This semi-solid electric guitar has a laminated maple body, a maple neck, an unbound ebony fretboard, exposed-coil humbucking pickups, and a TP-6 tailpiece. The original Howard Roberts Fusion was replaced in the Gibson line-up by the Howard Roberts Fusion II and then the Howard Roberts Fusion III. Now, in 1999, the name has changed back to the Howard Roberts Fusion, the current version of which features gold-plated covers over the pickups, a bound ebony fretboard, and an unusual, six-finger tailpiece.

The center block of this model is made of a wood that Gibson calls Chromyte. I've been told that Chromyte is Gibson's name for balsa. Still, the guitar has some solid heft to it and `Rique likes the tone and the feel.