G
Not just a signature guitar
To begin with bulit quality, the guitar feels rock solid. The neck did not move at all when i changed the string gauge from 9s to 10s and the tremolo system can take a heavy abuse and still, stay perfectly in tune after a setlist of 20 songs.
The sound of the bridge pickup is very fat, sometimes feeling a bit mudy (heavy on the low mids) on the bass strings, but with the right eq settings it can provide a wall of sound that feels dynamic and can cut though a mix. In addition, the midlle pickup has very low output, not breaking up when strumming and has decent results in the in between positions 2 and 4. Last, the neck pickup was really a shocker since it has amazing cleans, but with the right amount of distortion, it becomes extremely fluid for fast legato playing, something that i didn't expect.
Now, to the playability. The neck and the fretwork of this guitar is of the charts. While it is based on a 50's Fender neck, the size is thin, but not too thin compared to an Ibanez for example. The 12-16 radius is amazing and makes palying feel effortless. The frets are huge and the edges are rolled off completelly. The action can get as low as 1.2 mm for the teble strings without buzz, however i have it a bit higher (1.6) since it feels better for my playing.
As for the negatives, the guitar arrived without a set of allen wrench keys for the Floyd Rose, however Thoman sent me one without charge. In addition, the ebony fretboard looked completely dry, but after some oiling, it became sweet. Not a big deal, but for an expensive instrument you expect a certain attention to cosmetics. Last, a very important detail is that in order to adjust the truss rod, you need to remove the neck, since the screw is in the heel, something that Jackson doesn't mention. As stated, the neck is super solid but if you are ever in need of a quick tweak, forget it.
To conclude, i own many quality instruments like ESPs and Gibsons and this Jackson realy impressed me like no other guitar.
The sound of the bridge pickup is very fat, sometimes feeling a bit mudy (heavy on the low mids) on the bass strings, but with the right eq settings it can provide a wall of sound that feels dynamic and can cut though a mix. In addition, the midlle pickup has very low output, not breaking up when strumming and has decent results in the in between positions 2 and 4. Last, the neck pickup was really a shocker since it has amazing cleans, but with the right amount of distortion, it becomes extremely fluid for fast legato playing, something that i didn't expect.
Now, to the playability. The neck and the fretwork of this guitar is of the charts. While it is based on a 50's Fender neck, the size is thin, but not too thin compared to an Ibanez for example. The 12-16 radius is amazing and makes palying feel effortless. The frets are huge and the edges are rolled off completelly. The action can get as low as 1.2 mm for the teble strings without buzz, however i have it a bit higher (1.6) since it feels better for my playing.
As for the negatives, the guitar arrived without a set of allen wrench keys for the Floyd Rose, however Thoman sent me one without charge. In addition, the ebony fretboard looked completely dry, but after some oiling, it became sweet. Not a big deal, but for an expensive instrument you expect a certain attention to cosmetics. Last, a very important detail is that in order to adjust the truss rod, you need to remove the neck, since the screw is in the heel, something that Jackson doesn't mention. As stated, the neck is super solid but if you are ever in need of a quick tweak, forget it.
To conclude, i own many quality instruments like ESPs and Gibsons and this Jackson realy impressed me like no other guitar.
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C
Disappointed
Bought to record with, I had high hopes of this guitar. Unfortunately my Mexican Charvel, at a third of the price, played better from the box.
Guitar setup with not enough neck relief so buzzing on the first 12 frets of the bottom E string. Action was set medium/high, possibly to compensate for the fret buzz.
To be of any use for recording it needed a professional setup. Not something I even considered for an instrument in this price range.
Intonation, on the other hand, was absolutely perfect.
In conclusion, a very versatile sounding guitar with quality parts and reasonable craftsmanship (string retainer screwed in slightly crooked). Beautiful as a wall decoration with plenty of Adrian Smith mojo, but don't expect Custom Shop standards.
On a positive note, the hard case supplied is Jackson branded. It really is excellent and would probably survive Trumpageddon!
Guitar setup with not enough neck relief so buzzing on the first 12 frets of the bottom E string. Action was set medium/high, possibly to compensate for the fret buzz.
To be of any use for recording it needed a professional setup. Not something I even considered for an instrument in this price range.
Intonation, on the other hand, was absolutely perfect.
In conclusion, a very versatile sounding guitar with quality parts and reasonable craftsmanship (string retainer screwed in slightly crooked). Beautiful as a wall decoration with plenty of Adrian Smith mojo, but don't expect Custom Shop standards.
On a positive note, the hard case supplied is Jackson branded. It really is excellent and would probably survive Trumpageddon!
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