196 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 www.premierguitar.com
PRODUCT REVIEW
In case you haven’t heard, Summer NAMM was a little
slow this year, with many of the big manufacturers opting to stay home. Though they were missed, the good
news was that smaller, newer manufacturers who might
ordinarily have been overshadowed by the big boys
were able to come to the fore. At any normal winter
NAMM or busier summer session I might easily have
missed the small Hanson Guitars booth off to the side
of the show floor—and that would have been a pity.
Fortunately, I had time to discover them.
Here’s what I learned: despite being new a brand
name, the Hanson folks were far from newbies to
the guitar manufacturing biz. In addition to producing pickups for guitar and bass, they have spent a
decade behind the scenes creating and manufacturing
boutique and mid-priced instruments for others. And
though most of the Hanson line consists of solidbodies
reminiscent of cool European vintage guitars, the one
that caught my eye was a semi-hollowbody instrument
with a distinctly American look to go with its name—
the Chicagoan.
Sweet Home Chicagoan
The mini-humbucker-equipped Chicagoan recalls an
Epiphone Riviera in some respects, but the fingernail
inlays set into the ebony fingerboard combine with the
headstock shape, gold hardware, and gold pickguard to
imply some heavy Gretsch White Falcon vibes (or more
specifically the rare “Black Falcon”). The double-bound
maple body is about as thick as a Gibson ES-335 and
constructed similarly with a center block and hollow
“wings.” the guitar is painted a subtle black sparkle, as
are its bound maple neck and headstock.
The Chicagoan’s design, gold appointments and
binding make for a classy look, but unfortunately the
design of the “H” logo on the pickguard and the
Hanson name printed on the cool, elongated truss-rod cover seem at odds with this otherwise upscale
appearance—they look like they would be more at
ChicagoanHANSON
BY MICHAEL ROSS
