new pro dinky DK2, anyone played yet?

[Pauly]

musician's friend screwed up again and im waiting for weeks after returning the first wrong item. the suspense is killing me and i was hoping someone got their hands on one and could tell me what they thought about it. also for some reason guitar center or any of the other local shops carry very few jacksons and zero higher end models.

[pianoguyy]

I've played in stores, but I do not own one --- although, may pick up a used one.
My thoughts on them are ---
Bound neck - my hand drags on the black binding. So, I won't buy new. But I am willing to try used in case it is a situation where it just needs to be lubed up or something.
Pickups - I prefer pickup rings, because my fingers grip them and use them as leverage. Again, willing to try used, so maybe I can adjust to it.

Other than that, I mean, how well can you get to know a guitar in a store. But, I can say that they are what I expect Jackson to be.


Why do places not carry them?
If you really paid attention, you'd notice that no one carries high end anything, except for Gibson and Fender. Everything is Chinese anymore. ESP is represented in stores by LTD, not ESP. Schecter is all Diamond Series or Daisy Rock. Ibanez dealers rarely have have the Prestige line on the walls.
That's just the way it works.

WHY?
*Partially, the economy. Stores couldn't have a million dollars worth of inventory sitting around. They needed to make payroll. You can buy 5 imports for the price of one USA. And you can sell 20 imports for every one USA that you sell. That 4x the profit.
*Music is not in a good place right now. Kids do what their heroes do. Since there are no guitar heroes in the mainstream right now, guitar sales are down.
*Local musicians aren't being paid like they were in the past. Popular local acts are happy to make $150. But 20-30 years ago (the Jackson heyday), average bands were making that same $150. Adjusted for inflation, that is a huge difference.
*And as far as stocking Jackson USA, I think the prices have made it not worth buying a 'factory standard' model off the rack. Go for a Custom Select, so you can pick and choose your options for just a little bit more.


And just in general...
The thought process that is put out today is:
It is better to be humble and self-deprecating. Which means having high end gear is evil. Success is evil. Flaunting your goods in poor people's faces is evil. Everything is evil -- except government and poverty.


A club owner gave a panel speech. He said, this trend of 'boring' can't last. At some point, people are going to want to have fun again.


Let's just hope I am not too old to profit from it.
I am not good at 'boring'. I only know how to do 'over the top'.

[Pauly]

wow, i got more than i bargained for. thanks for your reply! i enjoyed the read, agree 100% and appreciate the input. yea, you're right, it's not easy getting to know a guitar in a busy noisy store.

[lefty]

Agree with everything ya said pianoguy. How does PRS figure into the equation?
They seem to be doing okay. Riding the back of the SE line and hoping the amps
catch on? Or are they just a very well-run organization?

[pianoguyy]

I don't see PRS hanging on the racks either.
I see the 2nd tier lines.

[Rich#6]

My GC has about 10 usa prs guitars and about 6 used usas. They have ONE import new and one import used.
My Sam Ash has every color of the 30th anv se customs and 4 new usas. They had a ton of S2s that just were sent back recently after hanging on the wall for years.

[TKEblue]

Dead on Pianoguy, plus its easier than ever to find gear used anymore.
I don't think any guitar/amp company is doing too well right now, that's why we're seeing a lot of new products and options.

A perfect example for inflation is the new dinky pros are now mim instead of mij, for more money. They did at least add a Korean ofr. I'm sure they're jackson quality, Im impressed by even the js guitars for the price and I'm not saying I wouldn't buy one, but I will always think of mim strats. Fine guitars, no respect. Lol

Direct mount is supposed to give you moar tonez, plus it will break you of the habit of anchoring your hand on it. Lol


Edit: okc gc has everything tied into acoustics I think. Lol Room with like 30 of them, taylor, martin, breedlove, ect that are pretty much all 2-5 grand. Very easily accessible, no one on your nuts, best part about that store. The rest of the guitar dept is mostly mim fender and epiphone, and a lot of sub 6-700 imports. Only the sub 500 stuff in reach, even in the used section. Had to have them get the ladder to let me check out a used roadhouse strat that was about worn out

[toejam]

Direct mount is supposed to give you moar tonez, plus it will break you of the habit of anchoring your hand on it. Lol

That's a myth about getting better tone or sustain while having direct-mounted pickups.
I also used to anchor my pinky on the pickup rings, but I've got an equal amount of guitars with and without them now and don't seem to do that any more, anyway. Though, you can always get EMGs or some other covered pickup and just anchor on the side of those...

[Pauly]

thanks blue. i never did care what's popular or respected. if the functions are there with no issues, and the sound is where i want it, i'm happy and couldn't care less if it was made in bangladesh or alaska or anywhere in between.

[j2379]

i used to think they were all myths till tried a trick i saw Jol Dantzig (the Hamer guy) uses putting foam under pickups to reduce feedback & get a slightly better tone....IT WORKED. better tone....ehhh, but it did help the feedback problem in more than a few of my old guitars.

That's a myth about getting better tone or sustain while having direct-mounted pickups.
I also used to anchor my pinky on the pickup rings, but I've got an equal amount of guitars with and without them now and don't seem to do that any more, anyway. Though, you can always get EMGs or some other covered pickup and just anchor on the side of those...

[pianoguyy]

I use foam under my direct mount single coils (like in a Soloist) to prevent them from rocking.
Rocking, like a chair.
Not rocking \\nn//

[toejam]

I've also used foam to prevent the pickup rocking. I guess it could help with feedback, too.

[pianoguyy]

We're obviously not talking about the good feedback, are we?
What would a foam cushion have to do with creating an endless loop of sound.

[toejam]

Reducing/preventing feedback.

[TKEblue]

That foam idea is ingenious. I'm gonna have to get some. For some reason on one guitar they rock a lot and it will actually tilt so bad that it hits the string sometimes. Don't want to lower it much more tho