loved my Jackson JS22, so i treated myself to a JS32 a year later. Did not realize you could get a amazing guitar collection for under 700 bucks. How silly I have been in the past falling for the fender gibson high end gear. 2023 ibenez just released the js22 for over a grand! crazy. go buy these jackson guitars if you are smart.
i'm doing the same, i've had my 22 for about 2yrs and am going to reward myself with a 32q soon, may upgrade the pickups to a SD JB/Jazz combo, we'll see
Thanks for the review! I just ordered the JS32Q Dinky DSB. I will put a back stop in the trem, so I can also shift tones upward but have a "zero point" between up and down.
I’m liking this guitar more and more. I’m getting used to the neck and string spacing. It’s like a car with more leg room. And I didn’t mention this in the video but it’s very lightweight.
The front edge of the tremolo plate (closest to the pickups) should be roughly between 1mm -1.5mm off the surface of the guitar. That’s the word about floating tremolos from Andertons.
Nice! My cheaper RG recently got kind of a major crack in the body by the bridge. It's been a bit of a bummer, especially since I put some DiMarzios in it not too long ago. You've got me thinking this Jackson... Also, I dig the mix of content on the channel, Chris! For your prog.
similar issue...well no crack but i hate that pappel wood whatever wood that is. i got a dent into mine right behind the trem , the finish cracked open and it was not even a so hard hit to the thing . i did some headstock paintjob cause i hated how it looked like , sort of darker wood at the headstock and then a more brighter one along the neck..yak ugly so i wanted paint and all i hit on it was the stand but now i got a dent. never again pappel i hate how soft that wood is. i was looking for a good ibanez but i am not someone who is gona stand on a stage with it: all i need is a genuine guitar mainly for daw usage so no reason for ibanez allthough i love ibanez for the design. but then i saw this Jackson and felt in love due to the headstock design like showing the tounge 😅. and the sound is great for DAW usage. now doing some slight changes to the way how one connects it into the daw, the sound gets due to it having Hummbuckers will be so faaat that even icooporating it with a good rap or hiphop beat is possible. there is a way to turn its audio signal into midi ...allthough hard and that is what i want this shredder for
I just bought one of these. I stripped the hardware and oiled and sanded the guitar with 1200 sandpaper. I added H4 & H4a EMG pickups. The frets needed some polishing and sharp fretwire needed filing. I planned to replace the trem with a Floyd rose 1984 but honestly I'm surprised by how good the licensed trem is. The nut is poor and will get replaced on next string change. This now plays and sounds better than some of my £1500 guitars. The H4 pickups are incredible if anyone is considering the upgrade.
Hey, man. How would your modded Jackson JS32 compare against the ones from more expensive series (X, pro, MJ, USA and USA Custom Shop)? Is it better than a X, pro, etc series guitar? If not, how is the X, pro, etc series guitars better than your modded JS?
I have that same exact guitar. I really like it alot. I did tool in a evh drop d tuna. (That I dont use alot). You block the trem, and it's great. Nice review.
Great video Chris, I have the same guitar (a hand me down from my 16 year-old). Just learning to play. Thanks for your review, it was helpful as I am trying to learn about this guitar.
My question is why buy a full floating system? I locked my strat down just because it stays in tune forever, but i bought the Jackson just for Pantera songs
Cool did you have any issues with that FR like with knife edges? IMHO an older one JP580 LP Floyds on JS32 were better, it seems that material of a base plate was harder.
None yet. But to be fair, I try to play all my guitars equally, so the Jackson doesn’t see much action-I play it maybe 1/2 hour 2-3 time a week. I will say, I’m impressed with the tuning stability. I did install a stopper so it’s dive bomb only, but even at full float, it was solid. The fine tuners, nut, and headstock tuners still feel really cheap, but this guitar is outstanding for how much it costs. Also, the pickups sound good enough at full volume, but not that great when you back them off for crunch tones.
I just ordered one of these this morning (bright blue, not wood grain). Very exited to finally get an axe that I can upgrade to my hearts content. My two main guitars now are a 1980 Gibson V2 and a 25/50 Anniversary Les Paul. I bought them both new in 1980 and have owned them for 44 years. Great guitars but I don’t dare mod them at all cuz they’re both rare and valuable and mods would ruin the value. Anyway I’m very exited about my JS32. New tuners, a couple Dimarzios or Duncan’s, maybe put a real Floyd Rose on it some day. Since I’ve been a technician all my life, I’ll probably upgrade the electronics myself some time. It’ll be an ongoing project.
