NOTE: Apparently there's no audio between 13:20-13:55 or so. I checked my original file and there's audio during that period so something must've happened during the upload. Apologies for that. But it's just me noodling something random and I believe we all can live with that 😎.
18:24 It's called a string retainer. Jackson consider the increased headstock angle (compared to the flatter Ibanez/ESP) sufficient, but so many people add the retainers anyway.
Thanks alot! I call that a profund review. You showed really nice the character of the guitar and made understandable what it is that is offered by Jackson.
I really liked this one of several key comments you made ... "They don't make them like they used to." I dig Jacksons, but it's not a great feeling when companies price a guitar at those ranges and then cut a couple corners with materials or hardware. Thanks for the excellent review and demos! 🤘
As a Charvel/ Jackson player since 1982 i am really disappointed in Jackson with these new Soloist' models. all they did was strip down a classic Soloist!!!! No binding on the neck, backwards Shark fins that i do not care for the look of(i much prefer the standard position fins) a Floyd 1000 series not a german made one. The ebony is not as high quality ebony. I will stick to the old Jackson's which in the day were superior made guitars. These are a "cheaper" version and should not cost over $1200!
@@Murphy_R9 Yes the early 80s was a pretty neat time for Charvel & Jackson, that innovation, quality and passion seems a little dulled with a kind of cheapened "they'll buy it anyway" vibe in my opinion, and Jackson isn't alone. I still bought new Charvels and Jacksons even in the last few years, but each one I've had to replace hardware, trem springs, file sharp fret edges, etc to make them "finished." The only thing I did in the 80s was change the strings or a light steel wool to the neck.
@@andrews6505 Yeah I hope this does not happen to SUHR who at the time does not even offer oversea's versions of their guitars. Not sure if you have ever played a SUHR guitar but they are a lot like the original Jackson's and Charvel's pre 1986. Meticulous in QC and top notch workmanship and parts. Very pricey though! a traditional Strat style SUHR is over $3K but you will not have any issues out of the box many of the others have.
@@Murphy_R9honestly with current economics it's almost a miracle they kept these - USA made- under 2k. They are not perfect, sure, but I've seen the price of imports guitars skyrocketing lately. Here in Europe is not rare finding LTD 1000 series above 2k, same with high end Schecters.
Great video Euge, I think for what Jackson are charging for these guitars they should have a German Floyd,Noiseless springs and a string retainer, your videos are always Unbiased and I appreciate that Euge.
All of my DUNCAN JB pickups get a Alnico 2 magnet swap. This takes care of that 4K frequency you mentioned but keeps all the great things about a JB. IF i had to use a stock JB it would be the JB antiquity which has a aged A5 that sounds closer to a A2 than the A5.
Great video Euge, an honest review. I have the virtuoso, it’s actually a pretty nice guitar. It’s definitely a bright guitar but thats not a bad thing, I like it. Position 4 gets you some really nice cleans. You will definitely need the noiseless springs, inexpensive fix but it should come with them, I agree with you. Also put a tiny drop of oil on the threads of the fine tuners, they are pretty rough when new the oil will smooth it right out. Overall it’s a nice guitar, plays great and sounds great. If Jackson happens to read these comments you really need the noiseless springs, I can buy them for 15 bucks so I’m sure Jackson can get a bulk deal, just install them from the factory so the consumer gets an instant wow effect instead of a WTF is that ping noise… Edit to add: As far as the solist goes Jackson did an mj series a few years ago which I believe has been discontinued. There are a few shops here in the states that still have a few in stock. Those are great guitars, nice dark ebony boards and a gotoh tremelo, if your in the market for a soloist try to find one of those, excellent Japanese craftmanship and pretty much priced the same as the usa version, it’s a double humbucker though, with a three way switch.
Hi Euge. You have so f.... g big arsenal of gear !! I love it !! I love jackson professional soloist pro series made in japan 1990 - great quality guitars..best regards..
When they came out they were £2599 today they are £1799 in the UK at most retailers, with that saving you could get an original floyd, any springs etc that you wanted and change out the pickup to what ever and still save money, much more reasonable price than at launch. A lot of people lost a lot of money getting them on release, if they just added the original floyd in the first place a lot less hate would have been thrown at it from the get go
have a 96 custom shop kelly which had the same exact same issues string tree needed (headstock angle) and noisy springs so its heritage LOL thanks for the honest review
@@taxo Surprisingly with the JB wind this does not really happen. The lows are actually tighter and the tone is more even. try it. I have used the JB with A2 for over 20 years now.
Hey Euge, would it be possible that you Upload all your Softube Presets ? It would be very cool to Checkout your Sounds💪🏻 Im not really able to setup a Killer rythm Tone. Im still a newbie to rythm Tones. You would really help me. Thanks man 🤘🏻
Not sure what you mean since I use real amps but in general I don’t have separate tones/sounds for leads, rhythms etc.; I just dial one good sound and use guitar’s volume control and an overdrive pedal to manipulate it.
