris02]

gopikris02 wrote:

nice

nice

[SSDaniel105]

enselmis wrote:

Lmao, thats like what? 1 octave? its like a junior banjo!

6 frets is 6 half steps... 12 frets is an octave.... It can play tritones....

[The^Unforgiven]

Where a floyd is superior to a fixed bridge in many ways, it still can't be denied that a fixed bridge IS just so much less of a hassle. I'd like to see anyone open the clamps, detune the lowest string, balance the thing by adjusting the springs, close the clamps, and finally adjusting the finetuners, just to see that adjusting the system f*cked up your intonation, so you'll have to reopen the clamps and do a lot of the work again until you're FINALLY done, in the 30 seconds it takes to detune a guitar with a fixed bridge. So, it's not about floyd beign complicated or difficult to deal with, even a retard could do it, it's just about the hassle...