New Pro series!

[SimonEriksson]

Thomann.de is listing them now.

Not too expensive!

http://www.thomann.de/gb/jackson_sl2_pro_soloist_bk.htm

[xenophobe]

Or is it just the personal feeling of being able to wave a 3k+ guitar in people faces?

It's the personal feeling when you pick up a guitar and can just feel that it was laboriously handcrafted to be the finest guitar they could produce.

You should tell a Harley owner that you'd never buy one of their bikes unless it was under a grand and made in *insert 3rd world country* and see what kind of reaction you get and then insult them for being an elitist pig.

[DarkkWarriorr]

The reason I liked Jackson's in the first place is because they didn't look like everything thing else. Maybe they were kind of stuck in the 80's, but thats the whole reason I loved them. If their gonna start looking like everything schecter and ibanez are doing I'm probably gonna stick with buying used.

I honestly still like the new direction that Jackson is shooting for these days, they really need to appeal to the current market for them to survive, that being said, they still need to retain their classic trademark 80's/metal/pointy look no matter what happens. It's what Jackson guitars is all about, aggressiveness with elegance.
And if Jacksons are gone, I'd rather play real LPs or Strats before I touch any Dean or Schecter, or even any LTD cheap shit.

[DarkkWarriorr]

Thomann.de is listing them now.

Not too expensive!

http://www.thomann.de/gb/jackson_sl2_pro_soloist_bk.htm

Not bad, I really hope that all the new Pros will be marked under $1000 with cases.

[xenophobe]

LTD cheap shit.

LTD cheap shit is as good or better to the comparably priced import Charvel or import Jackson... Just saying.

[DarkkWarriorr]

LTD cheap shit is as good or better to the comparably priced import Charvel or import Jackson... Just saying.

True, I was talking about the looks/aesthetics. Let's face it, the're ugly in comparison to most imports Jackson makes that I'm willing to play.

[Nightbat]

as far as "just raising prices", that's not my call. personally, i think jackson falls short - not because of the quality, but because of the lack of stock. PRS still makes a WONDERFUL guitar - it is expensive, but they are available. jackson makes a great guitar, but they are not that available and the wait times are stupid. gibson is hit-and-miss, their quality fluctuates so much considering how much they cost.

and there are MANY people that get off on the "personal feeling" of being able to wave a 3K+ guitar in people's faces. there are quite a few dudes on this board that come across that way - whether they really DO is another question....

But the Only thing FMIC seems to be competing with now is the Schecters/LTDs/SEs 'Low end market' (at JP Pro prices)
And though most agree Gibson is overpriced, I wouldn't call a PRS $6K worth either

Also, Jackson makes a great guitar, but is that worth charging more for? (Which they alread have been doing the past 10 years without improvements)
Neckthrough has been proven to be able to be done by 11 year old chinese kids, abalone (and its application) apparently can suddenly be done in entry-level guitars
EMGs aren't a highend upcharge anymore
Should the only thing making Jackson cost more be availability(/rarity)?

They know the high end isn't making the money, should they make it prestige only? (Like Ducati isn't making the money for Vespa, but supplies Vespa with Ducati's prestige)


I think we're better off buying Carvins in the future, and I'm not saying that as a US nationalist (since I'm Dutch) but as someone who likes guitars
and who (oldfashioned and outdatedly) believes a customer should get as much for as little as possible instead of the manufacturer getting as much for as little as possble

Edit:
Just checked those Thomann Prices
I was able to get a graphic-ed RR3 barely a year ago for roughly the same price on that same site

[xenophobe]

True, I was talking about the looks/aesthetics. Let's face it, the're ugly in comparison to most imports Jackson makes that I'm willing to play.

Build quality wise, LTD and Schecter are both higher quality than the comparable priced Charvel Desolation. I know, I've scoped them out a number of times just to see what the competition looks like. They have far less cosmetic issues and play just as well, but the Charvel does come with higher quality components for that price. I don't really consider any of them to be professional grade instruments, but many people do play them live just fine.

But the Only thing FMIC seems to be competing with now is the Schecters/LTDs/SEs 'Low end market' (at JP Pro prices)
And though most agree Gibson is overpriced, I wouldn't call a PRS $6K worth either

That's the truth and a good point.