@@EugeValovirta230V Oh okey thanks for the information. Yea sorry that was confusing... i wrote the comment under the wrong Video...i had 2 tabs open and watched the Softube video of you and this right here :D
Disclaimer: I don't know the quality of Ebony in these particular guitars. But: Only some of the harvested ebony is black, while other pieces have a streakier/more colourful appearance. AFAIK it doesn't have an affect on the actual functionality of the wood, which here is as a fretboard material. Tradition has been to use only the black pieces, and it is more costly in todays wood supply market. Nowadays, companies like Taylor are promoting the usage of the non-black material. And it does suit many guitars IMO, acoustics of certain appearance and also electrics where it can add a visual element which you either like or don't like. These guitars with their finishes, a more uniform colour suits IMO. But it costs.
Jackson is my favorite brand. But they are not as good a value as they once were. I am a big fan of buying cheap, used bolt on Japanese made Jacksons from the 90s and 00s, mainly for just the body and neck, and upgrading them. I then put on an Original Floyd Rose or Schaller Floyd Rose. I change out the pickups to my liking. If I am using EMGs or Seymour Duncan Blackouts I wire them in 24 volts with a 24 Volt Mod. If I am using passive pickups I use Seymour Duncan Triple Shot mounting rings so I can change from series to split to parallel for each pickup. I do not like direct mounted pickups. I can also wire in a Shadow volume/killpot to the bridge pickup and put a phase switch with a push/pull pot on the neck pickup. $250 for the guitar used, maybe $250 for the bridge, $200 for the pickups used. You can have a guitar with more features than a new high end guitar for $600-$1200 USD. You just have to know how to solder. The biggest problem is making the U.S. sized pots and bridge parts fit the metric sized holes in the body, but you really only need to change out the bridge (baseplate, saddles, tremolo block). The string claw and bridge posts can stay in place. You can make the pot holes larger with a taper reamer. Asian sized Floyd Rose locking nuts are not as tall. They are R8 sized, not R2 or R3 like most Jacksons. Floyd Rose makes R8 nuts but they are hard to find. They work just fine with Schaller Floyd Rose bridges. You only need to replace the import nut if the pads are worn or it is not staying in tune. It is better to use Schaller Floyd Roses rather than OFRs because Jackson body routes are very small. Schaller bridges are wider than OFRs and shorter front to back by a few mm. So, if you detune and need to intonate by moving the saddle back, you may need a Schaller bridge if you still want to do pull ups. An OFR bridge might not let you pull up all the way if the saddles are moved far back. Better cheap metal guitar brands than Jackson now in my opinion are LTD, Epiphone, and Kramer, especially used. Hope this helps. Thank you for your videos and music, Euge. Aaron
I bought a pro series Phil Demmel in 2021 and while it looked cool, I was really disappointed in how it felt. Plus there was no pure-contact of the low E string on the top of the nut and it buzzed until I installed my own retainer bar on it (could’ve also probably used a shim). Was just okay. I think for the prices LTDs are better bang for the buck
The Floyd locking nuts R2 and R3 are 10 inch radius and unless they shimmed the saddles, the bridge will be 12 inch radius. Schaller now has that you can order the Lockmeister in radius of 10, 12, 14, 16 which is cool to get it playing the best in my opinion.
The floyd 1500 isnt a big deal it stays in tune really well my only complaint is the nickel frets over stainless steel id rather have a fixed bridge cause less to mess with and easier to setup. But this guitar can be restrung alot quicker with the gotah locking tuners. The guitar neck is what sold me on this one its fast and comfy the pickups sound good and the design is great this guitar plays so well for anything really. Its basically jacksons version of a super strat
ESP ebony fretboards are black because they dye the ever-living crap out of them. I have the ESP Snakebyte (made in Japan) that I've played a lot and you can see where I've started to wear away some of the black dye they use on the fretboards.
With new ESP's you are probably right (if it's an E-II), if it is ESP Original/Signature/Custom - it should be perfect. Also if it is old from 80/90s - should be also perfect.
When it comes to materials, especially wood, new guitars either have to be built by artesanal builders or they're very expensive to match the quality of materials all the companies used up until early 90's. Obviously some of it is because of conservation reasons, but even those that aren't feel much lower quality overall.
😎. I’ve been endorsed by ESP since early 2000s and have no reason to even think about any other brand since ESP simply makes the best guitars. IMO. Thanks!
I have no idea what people are talking about anymore. The American SL3s are some of the nicest production guitars I’ve played in years. I absolutely had to have one. I’m very familiar with the MIJ Soloists and they are not on this level of playability. I can count on one hand the guitars I’ve played that had a 1.0mm action and flawless intonation out of the box, and all of them were PLEK’d at the factory. The rolled fingerboard edges feel really nice. The Floyd 1500 is absolutely fine, maybe a hair less travel on the fine tuners than a German Floyd. If and when mine gives me issues I’ll replace it with a German one no questions asked because the rest of the guitar is that good. And comparing the ebony to guitars from before the Taylor buyout is a bit disingenuous - as other commenters have said, A-grade ebony ain’t coming back. At least not at any price I’d be willing to pay.
half of the sound is from the amp, the other half from the player. he could plug in a squier telecaster and sound similar (can you try it? ) The jackson shape/specs give him the confidence to play more aggressive, but you have massive skill and amps. congrats
Stellar review. Agree with everything. Especially the lack of a string retainer. Jackson should have known better. If they're gonna bone us with a Floyd 1500, at least throw a retainer on the headstock.
there's massive misconception of Ebony only being the very dark one, but due to the nature of tree's and the scarcity of the dark Ebony we all associate with it, that colour is more rare. Due to Ebony (Diospyros ebenum) species being a very slow growing tree which takes hundreds - thousands of years to grow to decent sizes, making the darker more desirable grain far more expensive, which is why on a lot of lower end guitars, they stain the fretboard. Love the review man. Although since I found the Pre-Lawsuit ESP's, I can't go back to Jackson, especially with their current QC issues.