I’ve had mine more than a year now and I play it almost every day. One thing I failed to mention in the review is that the body is light weight, and the contours make it really comfortable to play. The neck joint is a little blockier than my higher-end axes, but I’m used to it now and I don’t even notice.
@@ccaveraI’ve had mine for about a month now and so far I love it. I definitely agree with your assessment; tuning machines aren’t great, pickups are pretty good, Floyd Rose/Jackson trem is actually pretty good. I haven’t had any issues with the locking nut and it stays in tune pretty well. The fine tuners on the bridge, terrible. When I get around to upgrading, the bridge and tuners will be the first thing to go. I also recently purchased a Boss Katana 100 MkII head. I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a decent tone with the JS32 through the Katana. Yours sounds amazing. I will try those settings but I’m kind of skeptical. But I’m thinking more and more on what you said about the speaker. I will get a Katana 212 cabinet to go with it when I can but for right now I’ve been running it through the 12” Celestion in my Marshall JCM800. It’s a G12M-70 I believe. I don’t like it at all to be honest. Maybe I should have put two and two together and figured out that the speaker was my problem before. The main reason I got the Katana was because I wasn’t getting anything out of the JCM800 that liked. Odd that I’m just now figuring that out after owning the thing for over 30 years. Anyway, since you’re far from the only one that has talked about how important speakers are, I’m hoping that different speakers will allow me to get that elusive tone I’ve been after for so long.
@@bretttrommler756 I'm a V-30 guy. They can cover a lot of tonal ground in my opinion. That being said, I enjoy a strong mid-range tone and usually steer clear of the scooped stuff. I feel like I'm always looking for a less harsh EVH-style tone where you can play with the volume knob for crunch and even near-clean sounds. For me the V-30 just has a smooth, maybe even neutral sound that pairs well with high-gain amps.
JS32 has the licensed Floyd, locking nut, and nato body. The 22 has the 2-point fulcrum trem, plastic nut, and poplar body. The 32 retails for $400 and the 22 is going for $200 at Sweetwater. I got the JS32 because I couldn’t pass on the deal. But if I were going to spend $400 on a shredder, I’d probably look for a used Ibanez on reverb. That’s just me. I’m just very used to the Ibanez necks.
That’s a good question. I think I’d have to go with the RG in that case, but that’s only because I generally prefer Ibanez necks over Jacksons. So I’d say it’s a question of personal preference.
Scratchy frets is surprising, unacceptable really. Also, just by a hardtail of you're gonna block it? Haha I'm cozy with floating bridge. I agree I love the Jackson Vs.
the video absolutly was a huge help. The guitar sounds great to me and for daw usage i must admit is the sound of a true strat ..well not realy that good because a whole load of audi fx are needed. this one sounds well sort of warm to the tone due to it having the Config of HH HH but i know how to turn those to HH s H or HH SS. no reason for a true ibanez allthough thats my favorite brand, my first was a ibanez.... as sidenote i love that natural wood look so much but how is it finished ? i dont see any gloss or is it oiled if so even better ! thank you for doing this video it helps alot my decision making. Dankeschön aus Deutschland 😊😊 thanks from germany
I agree the Boss Katana is arguably one of the very best values for an amp. Jackson guitars? Not so much. So many as good or better at that price. The headstock is the primary thing that is a fundamental problem with their guitars. The headstock is also the reason that many people think they look cool. If you want to design a great instrument you cannot put form over function. The strings need to come through the nuts in a linear fashion for many reasons.
I got rid of my floyd rose on mine guitar center turned me $150 to set it up plus strings and I had to take it back every month to get it tuned don't get a Floyd rose
Its actually easy enough to set up. I have this one after I had a charger with a Floyd rose before and even tho I haven’t tuned a Floyd rose in 10 years it was no bother. Stays in tune as well. 150 dollars is steep for 15 minutes work
loved my Jackson JS22, so i treated myself to a JS32 a year later. Did not realize you could get a amazing guitar collection for under 700 bucks. How silly I have been in the past falling for the fender gibson high end gear. 2023 ibenez just released the js22 for over a grand! crazy. go buy these jackson guitars if you are smart.
i'm doing the same, i've had my 22 for about 2yrs and am going to reward myself with a 32q soon, may upgrade the pickups to a SD JB/Jazz combo, we'll see
I can only half-assed do that flutter thing. Reb Beach and Brad Gillis are the masters of that whammy technique
Thanks for the review! I just ordered the JS32Q Dinky DSB. I will put a back stop in the trem, so I can also shift tones upward but have a "zero point" between up and down.