[markD]

nightbat, i don't understand what you are getting at. i will admit it...

i think that we MIGHT be on the same page, regarding the us guitars. i do NOT think the usa jackson's are worth the money. i think they are MAYBE worth $1500-1700 new. prestige? who cares? it's a guitar, and the type that MOST players don't care about.

the new pro series guitars, which is what this thread is about - ever think that jackson isn't concerned with aiming these guitars at us older guys that ALREADY own jackson? they could be aiming them at a portion of the market that DOES play ltd/schecter/dean/ibanez? aiming at those players in order to convert them to jackson players?

i will still stand to my original opinion of these new pros - i like them and think they will be good for the future of jackson. though, the price is higher than i would pay...i took the thomann price of 777 euros, converted it and it came out to just over $1000.

[Nightbat]

nightbat, i don't understand what you are getting at. i will admit it...

i think that we MIGHT be on the same page, regarding the us guitars. i do NOT think the usa jackson's are worth the money. i think they are MAYBE worth $1500-1700 new. prestige? who cares? it's a guitar, and the type that MOST players don't care about.

the new pro series guitars, which is what this thread is about - ever think that jackson isn't concerned with aiming these guitars at us older guys that ALREADY own jackson? they could be aiming them at a portion of the market that DOES play ltd/schecter/dean/ibanez? aiming at those players in order to convert them to jackson players?

i will still stand to my original opinion of these new pros - i like them and think they will be good for the future of jackson. though, the price is higher than i would pay...i took the thomann price of 777 euros, converted it and it came out to just over $1000.

yeah it's getting a litlle unclear what the debate actually is
but be honest
Ibanez, ESP and Schecter are getting EXPOSURE
not because of the models they release, but the acts that carry them
Jackson -with for instance their desolation series- apparently thinks it's the abalone and the LP shape that sells guitars
if they want a younger generation to start buying Jacksons, get those axes into the hands of CURRENT acts
we old farts wouldn't want to see a Jackson in the hands of Herman Lee (easy on me and trends,.. I'm old), but a lot of young guys would start saving for one if he did have one
Artists aren't trendy, or they wouldn't be swinging Gibsons, but Steinvbergers, Parker Flies and Wangcasters, they play what you pay them

Jackson apparently is under the impression that building guitars in the same facilities as Schecter, LTD will make people buy them
I'm saying it will do shit for their figures if there's no mainstream player there to promote it to the young guns
And if they had invested the move and redesigns of production in some solid endorsements, their japanese series might've just taken off again

[xxx256]

these guitars on their artists and making them do promo videos for them while they lie through their teeth about how good they are.

...never fails to amuse me when a guy like ellefson tells the kids on youtube that the "crafted in india"- piece of junk is basically the same instrument he plays on stage. Yeah dave we do believe you -_-;

So i was excited about the new pro-series from when the first rumours were flying. I was so hoping for a string through soloist or better even a string through king v!
String thru kelly apart from a custom shop? Cool shit, so going to buy that!
Of course they would give us that as there are already a million floyd-rose guitars around to chose from. So yeah, cool stuff a pro series with at least a few string thrus.

Cold hard reality: more floyds for everyone, lol.

It would be nice if Jackson wouldnt force us non-floyd users to go with RRT's only. And yeah i am not interested in basswood coming out of india either.
Apart from that i pray it really is mexico. Never played a mexican guitar though, it just sounds nice to my ears somehow.

So does anyone know if the mexican facility is on par or above chuchin gakki in general? Just curious...

[xenophobe]

So does anyone know if the mexican facility is on par or above chuchin gakki in general? Just curious...

The USA shop actually showed the Japanese factory how to make them like they wanted them to be built... so the build process was essentially the same. If you look at the work on the Model Series necks or the work on the early high end Professionals, you'll see that they were doing just as they were told.

Mexico can make some really nice stuff. Is it on par? I dunno, I've never seen a Mexican Jackson or Charvel. It's not really fair to compare them to Fenders.

Oh, and I would be far happier with CJ stuff being made in Mexico rather than Indonesia, India or China, to be honest. I'd rather help our neighbors down south than those other countries.

[DarkkWarriorr]

String thru kelly apart from a custom shop? Cool shit, so going to buy that!

Just to let you know, the limited string thru Kelly Jackson is releasing now isn't a Pro model, it's an X-Series model, either from India or Indonesia. Would they release a Pro Kelly or a Pro Warrior in the future? That remains to be seen...

[TommyD]

I just now saw this thread,and checked the link out.

After looking at the lineup,I'd take the satin black Soloist over almost anything else they currently make other than a USA DK1 or SL2H. In fact,my ideal CS wouldn't be much different other than pickups and offset dots,perhaps in bolt-on. They even got the satin chrome right .

The trans tops do look nice though. Tommy D.

[mr426]

I like these. Hell I may buy one of those King Vs. I thikn its a step in the right direction for Jackson. Now just lower the Cutom Shop stuff a bit and Ill order more.HAHA