@ESA1996 it's another term for a "cease and desist". Because there was no law suit, but there was legal action filed and an agreement made before it went to court.
I like Jackson but don't like the headstock on those . Like those Misha style headstocks better . I like some reverse headstocks too like my Solar and my esp ltd baritone aw7b . I'm gonna get me a Jackson next year tho. I've never owned one.
I definitely agree these should have noiseless springs for the price. There are a few areas I expected more for the price. Regarding everything else for the price, I think US based companies are between a rock and a hard place. Everyone here cries “why don’t you make USA made guitars anymore, why is it all overseas manufacturing in Korea and Indonesia now?” So they finally make a production US guitar. Then all kinds of people want to complain the guitars don’t have top spec features and hardware and then don’t actually want to buy the guitar they were criticizing the company for not previously making. Lose/lose situation for FMIC/Jackson. Won’t be surprised when they kill this line of manufacturing in a year or two which is sad to think about but pretty likely.
Yes. They do not make them like they used to for sure. Charvel/Jackson was the best in the 80’s. Now their top tier stuff is simply mid-grade. ESP has stolen the crown.
Guitars in that price range should include a brass block, noisless sprins, and a string tree if they aren't going to get that locking nut and angle correct. Won't that much to the price.
New Jackson guitars have been a bit disappointing lately. Still very cool guitars sure, but they are just missing that last touch with some better parts and some more thought put into details. But man, your guitar reviews are really good and informative. Please keep doing them with different models and brands as much as you can and have time! 😀
I think it’s a joke that they don’t put a real German made Floyd rose on a guitar for that price. ESP is proof that it’s possible, if you buy an esp e-ii m-ii for an example (similar price to Jackson American series) you will get a neck through guitar with a real German Floyd rose.
@21:10 The trem arm on the 1000 & 1500 series is terrible. I recently purchased a new LTD SN-1000 with a FR1000 Series... the trem arm would never stay tight. I had to replace the trem arm with an original FR part to get it to function properly. I'd imagine its the same situation with these Jacksons.... even though they cost 2x as much. I think the recent japanese jacksons with the Gotoh hardware are probably superior to these "usa" models.
Point being , Jackson does not make them like they use to , mass-produced and details go out the window :-( you can really hear the imperfections thank you for pointing that out with the trained ear!
It’s about time this guy starts thinking about shaving his head. That hairline is crazy hahah. Having super thinned out hair myself. Choosing to start shaving your head was a hard pill to swallow. He’ll get there eventually hahaha.
Glad you said that about the Floyd…. Why companies stop using original, specially for that money. There is a difference, the 1000s do not tune as smoothly or feel as well made.
Bottom Line: At this price point you should expect a professional quality instrument, but because Jackson (Fender really) cut every possible corner building it you get a half assed guitar at best.
Ibanez hakkaa Jacksonin 6-0. Kaulaprofiilit on suhteellisen samat wizard ja jackson kauloissa. Radius tyyliin 15 tuumaa. Nää floikat on näissä aina miinus. Ja tuo volumepotikka, nyt ymmärrän kun itelläkin raskas käsi. Mullakin kolisi välillä siihen ja väänsi volumee alas. Vaihoin sun tapaan potikoiden paikan ja heitin tonen kuuseen niin johan on hyvä hakata 😎 Ibanezilla puukin on parempaa. Dimarziot on paremmat ku duncanit. Hauska tuo jazz kitaristien halventaminen 🤣 Ne on kuule just semmosia nyplääjiä. Kerran yks semmonen valitti louhimistekniikasta ja näytti, että ei tarvii ku vähän hipoa plekun kärjellä. Mut sillä olikin tone asetukset silleen, että tulee feedbäkkii pikkuhipasusta 😀
No ni! Asiaa Atte! 💪 No se oli leikillään, kun piti jotain keksiä ja se nyt tuli ekana mieleen 😎. On niitä kyllä jazzissakin ihan miehekkäästi lapioia, kuten vaikka Vartiaisen Varre. Jokusen kerran hänen kanssaan soittanut ja tulee asenteella.
@@EugeValovirta230V Sori Euge, jos mä välillä vaikutan vähän synkältä, nous jotain henkilökohtasesta historiasta. Ei mitään, juu se oli läppä, mutta hyvä semmonen 😀 Käyn tsekkaa tuon Varren, ehkä hältä oppii jonkun jutun. Siistii ku oot päässyt soittelee noiden isompien nimien kanssa. Koen, että ku se on jotenkin vaikuttanu sinuun niin sit tälleen fanina se vaikuttaa suoraan myös omaan tatsiin vähäsen. 🙂
Ebony is actually almost never jet black. One in a many trees has black wood in it. It is very expensive to select only black ebony, a lot of material would be rejected that way. So most black ebony was dyed black in the past. These days many guitar companies use non dyed ebony and not naturally black ebony because of the cost. Also using ebony that is not naturally jet black is environmentally friendly.
