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We had the opportunity to get to grips with Sambora's number one, Hofschneider-built original during Bon Jovi's last UK tour and the neck here is marginally flatter in feel, although both demonstrate a shallow U-profile.

The 22 nicely flat, extra-jumbo frets and low action again tick all the right rock boxes, and although the rosewood could have done with a dab of lemon oil, the SA-2 has a good feel out of the box. The neck is fixed to the body with a slightly offset four-screw join, and the headstock bears the man's name on a bespoke piece of three-ply pearloid scratchplate material.

"It certainly plays well, offering just the right amount of fight."

The age-old argument regarding the benefits of in-house rather than retrofit pickup brands is raised yet again by the provision of a pair of ESP LH-100 humbuckers. We'll assess how they perform in due course but we can't help feeling that the overall commercial appeal of the SA-2 would have been further enhanced if it boasted a set of matched Seymour Duncan PAF-style 'buckers.

Sounds

Here are clips of the SA-2 in action, starting with the bridge pickup, then the twin pickup mix, and finally the neck unit:

In a live setting Sambora uses a huge amount of gain, and the first thing you notice when using a similar sound through a tube amp is the zingy nature of the basswood. You'll need to make use of the tone controls to corral that trebly side, but for classic rock rhythms, the tone is just about there.

Proceedings tend to become less distinct as more gain is added, compressing the overall tone and leaving you with a wall of sound, rather than one that obviously comprises six strings. This certainly doesn't detract from its rock performance, but a full E chord complemented by an upstroke on the open high E and B strings doesn't have the effect you might hope for.