| Industry | Musical instruments |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder(s) | Itaru Kanno |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Area served | Europe, Japan, US |
| Parent | Caparison Guitar Company Ltd. |
| Website | http://www.caparisonguitarcompany.com |
Caparison Guitars is a Japan-based manufacturer of custom shop electric guitars.
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The Caparison Guitar company was established in 1995 by former Jackson/Charvel Japan designer Itaru Kanno and was owned by Kyowa Shokai, a company that made contracts with factories to produce guitars for them (like Hoshino Gakki). In May 2011 Kyowa Shokai was declared bankrupt, however Caparison resumed production in September 2011 under the ownership of Caparison Guitar Company Ltd. The company retains Itaru Kanno as lead designer and the instruments contiune to manufactured together with Iida Music Co. in Nagoya, Japan.
The company's best selling guitar is the "Horus" model. This guitar that features a 27 fret neck with clock inlays that change time for each fret position (1 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 5 o'clock, etc.) The Caparison Dellinger, TAT (Through and Through), and PLO models also feature these clock inlays on the fretboard, however, these guitars feature 24 fret necks. Other Caparison Guitar models are the 7 String Dellinger, Angelus, Michael Romeo Signature, Chris Amott Signature and Apple Horn (Mattias Elkundh Signature). Caparison currently has a Dellinger bass guitar in production. Another notable Caparison guitar is the Orbit which is recognizable for its unusual take on the standard 'Flying V' shape; the Orbit added a curve at the left of the neck joint and possesses the signature Caparison 27-fret neck.
Caparison also has a line of guitars intended to perform better with low tunings, as well as with standard tunings, called the "HGS" (Heavy Gauge Strings) series. The bridge of these guitars is mounted 3 mm farther back on the face in an effort to provide better intonation when using higher gauge strings for lower tunings. Caparison makes both Horus and Dellinger HGS models.
Caparison makes its own humbucking as well as single coil guitar pickups. The company also produces a dual-rail humbucking pickup that fits into the footprint of standard single coil pickup (However the back of many Caparison pickups have the GOTOH MIJ stamped to the bottom plate so Not all may be made in house as originally drafted). Another common feature on Caparison Guitars is the use of "Push/Pull" volume and tone potentiometers. These special "pots" are used to activate coil splitting and pickup selecting functions on certain models.
Caparison is considered by several influential metal guitarists to be an up and coming guitar company, and the best known one besides the other big Japanese makes. Since 2006, Caparison Design has updated the quality standard of their instruments, using even higher quality parts and are considered to be one of the highest quality instruments on the market.
Itaru Kanno personally designs and oversees the hand painted finish as well as inspecting every Caparison Guitar before it leaves the factory. The Iida factory, also apply custom features like hardware and/or painting. Since they are hand crafted instruments, Caparison produces only about forty guitars per month. For years, Caparison Guitars were only available in Japan. However, Caparison now has dealers in a growing number of countries worldwide.