It is more environmentally friendly to use the brown/streaky wood but the use of ebony, particularly African ebony is not environmentally friendly. Ebony trees do not tend to grow grouped together like say the trees in a pine forest, and to cut down the ebony a lot of other trees have to be cut down. Then it's only the heartwood that's the dark wood and it has a high shrinkage rate, so the usable wood is substantially smaller than what was originally cut before drying. That high shrinkage and the natural density and hardness leads to splitting too, further reducing the usable percentage. On top of that the heartwood often contains mineral deposits which recks tooling and looks as if someone has splattered toothpaste or... On second thought, let's not go there! But yeah, if you want a black fretboard I'd choose something like Richlite, or if the resemblance of grain is preferred then there's the British Rocklite. Both are less environmentally damaging, more forgiving to work with (if a little more gunky on your tools) and don't tend to chip anything like ebony should a refret be required.
No doubt made in the USA is not what it used to be. Fender making that Jackson even the Custom Shop is not usable out of the box. The Charvel USAs are the same. Spring and grounding issues galore. My Charvel I think its a junk 5 way switch and poor soldering.
There are only a couple of good guitars on that particular brand and they're magni with rosewood fretboard and you know they're five and seven eight $10,000 and by the time you get done putting your choice and pick up your choices Springs strings and what-have-you you basically got a Randy Rhoads guitar and these other guitars are fine for beginners and stuff like that but I think their overpriced because Alderwood is crap in my opinion
What annoys me with Jackson, is that they seem to do just the bare minimum. Same "boring" designs and finishes - these look like pro series Jacksons. Shame because I love my 80's and 90's Jacksons. ESP is doing far better in terms of releasing new interesting finishes.
Way too overpriced for the specs they have. These should have been around 1000-1500 Euros not 2000 Euros, specially when they don't even have a German Floyd and ss-frets. Oh and that ebony fretboard has this type of streaking, similar to rosewood, because they use the cheapest quality of Macassar ebony, the lower the quality of ebony wood, the more brown streaking it has. High quality Macassar ebony from Africa is completely black in color. Unfortunately, these types of exotic woods have gone very up in prices lately ( Swamp Ash & Quilted Maple specially), so they put the cheap stuff to cut costs. Low quality Macassar ebony tends to develop cracks, due to humidity/ temperature changes, so expect lots of cracked fretboards, Solar Guitars had the same issues last year.
only cons for me.....zero models available for left handed players. just a bunch of garbage dinkies and one soloist slx available with no modifications possible....jackson & fender shame on you
NOTE: Apparently there's no audio between 13:20-13:55 or so. I checked my original file and there's audio during that period so something must've happened during the upload. Apologies for that. But it's just me noodling something random and I believe we all can live with that 😎.
Love your content! Can you please do a video breakdown of how to say your name. I don’t know how to tell people that I’m a fan of your channel. 😂
This is an outstanding guitar review. In depth and no bullshit!
It's evident you know what you are talking about
Thanks man!
Honesty is what you get in this review. I REALLY appreciate that.
JB pickups are NOT made for metal! Use Duncan Distortions instead, Duncan Customs are too clean imho.
18:24 It's called a string retainer. Jackson consider the increased headstock angle (compared to the flatter Ibanez/ESP) sufficient, but so many people add the retainers anyway.
Thanks! 😎
JACKSON, KING OF GUITARS!!!!❤🎉
Thanks alot! I call that a profund review. You showed really nice the character of the guitar and made understandable what it is that is offered by Jackson.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks!
The Virtuoso here is you.
🤘👍🤘
I really liked this one of several key comments you made ... "They don't make them like they used to." I dig Jacksons, but it's not a great feeling when companies price a guitar at those ranges and then cut a couple corners with materials or hardware. Thanks for the excellent review and demos! 🤘
As a Charvel/ Jackson player since 1982 i am really disappointed in Jackson with these new Soloist' models.
all they did was strip down a classic Soloist!!!! No binding on the neck, backwards Shark fins
that i do not care for the look of(i much prefer the standard position fins) a Floyd 1000 series
not a german made one. The ebony is not as high quality ebony. I will stick to the old Jackson's which in
the day were superior made guitars. These are a "cheaper" version and should not cost over $1200!
@@Murphy_R9 Yes the early 80s was a pretty neat time for Charvel & Jackson, that innovation, quality and passion seems a little dulled with a kind of cheapened "they'll buy it anyway" vibe in my opinion, and Jackson isn't alone. I still bought new Charvels and Jacksons even in the last few years, but each one I've had to replace hardware, trem springs, file sharp fret edges, etc to make them "finished." The only thing I did in the 80s was change the strings or a light steel wool to the neck.
@@andrews6505 Yeah I hope this does not happen to SUHR who at the time does not even offer oversea's
versions of their guitars. Not sure if you have ever played a SUHR guitar but they are a lot like the original
Jackson's and Charvel's pre 1986. Meticulous in QC and top notch workmanship and parts. Very pricey though!
a traditional Strat style SUHR is over $3K but you will not have any issues out of the box many of the others have.
@@Murphy_R9honestly with current economics it's almost a miracle they kept these - USA made- under 2k. They are not perfect, sure, but I've seen the price of imports guitars skyrocketing lately. Here in Europe is not rare finding LTD 1000 series above 2k, same with high end Schecters.
Thanks!
I love the scream of the bridge humbucker !!!
favorite brand from favorite TH-cam man🥳
Jackson is my favourite brand!
