New Guitar Day - Jackson

[smitty_p]

After creating a thread devoted to this, I finally have the guitar!


It came via Fedex today. Before a review, let me get right to the pic!





Go ahead and just stare at that for awhile....


Anyway, so here are my impressions:


First, it looks very nice. I really haven't found any flaws. The guitar was $299.00 from Sweetwater (a source I really recommend). I know what an expensive guitar looks like. My Les Paul Custom is more than 10 times the cost of this Jackson. This Jackson really looks nice. The quilt top is joined very well. The pic on Sweetwater pretty much looks just like the guitar. The binding is done nicely. The overall fit and finish are well done. The finish is a poly finish, not nitro. But it has an almost iridescent nature to it.


Secondly, the feel is good. This neck is unlike any of my other guitars. It already has a satiny feel to it, so I don't have to take a 3M pad to it. It has a fast, thin neck. This has the lowest action of any of my guitars. It is almost effortless to play. The compound radius neck is pretty interesting. It came with .009s and I'm going to keep it that way.


Thirdly, it is light...very light. It is lighter than even my SG or my Stratocaster.


I also like the headstock joint. Here is a pic of the scarf joint:





The neck joint is also pretty interesting. Reaching the 24th fret (yes, 24 frets) is about like reaching for the 22nd fret on my Stratocaster. Hitting fret 22 is almost as easy as my SG. Here's a shot of the rear:





So, how does it sound? Well, it sounds like a heavy metal guitar! Okay, that's a bit of an oversimplification. The sound is pretty high gain, but not as over the top as I suspected it would be. It does respond to the controls well. The pickups already seem to be voiced a bit scooped. As for cleans...well...I didn't play it much like that so I'll have to post an update later! The little bit I did play clean does give me the impression that it could have a useable clean tone.


My complaints? I knew this from the pictures, but the pickup selector is a bit awkward. I do switch pickups a lot, and having the selector where it is can be a little tricky since you have to reach around the volume knob to get at it. But, it's not horrible.


Anyway, there will be more as I do more with it.


Right now, I got some jammin' to do!

[smitty_p]

Thanks, Kenny!

Here's a bit of an update:

The Floyd Rose works very nicely. The strings lock at the nut and at the bridge, so the strings never slide or roll over anything. You can drop the bar and the guitar comes right back to pitch. It was already set up pretty good just the way I got it, though I did spend some time tweaking it. The guitar came with all the necessary Allen wrenches.

The guitar did not come with a case. I had to purchase that separately. I just bought a gig bag, but will probably upgrade to a case. I'm actually regretting not getting a case, just a little bit. But, I am very careful with my guitars.

I've been looking for the "shortcuts" that contribute to how inexpensive it was. First, it was made in China. So, there is a significant cost savings there.

Other cost savings come from some things like the inlays. They are not mother-of-pearl. But, I knew that before I bought it. When viewed up close, there is a bit of a MOP-ish pattern to them, though. I opened up the control cavity. The controls are not premium quality parts. There again, I didn't expect that either. My Washburn is Korean and it had pretty cheap components, too. So, I kind of figured this guitar would be similar, in that regard. I have no immediate plans to change anything, but if I swap anything on this guitar, the control components will be the first.

Speaking of the control cavity, I did see that the entire cavity was painted with conductive paint and the underside of the cover is shielded, as well. So, that's nice.

As to overall construction, the guitar has a basswood body, with a quilt maple top. The neck is maple and the fretboard is rosewood. The basswood is another obvious area where costs were kept low. Basswood is a pretty inexpensive wood. It also makes for a very light guitar. I had been playing my Les Paul a lot, lately. Obviously, the Lester is much heavier and has a thicker neck. Before getting the Jackson, I sort of had to mentally prepare myself for the thinner, lighter body and a much thinner neck. When going directly from a Les Paul to this Jackson, the Jackson can feel sort of toy-ish by comparison, due to the lighter weight and thinner neck. But, after a few minutes of playing, it feels fine.

One thing to note. Though it has two humbuckers, there is only one volume and one tone. If you like to play both pickups and blend the bridge and neck at different ratios, that it is not possible with this guitar. With both pickups selected, they are both fully engaged. The volume control is simply a master volume. The same is true of the tone.

Jackson does have different control options with some of its more expensive models, though.