I’m liking this guitar more and more. I’m getting used to the neck and string spacing. It’s like a car with more leg room. And I didn’t mention this in the video but it’s very lightweight.
what about some paint for the guitar
The front edge of the tremolo plate (closest to the pickups) should be roughly between 1mm -1.5mm off the surface of the guitar. That’s the word about floating tremolos from Andertons.
Nice! My cheaper RG recently got kind of a major crack in the body by the bridge. It's been a bit of a bummer, especially since I put some DiMarzios in it not too long ago. You've got me thinking this Jackson...
Also, I dig the mix of content on the channel, Chris! For your prog.
similar issue...well no crack but i hate that pappel wood whatever wood that is. i got a dent into mine right behind the trem , the finish cracked open and it was not even a so hard hit to the thing . i did some headstock paintjob cause i hated how it looked like , sort of darker wood at the headstock and then a more brighter one along the neck..yak ugly so i wanted paint and all i hit on it was the stand but now i got a dent. never again pappel i hate how soft that wood is. i was looking for a good ibanez but i am not someone who is gona stand on a stage with it: all i need is a genuine guitar mainly for daw usage so no reason for ibanez allthough i love ibanez for the design. but then i saw this Jackson and felt in love due to the headstock design like showing the tounge 😅. and the sound is great for DAW usage. now doing some slight changes to the way how one connects it into the daw, the sound gets due to it having Hummbuckers will be so faaat that even icooporating it with a good rap or hiphop beat is possible.
there is a way to turn its audio signal into midi ...allthough hard and that is what i want this shredder for
I just bought one of these. I stripped the hardware and oiled and sanded the guitar with 1200 sandpaper. I added H4 & H4a EMG pickups. The frets needed some polishing and sharp fretwire needed filing. I planned to replace the trem with a Floyd rose 1984 but honestly I'm surprised by how good the licensed trem is. The nut is poor and will get replaced on next string change. This now plays and sounds better than some of my £1500 guitars. The H4 pickups are incredible if anyone is considering the upgrade.
Hey, man. How would your modded Jackson JS32 compare against the ones from more expensive series (X, pro, MJ, USA and USA Custom Shop)? Is it better than a X, pro, etc series guitar? If not, how is the X, pro, etc series guitars better than your modded JS?
I have that same exact guitar. I really like it alot. I did tool in a evh drop d tuna. (That I dont use alot). You block the trem, and it's great. Nice review.
no because you got a different serial number
Nice video. Thanks for sharing
thanks for the video !!! i have this with a wgs blackhawk hp. i love the tone. its awesome
Great video Chris, I have the same guitar (a hand me down from my 16 year-old). Just learning to play. Thanks for your review, it was helpful as I am trying to learn about this guitar.
My question is why buy a full floating system? I locked my strat down just because it stays in tune forever, but i bought the Jackson just for Pantera songs
Cool did you have any issues with that FR like with knife edges? IMHO an older one JP580 LP Floyds on JS32 were better, it seems that material of a base plate was harder.
None yet. But to be fair, I try to play all my guitars equally, so the Jackson doesn’t see much action-I play it maybe 1/2 hour 2-3 time a week. I will say, I’m impressed with the tuning stability. I did install a stopper so it’s dive bomb only, but even at full float, it was solid. The fine tuners, nut, and headstock tuners still feel really cheap, but this guitar is outstanding for how much it costs. Also, the pickups sound good enough at full volume, but not that great when you back them off for crunch tones.
I just ordered one of these this morning (bright blue, not wood grain). Very exited to finally get an axe that I can upgrade to my hearts content. My two main guitars now are a 1980 Gibson V2 and a 25/50 Anniversary Les Paul. I bought them both new in 1980 and have owned them for 44 years. Great guitars but I don’t dare mod them at all cuz they’re both rare and valuable and mods would ruin the value. Anyway I’m very exited about my JS32. New tuners, a couple Dimarzios or Duncan’s, maybe put a real Floyd Rose on it some day. Since I’ve been a technician all my life, I’ll probably upgrade the electronics myself some time. It’ll be an ongoing project.
I’ve had mine more than a year now and I play it almost every day. One thing I failed to mention in the review is that the body is light weight, and the contours make it really comfortable to play. The neck joint is a little blockier than my higher-end axes, but I’m used to it now and I don’t even notice.