Cheers from Portugal 🤘🍺🇵🇹
🤟
Great review Euge and thank you for testing the flutter on these tremolos, no one ever does!
Appreciate the honestly, liked and subbed. 🍻
Thanks!
Great video Euge, I think for what Jackson are charging for these guitars they should have a German Floyd,Noiseless springs and a string retainer, your videos are always Unbiased and I appreciate that Euge.
Don't think i've ever seen a Jackson with a string retainer.
Thanks!
All of my DUNCAN JB pickups get a Alnico 2 magnet swap. This takes care of that 4K frequency you mentioned but keeps all the great
things about a JB. IF i had to use a stock JB it would be the JB antiquity which has a aged A5 that sounds closer to a A2 than the A5.
So you like the RTM, which is a JB with an A2. DeMartini approves.
wow man as soon as you put the foam in the tone improved sooo much
lol oh yeah how you doin' man!
should've said HI first lol
many hugs dude!
Great video Euge, an honest review. I have the virtuoso, it’s actually a pretty nice guitar. It’s definitely a bright guitar but thats not a bad thing, I like it. Position 4 gets you some really nice cleans. You will definitely need the noiseless springs, inexpensive fix but it should come with them, I agree with you. Also put a tiny drop of oil on the threads of the fine tuners, they are pretty rough when new the oil will smooth it right out. Overall it’s a nice guitar, plays great and sounds great. If Jackson happens to read these comments you really need the noiseless springs, I can buy them for 15 bucks so I’m sure Jackson can get a bulk deal, just install them from the factory so the consumer gets an instant wow effect instead of a WTF is that ping noise…
Edit to add: As far as the solist goes Jackson did an mj series a few years ago which I believe has been discontinued. There are a few shops here in the states that still have a few in stock. Those are great guitars, nice dark ebony boards and a gotoh tremelo, if your in the market for a soloist try to find one of those, excellent Japanese craftmanship and pretty much priced the same as the usa version, it’s a double humbucker though, with a three way switch.
Thanks for the tip. Personally, the double humbucker kills that idea for me, but someone else will benefit from your advice.
Hi Euge. You have so f.... g big arsenal of gear !! I love it !! I love jackson professional soloist pro series made in japan 1990 - great quality guitars..best regards..
😎🤟🎶💪
When they came out they were £2599 today they are £1799 in the UK at most retailers, with that saving you could get an original floyd, any springs etc that you wanted and change out the pickup to what ever and still save money, much more reasonable price than at launch. A lot of people lost a lot of money getting them on release, if they just added the original floyd in the first place a lot less hate would have been thrown at it from the get go
have a 96 custom shop kelly which had the same exact same issues string tree needed (headstock angle) and noisy springs so its heritage LOL thanks for the honest review
I hear Anthrax riffs, I upvote. There's just no words!
🤟
Finally someone thinks the same about the JB pickups as I do :D
Try it with a A2 magnet. 🤘
@@Murphy_R9problem with A2 mags is that most often it softens things and low end gets mellower, which is something not always welcome.
😎
@@taxo Surprisingly with the JB wind this does not really happen. The lows are actually tighter and the tone is more even. try it. I have used the JB with A2 for over 20 years now.
@@Murphy_R9 mmm I do have a spared broken JB somewhere at my place, maybe I could rewind the thing and try.
yeah ebony is not coming back, we kinda were not very sustainable about it. But richlite is the future
Hey Euge,
would it be possible that you Upload all your Softube Presets ?
It would be very cool to Checkout your Sounds💪🏻 Im not really able to setup a Killer rythm Tone. Im still a newbie to rythm Tones.
You would really help me.
Thanks man 🤘🏻
Not sure what you mean since I use real amps but in general I don’t have separate tones/sounds for leads, rhythms etc.; I just dial one good sound and use guitar’s volume control and an overdrive pedal to manipulate it.
@@EugeValovirta230V Oh okey thanks for the information. Yea sorry that was confusing... i wrote the comment under the wrong Video...i had 2 tabs open and watched the Softube video of you and this right here :D
I believe the device above the nut is called a 'string tree' and I agree, Jacksons need them. One of the many things ESP got right!
Thanks! 😎 Yep.
Disclaimer: I don't know the quality of Ebony in these particular guitars. But:
Only some of the harvested ebony is black, while other pieces have a streakier/more colourful appearance. AFAIK it doesn't have an affect on the actual functionality of the wood, which here is as a fretboard material. Tradition has been to use only the black pieces, and it is more costly in todays wood supply market.
Nowadays, companies like Taylor are promoting the usage of the non-black material. And it does suit many guitars IMO, acoustics of certain appearance and also electrics where it can add a visual element which you either like or don't like.
These guitars with their finishes, a more uniform colour suits IMO. But it costs.
Thanks for the info 🙏👌.
Jackson is my favorite brand. But they are not as good a value as they once were.
I am a big fan of buying cheap, used bolt on Japanese made Jacksons from the 90s and 00s, mainly for just the body and neck, and upgrading them.
I then put on an Original Floyd Rose or Schaller Floyd Rose. I change out the pickups to my liking. If I am using EMGs or Seymour Duncan Blackouts I wire them in 24 volts with a 24 Volt Mod. If I am using passive pickups I use Seymour Duncan Triple Shot mounting rings so I can change from series to split to parallel for each pickup. I do not like direct mounted pickups.