So, it does have its limitations. But, the simplicity is kind of nice, too.

I played it this morning in the church group. The cleans are pretty nice. The volume can be backed down to deliver some cleans that are clearer than I expected. A little delay really sounds good with it. The cleans sound best with both pickups or the neck pickup. They are a little too spiky on the bridge pickup. The distortion is more of a mid-'80s hair band type of distortion. It's not really a doom or death metal type of distortion. As I said in my OP, the pickups are already voiced a bit scooped. They are Jackson-branded, but designed by Seymour Duncan.

Anyhoo...that's just a little more to chew on.

[smitty_p]

The electronics are always an area of savings to the manufacturer, as you expected. No big deal. I'm sure that it doesn't have an original Floyd on it either. Also, no big deal. Think about it, top shelf electronics, or an original Floyd by themselves, would cost more than the whole guitar.

When all is said and done, it sounds like a bargain. Plus, it fills the need for a guitar like that, without breaking the bank. At $299.00, it's a "feel good" purchase. The $2999.00 alternative might never live up to your expectations, but this one can and probably will...

Why do you think I grabbed that Ibanez RG? It was used, inexpensive, and plays well enough to keep me from buying a three-thousand-dollar alternative.

You're correct. It is actually a licensed Floyd. I'll play it for awhile. So far it seems stable. As for electronics, if I have issues I'll replace them with something higher quality. No biggie.

You are also correct in suggesting a much more expensive model would not be quite my thing. Some may look down their noses at me, but I don't care. I like the thing!

I'm not looking to throw mods at it. I really just want to see how this guitar behaves. I like the uniqueness of each of my guitars and like to learn the specific strengths of each of them.

Yup. $299.00 is a bargain for a brand-new guitar, and it is so much fun to play.

[smitty_p]

Let me say, I am LOVING this guitar.

I have discovered a bit of an Achilles heal, though. I need to get a slightly longer string clamp screw for the high E string. I can't get the intonation perfect. It is about 3 cents flat. When I do get the intonation correct, the fine tuner binds on the head of the string clamp screw. If I can add just about 2 mm to the length of the string clamp screw, I'll be fine. That will allow me to adjust the high E saddle enough forward to get the intonation right. The guitar came with 9's for strings and I want to leave it that way. If I were to use 10s I'd probably be okay. All my other guitars have at least 10's. I have a set of custom 11's on my SG. But I want to keep 9s on the Jackson.

Luckily, there is a local Fastenal store so I can get all sorts of odd screws.

This Floyd Rose thing (even though mine is just a licensed version) is quite an education. It reminds me of a Holley carburetor!

Aside from all this, I am having a load of fun with it. Just for kicks, I may put in a set of DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers.

[smitty_p]

Intonation problem SOLVED!

Thanks to the inventory at the local Fastenal store, I got a screw that is just a little longer than the original bridge string clamp screw. The string clamp screws have a little protrusion on the end that fits into a little recess in the string clamp. You actually cut the ball end off the string and clamp it to the bridge. So, I just used my bench grinder to fashion this little protrusion on the end of the new screw.

In the end, I had enough room to move the saddle far enough forward to get my high E intonation perfect.

Now I'm really happy with it.

Had the bridge been just two millimeters closer to the neck, things would have been fine, as I wouldn't have had to move the saddle as far forward as I did. I'm inclined to think the string clamp screw that was used was a little shorter than it should have been.

Anyhoo, problem solved and the guitar plays great. The screw is black like the others, so everything matches.

I know, I know...I should not have had to do this to a new guitar, but I like everything else and didn't want the hassle of a return, or anything.

[Don]

This Floyd Rose thing (even though mine is just a licensed version) is quite an education. It reminds me of a Holley carburetor!

The auto mechanic/mechanical engineer in me loves tinkering with things like the Floyd Rose vibrato! I've only ever had one (in a Hamer USA Diablo) but I enjoyed it. I'd like another one day.

[smitty_p]

The auto mechanic/mechanical engineer in me loves tinkering with things like the Floyd Rose vibrato! I've only ever had one (in a Hamer USA Diablo) but I enjoyed it. I'd like another one day.

Yeah. I've actually had fun learning this little bridge. I wish I would have had one years ago.

I'm still liking this guitar a lot!

[Volumeknob]

GO Smitty! :)