@@ccaveraI’ve had mine for about a month now and so far I love it. I definitely agree with your assessment; tuning machines aren’t great, pickups are pretty good, Floyd Rose/Jackson trem is actually pretty good. I haven’t had any issues with the locking nut and it stays in tune pretty well. The fine tuners on the bridge, terrible. When I get around to upgrading, the bridge and tuners will be the first thing to go.
I also recently purchased a Boss Katana 100 MkII head. I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a decent tone with the JS32 through the Katana. Yours sounds amazing. I will try those settings but I’m kind of skeptical. But I’m thinking more and more on what you said about the speaker. I will get a Katana 212 cabinet to go with it when I can but for right now I’ve been running it through the 12” Celestion in my Marshall JCM800. It’s a G12M-70 I believe. I don’t like it at all to be honest. Maybe I should have put two and two together and figured out that the speaker was my problem before. The main reason I got the Katana was because I wasn’t getting anything out of the JCM800 that liked. Odd that I’m just now figuring that out after owning the thing for over 30 years. Anyway, since you’re far from the only one that has talked about how important speakers are, I’m hoping that different speakers will allow me to get that elusive tone I’ve been after for so long.
@@bretttrommler756 I'm a V-30 guy. They can cover a lot of tonal ground in my opinion. That being said, I enjoy a strong mid-range tone and usually steer clear of the scooped stuff. I feel like I'm always looking for a less harsh EVH-style tone where you can play with the volume knob for crunch and even near-clean sounds. For me the V-30 just has a smooth, maybe even neutral sound that pairs well with high-gain amps.
I hope they will make a fixed bridge version of this guitar.
They do, i have one.
How does the JS32 differ from the JS22?
JS32 has the licensed Floyd, locking nut, and nato body. The 22 has the 2-point fulcrum trem, plastic nut, and poplar body. The 32 retails for $400 and the 22 is going for $200 at Sweetwater. I got the JS32 because I couldn’t pass on the deal. But if I were going to spend $400 on a shredder, I’d probably look for a used Ibanez on reverb. That’s just me. I’m just very used to the Ibanez necks.
Thank you for the spec comparison. They both look like some of the best bang-for-buck guitars. I like the wood finish.
It is beautiful in -person and very lightweight as well.
Hey Chris, would you rather choose this Jackson over Ibanez rg421? I got quite dilemma about it.
That’s a good question. I think I’d have to go with the RG in that case, but that’s only because I generally prefer Ibanez necks over Jacksons. So I’d say it’s a question of personal preference.
Scratchy frets is surprising, unacceptable really. Also, just by a hardtail of you're gonna block it? Haha I'm cozy with floating bridge. I agree I love the Jackson Vs.
the video absolutly was a huge help. The guitar sounds great to me and for daw usage i must admit is the sound of a true strat ..well not realy that good because a whole load of audi fx are needed. this one sounds well sort of warm to the tone due to it having the Config of HH HH but i know how to turn those to HH s H or HH SS. no reason for a true ibanez allthough thats my favorite brand, my first was a ibanez.... as sidenote i love that natural wood look so much but how is it finished ? i dont see any gloss or is it oiled if so even better ! thank you for doing this video it helps alot my decision making. Dankeschön aus Deutschland 😊😊 thanks from germany
I’m glad it was helpful! The guitar has no finish, just oil. It’s very smooth and the guitar is very lightweight and comfortable.
@@ccavera thank you ! yes it absolutly was helpfull
Apenas la encargue 🎉
I'm subscriber 100th 🎉
Thanks! Your channel is awesome!
@@ccavera alright thanks for stopping by !
I just got the dkxr...600$...i was prepared to swap the pickups.. until i heard them
Is it made in indonesia?
Mine was made in China.
Don't really need locking tuners if you have a locking nut like that guitar has.
I agree the Boss Katana is arguably one of the very best values for an amp. Jackson guitars? Not so much. So many as good or better at that price. The headstock is the primary thing that is a fundamental problem with their guitars. The headstock is also the reason that many people think they look cool. If you want to design a great instrument you cannot put form over function. The strings need to come through the nuts in a linear fashion for many reasons.
All the hardware on that guitar is cheap pot metal. Change it all.... and you got somthing. Great entry level guitar
I got rid of my floyd rose on mine guitar center turned me $150 to set it up plus strings and I had to take it back every month to get it tuned don't get a Floyd rose
Its actually easy enough to set up. I have this one after I had a charger with a Floyd rose before and even tho I haven’t tuned a Floyd rose in 10 years it was no bother. Stays in tune as well. 150 dollars is steep for 15 minutes work
Why people can’t use a Floyd rose anyone with basic mechanical knowledge can use it no problem