I can also wire in a Shadow volume/killpot to the bridge pickup and put a phase switch with a push/pull pot on the neck pickup.
$250 for the guitar used, maybe $250 for the bridge, $200 for the pickups used. You can have a guitar with more features than a new high end guitar for $600-$1200 USD. You just have to know how to solder.
The biggest problem is making the U.S. sized pots and bridge parts fit the metric sized holes in the body, but you really only need to change out the bridge (baseplate, saddles, tremolo block). The string claw and bridge posts can stay in place. You can make the pot holes larger with a taper reamer.
Asian sized Floyd Rose locking nuts are not as tall. They are R8 sized, not R2 or R3 like most Jacksons. Floyd Rose makes R8 nuts but they are hard to find. They work just fine with Schaller Floyd Rose bridges. You only need to replace the import nut if the pads are worn or it is not staying in tune.
It is better to use Schaller Floyd Roses rather than OFRs because Jackson body routes are very small. Schaller bridges are wider than OFRs and shorter front to back by a few mm. So, if you detune and need to intonate by moving the saddle back, you may need a Schaller bridge if you still want to do pull ups. An OFR bridge might not let you pull up all the way if the saddles are moved far back.
Better cheap metal guitar brands than Jackson now in my opinion are LTD, Epiphone, and Kramer, especially used.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for your videos and music, Euge.
Aaron
Thanks Aaron!
I bought a pro series Phil Demmel in 2021 and while it looked cool, I was really disappointed in how it felt. Plus there was no pure-contact of the low E string on the top of the nut and it buzzed until I installed my own retainer bar on it (could’ve also probably used a shim). Was just okay. I think for the prices LTDs are better bang for the buck
Damn. I agree.
Great job Euge, could you make a video showing the wiring part of this amazing guitar.
Thanks! Not sure what you mean?
18:24 String retainer is what it's called.
Thanks! 😎
The Floyd locking nuts R2 and R3 are 10 inch radius and unless they shimmed the saddles, the bridge will be 12 inch radius.
Schaller now has that you can order the Lockmeister in radius of 10, 12, 14, 16 which is cool to get it playing the best in my opinion.
👌
The floyd 1500 isnt a big deal it stays in tune really well my only complaint is the nickel frets over stainless steel id rather have a fixed bridge cause less to mess with and easier to setup. But this guitar can be restrung alot quicker with the gotah locking tuners. The guitar neck is what sold me on this one its fast and comfy the pickups sound good and the design is great this guitar plays so well for anything really. Its basically jacksons version of a super strat
ESP ebony fretboards are black because they dye the ever-living crap out of them. I have the ESP Snakebyte (made in Japan) that I've played a lot and you can see where I've started to wear away some of the black dye they use on the fretboards.
With new ESP's you are probably right (if it's an E-II), if it is ESP Original/Signature/Custom - it should be perfect.
Also if it is old from 80/90s - should be also perfect.
@ivanov_n Like I said, mine is an ESP Snakebyte, made in Japan in 2011. ESP have been dying the ebony fretboard for many, many years.
@@MajorDook1 if yours is SS serial number -> it's not real esp, it's like e-ii, even if esp is written on the Headstock
Cool review. Btw, there's no audio @13:19-13:49
When it comes to materials, especially wood, new guitars either have to be built by artesanal builders or they're very expensive to match the quality of materials all the companies used up until early 90's. Obviously some of it is because of conservation reasons, but even those that aren't feel much lower quality overall.
Awesome man...cool 😎
Thanks ✌️
Do the LTD's and EII's, roughly in the same price range, come with noiseless springs? I don't think this is problem with just Jackson.
Not sure but if I remember correct yes. At least the ones I’ve tried. Or at least I didn’t have the noise problem so probably yes.
I like that dude tell it like it is.
Great Tones!
Great vid Euge! Which guitars in this category do you think provide more value/higher quality parts etc?
Aha....as a Jackson fanatic I applause...the sharkfin inlays suit you man....😛
"With some improvements, they are usable " 😅
Ringing endorsement.
Good to see an honest opinion.
Thanks for that.
Love your work.
😎. I’ve been endorsed by ESP since early 2000s and have no reason to even think about any other brand since ESP simply makes the best guitars. IMO.
Thanks!
It was almost funny to see a TH-cam clip that isn't just saying how great all is.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Easy on that bar Euge, I feel like I'm at a music store in 1989. hahaha. great chops dude. (it's called a retaining bar)
Roger 😎🎶. Thanks!
I have no idea what people are talking about anymore. The American SL3s are some of the nicest production guitars I’ve played in years. I absolutely had to have one. I’m very familiar with the MIJ Soloists and they are not on this level of playability. I can count on one hand the guitars I’ve played that had a 1.0mm action and flawless intonation out of the box, and all of them were PLEK’d at the factory. The rolled fingerboard edges feel really nice. The Floyd 1500 is absolutely fine, maybe a hair less travel on the fine tuners than a German Floyd. If and when mine gives me issues I’ll replace it with a German one no questions asked because the rest of the guitar is that good. And comparing the ebony to guitars from before the Taylor buyout is a bit disingenuous - as other commenters have said, A-grade ebony ain’t coming back. At least not at any price I’d be willing to pay.
half of the sound is from the amp, the other half from the player. he could plug in a squier telecaster and sound similar (can you try it? ) The jackson shape/specs give him the confidence to play more aggressive, but you have massive skill and amps. congrats
Man I love me some metal but I'd really like to hear you just go off on an old school blues jam .
🤟🎶👌
Thank you :)
You're welcome!
Great reviews man! I'd gladly see ya reviewing some Schecters as well!
Thanks!
How about putting an ESP through that same sound, same setup?
Stellar review. Agree with everything. Especially the lack of a string retainer. Jackson should have known better. If they're gonna bone us with a Floyd 1500, at least throw a retainer on the headstock.
Thanks! 👌
there's massive misconception of Ebony only being the very dark one, but due to the nature of tree's and the scarcity of the dark Ebony we all associate with it, that colour is more rare. Due to Ebony (Diospyros ebenum) species being a very slow growing tree which takes hundreds - thousands of years to grow to decent sizes, making the darker more desirable grain far more expensive, which is why on a lot of lower end guitars, they stain the fretboard.
Love the review man. Although since I found the Pre-Lawsuit ESP's, I can't go back to Jackson, especially with their current QC issues.
Pre-lawsuit ESP's? Never heard of this, care to elaborate?
@ESA1996 it's another term for a "cease and desist". Because there was no law suit, but there was legal action filed and an agreement made before it went to court.
I like Jackson but don't like the headstock on those . Like those Misha style headstocks better . I like some reverse headstocks too like my Solar and my esp ltd baritone aw7b . I'm gonna get me a Jackson next year tho. I've never owned one.
I use Duncan distortions...
I definitely agree these should have noiseless springs for the price. There are a few areas I expected more for the price. Regarding everything else for the price, I think US based companies are between a rock and a hard place. Everyone here cries “why don’t you make USA made guitars anymore, why is it all overseas manufacturing in Korea and Indonesia now?” So they finally make a production US guitar. Then all kinds of people want to complain the guitars don’t have top spec features and hardware and then don’t actually want to buy the guitar they were criticizing the company for not previously making. Lose/lose situation for FMIC/Jackson. Won’t be surprised when they kill this line of manufacturing in a year or two which is sad to think about but pretty likely.
im just glad they managed to make a US neck thru guitar for under 2k
remember, Gibson is charging 1000 more dollars for a basic LP
Yes. They do not make them like they used to for sure.
Charvel/Jackson was the best in the 80’s.
Now their top tier stuff is simply mid-grade.
ESP has stolen the crown.
Any 80s models in particular that would resemble these new ones? Also, which ESPs?
There are different shades of ebony should me black jet black
Guitars in that price range should include a brass block, noisless sprins, and a string tree if they aren't going to get that locking nut and angle correct. Won't that much to the price.
New Jackson guitars have been a bit disappointing lately. Still very cool guitars sure, but they are just missing that last touch with some better parts and some more thought put into details. But man, your guitar reviews are really good and informative. Please keep doing them with different models and brands as much as you can and have time! 😀
Thanks man!
I think it’s a joke that they don’t put a real German made Floyd rose on a guitar for that price. ESP is proof that it’s possible, if you buy an esp e-ii m-ii for an example (similar price to Jackson American series) you will get a neck through guitar with a real German Floyd rose.
Indeed.
You've got me looking at those now - thanks for the suggestion.
@21:10 The trem arm on the 1000 & 1500 series is terrible. I recently purchased a new LTD SN-1000 with a FR1000 Series... the trem arm would never stay tight. I had to replace the trem arm with an original FR part to get it to function properly. I'd imagine its the same situation with these Jacksons.... even though they cost 2x as much. I think the recent japanese jacksons with the Gotoh hardware are probably superior to these "usa" models.
The 1500 series has the new Floyd Rose push-in arm, the 1000 has the old screw in.
@@Echoes- oh my bad. hopefully the fittings (parts that connect to the plate) are a bit higher quality too.
Try a Laney GH100L, you will be surprised, an overlooked monster
Point being , Jackson does not make them like they use to , mass-produced and details go out the window :-( you can really hear the imperfections thank you for pointing that out with the trained ear!
give me one of those😉
It’s about time this guy starts thinking about shaving his head. That hairline is crazy hahah. Having super thinned out hair myself. Choosing to start shaving your head was a hard pill to swallow. He’ll get there eventually hahaha.
Not there yet but I hear ya 😎.
Glad you said that about the Floyd…. Why companies stop using original, specially for that money. There is a difference, the 1000s do not tune as smoothly or feel as well made.
👌
Bottom Line: At this price point you should expect a professional quality instrument, but because Jackson (Fender really) cut every possible corner building it you get a half assed guitar at best.
I wouldn’t go that far but yeah, I expected a bit more.
I like Jackson's but I'm recent times they not making quality stuff....look at Schector they have up their game.
Ibanez hakkaa Jacksonin 6-0. Kaulaprofiilit on suhteellisen samat wizard ja jackson kauloissa. Radius tyyliin 15 tuumaa. Nää floikat on näissä aina miinus. Ja tuo volumepotikka, nyt ymmärrän kun itelläkin raskas käsi. Mullakin kolisi välillä siihen ja väänsi volumee alas. Vaihoin sun tapaan potikoiden paikan ja heitin tonen kuuseen niin johan on hyvä hakata 😎 Ibanezilla puukin on parempaa. Dimarziot on paremmat ku duncanit.
Hauska tuo jazz kitaristien halventaminen 🤣 Ne on kuule just semmosia nyplääjiä. Kerran yks semmonen valitti louhimistekniikasta ja näytti, että ei tarvii ku vähän hipoa plekun kärjellä. Mut sillä olikin tone asetukset silleen, että tulee feedbäkkii pikkuhipasusta 😀
No ni! Asiaa Atte! 💪
No se oli leikillään, kun piti jotain keksiä ja se nyt tuli ekana mieleen 😎. On niitä kyllä jazzissakin ihan miehekkäästi lapioia, kuten vaikka Vartiaisen Varre. Jokusen kerran hänen kanssaan soittanut ja tulee asenteella.
@@EugeValovirta230V Sori Euge, jos mä välillä vaikutan vähän synkältä, nous jotain henkilökohtasesta historiasta. Ei mitään, juu se oli läppä, mutta hyvä semmonen 😀 Käyn tsekkaa tuon Varren, ehkä hältä oppii jonkun jutun. Siistii ku oot päässyt soittelee noiden isompien nimien kanssa. Koen, että ku se on jotenkin vaikuttanu sinuun niin sit tälleen fanina se vaikuttaa suoraan myös omaan tatsiin vähäsen. 🙂
Ei mitään! Sellasta se elo välillä on 🙏😎.
@@EugeValovirta230V Kyllä näin on 🙂🙏
Ebony is actually almost never jet black. One in a many trees has black wood in it. It is very expensive to select only black ebony, a lot of material would be rejected that way. So most black ebony was dyed black in the past. These days many guitar companies use non dyed ebony and not naturally black ebony because of the cost. Also using ebony that is not naturally jet black is environmentally friendly.
Yep
It is more environmentally friendly to use the brown/streaky wood but the use of ebony, particularly African ebony is not environmentally friendly.
Ebony trees do not tend to grow grouped together like say the trees in a pine forest, and to cut down the ebony a lot of other trees have to be cut down.
Then it's only the heartwood that's the dark wood and it has a high shrinkage rate, so the usable wood is substantially smaller than what was originally cut before drying.
That high shrinkage and the natural density and hardness leads to splitting too, further reducing the usable percentage.
On top of that the heartwood often contains mineral deposits which recks tooling and looks as if someone has splattered toothpaste or...
On second thought, let's not go there!
But yeah, if you want a black fretboard I'd choose something like Richlite, or if the resemblance of grain is preferred then there's the British Rocklite.
Both are less environmentally damaging, more forgiving to work with (if a little more gunky on your tools) and don't tend to chip anything like ebony should a refret be required.
No doubt made in the USA is not what it used to be. Fender making that Jackson even the Custom Shop is not usable out of the box. The Charvel USAs are the same. Spring and grounding issues galore. My Charvel I think its a junk 5 way switch and poor soldering.
FYI. That is real ebony.
In that case ”it ain’t what it used to be” 🤷♂️. This is quite a bit softer, not so dense etc. than the ebony on my 80s and 2000s ESPs.
The lack of old growth woods means there using younger trees, the older the tree the darker wood. There all having that issue! :-(
There are only a couple of good guitars on that particular brand and they're magni with rosewood fretboard and you know they're five and seven eight $10,000 and by the time you get done putting your choice and pick up your choices Springs strings and what-have-you you basically got a Randy Rhoads guitar and these other guitars are fine for beginners and stuff like that but I think their overpriced because Alderwood is crap in my opinion
Great guitars by why does a $3000 guitar come with a gig bag ? Lol
Other guitar makers like harley benton are making cheaper price guitars with quality specs.
Definitely not your Vintage ESP Euge
Not even close.
Yup it’s Fender gouging you Jackson’s are no where near what they use to be I sold all my Fender stuff off. Ibanez, ESP, Dean and Gibson for me.
What annoys me with Jackson, is that they seem to do just the bare minimum. Same "boring" designs and finishes - these look like pro series Jacksons. Shame because I love my 80's and 90's Jacksons. ESP is doing far better in terms of releasing new interesting finishes.
esp charges 2x what their guitars are worth outside of the LTD line though
Way too overpriced for the specs they have.
These should have been around 1000-1500 Euros not 2000 Euros, specially when they don't even have a German Floyd and ss-frets. Oh and that ebony fretboard has this type of streaking, similar to rosewood, because they use the cheapest quality of Macassar ebony, the lower the quality of ebony wood, the more brown streaking it has. High quality Macassar ebony from Africa is completely black in color. Unfortunately, these types of exotic woods have gone very up in prices lately ( Swamp Ash & Quilted Maple specially), so they put the cheap stuff to cut costs.
Low quality Macassar ebony tends to develop cracks, due to humidity/ temperature changes, so expect lots of cracked fretboards, Solar Guitars had the same issues last year.
The sound brittle and thin to my ears, if you coulnd't make this type of guitar sound convincing no one can.
Nooo my favourite youtuber is doing boring guitar sposorship videos 😢
Did you bother watching the video? 😅
I suggest watching the video first before commenting.
Passive pick ups just sound weak 😢 It's sad that american guitar company's cut corners and sell junk😢
only cons for me.....zero models available for left handed players. just a bunch of garbage dinkies and one soloist slx available with no modifications possible....jackson & fender shame on you