Jackson Professional?

[Newc]

There's a bit of confusion being spread here - the "PRO" models were not just neckthrough. There was the Fusion Pro (as opposed to the Fusion USA) which was a bolt on and equal in specs and quality to the Fusion USA. If the Dinky Pro had an ebony board and MOP fins, then it's not "just" a Dinky Professional, but an actual Dinky Pro.

1994 was the year that Jackson finally caught on that the Japan-made models were equal to the USA models - or at least, they caught on to the fact that many players/customers considered the Japan-made models to be equal to the higher-priced USA models - and started down-grading them incrementally.


As for the statements that these 1990-94 Pro models were equal to their USA models - it is 100% fact. I've owned several models of each - Warrior Pro and Warrior USA, Soloist Pro and Soloist USA, Dinky Pro and Dinky USA, Fusion Pro and Fusion USA, Rhoads Pro and Rhoads USA (all but the Kelly Pro and USA, Collen Archtop USA, Soloist Archtop Pro and USA, and Mustaine USA) - at the same time and compared them directly. Aside from a slightly thicker neck profile of the Warrior Pro as compared to the Warrior USA, they were each identical to their USA counterparts.

Even when they started downgrading them with rosewood boards, they were still equal in build quality, if not materials used. It wasn't until late 94 or 95 that we saw such drastic changes in overall quality that one could easily differentiate between the two in a blind comparison. However, they were still at the very least equal to the Charvel Model series. In essence, the revamped Soloist XL Pro was a Charvel Model 6/650XL with a Jackson logo and the "flat spot" neck profile, so even if your Dinky does have a rosewood board, it's probably miles better than say the 2000s H-S-S DK2, which were still high quality themselves.

[Schadenfreude]

Newc, so other than hardware/fret boards and inlays what changes where made to differentiate them from the USA models? Where theye shape/finish differences, neck profile differences etc? Aside from the boards and inlays could you swap out the hardware of say a 96 professional and have a USA quality instrument? How close where they still?

[pianoguyy]

Yeah! Cause I'm one of the "good guys"...searchin' to old threads before creating new ones!

I try to search, but I either get 0 results... or 14 pages of results.
And that ain't no joke. I am not being colorful for illustrative purposes. I get zero or hundreds.

[pianoguyy]

And to sum it up ---- the pre-'95 Pro guitars from the Professional Series is what most people consider the "equal to the USA" guitars.
But not all Professionals were Pro's, and not all Pro's are Professional.

[toejam]

But not all Professionals were Pro's, and not all Pro's are Professional.

What? The PRO models are from the Professional series.

[pianoguyy]

But they are still making Pro models today?
Or is this yet another Jackson marketing faux pas that adds to the confusion.

[toejam]

Any '90s model with the name PRO in the title, Dinky Pro, Rhoads Pro, Warrior Pro, etc. were the models that rivaled the USA models. I'm not aware of them using any other models with the name PRO in them. They still made the Professional series after that, but then eventually the Professional name disappeared off the headstock.

Are they still making any models today that are still considered a part of the "Professional" series?

[lepard]

Any '90s model with the name PRO in the title, Dinky Pro, Rhoads Pro, Warrior Pro, etc. were the models that rivaled the USA models. I'm not aware of them using any other models with the name PRO in them. They still made the Professional series after that, but then eventually the Professional name disappeared off the headstock.

Are they still making any models today that are still considered a part of the "Professional" series?

I can't think of anything they call "Professional" now, just a ridiculous number of guitars called "Pro".

http://jacksonguitars.com/guitars/?series=pro_series

Probably because I just don't care enough to research it that much but I'm totally confused by the number of imports now. Do they seriously need to make guitars in Indonesia, Mexico and China ? And why does one import from one third world country cost 3 times what an import costs from another third world country ? I don't understand Fender/Jackson marketing.

[Mudlark]

Without checking the catalogues, I think the term 'Pro Series' has been used since shortly after the time they dropped the 'Professional' logos around '98.


I do remember that by the early 2000s their pro series models were called 'Pro Series' in the catalogues.

[Nimitz]

wonder if the custom shop would allow Professional logo? w/no cs or usa logo...

[pianoguyy]

The "Professional Series", as in, the original Jackson imports, are gone.
And yes, there is now a "Pro Series", which would be (to my knowledge) the higher imports. Also, it is not written on the headstock like Professional, Performer, and Stars.

But, I thought that they still made Pro models, like a DK2 Pro and Warrior Pro.
Unless, of course, those were in reference to the Pro Series?

[toejam]

wonder if the custom shop would allow Professional logo? w/no cs or usa logo...

Umm, no, because the Custom Shop is USA and Professional were only Japan. They don't even have a Japanese shop any longer.

[toejam]

I can't think of anything they call "Professional" now, just a ridiculous number of guitars called "Pro".

http://jacksonguitars.com/guitars/?series=pro_series

Probably because I just don't care enough to research it that much but I'm totally confused by the number of imports now. Do they seriously need to make guitars in Indonesia, Mexico and China ? And why does one import from one third world country cost 3 times what an import costs from another third world country ? I don't understand Fender/Jackson marketing.

It makes my head hurt with all these different imports now, and nothing even in Japan.

[eaeolian]

Probably because I just don't care enough to research it that much but I'm totally confused by the number of imports now. Do they seriously need to make guitars in Indonesia, Mexico and China ? And why does one import from one third world country cost 3 times what an import costs from another third world country ? I don't understand Fender/Jackson marketing.

The prices difference is the level of craftsmanship/quality of materials. The neck-thru Pros and the X-Series are made in Indonesia, but as tiy go up the price ladder they get better features and hardware. The bolt-on Pros and Charvels are made at the Fender shop in Mexico, and the JS guitars are Chinese (unless that changed again.) They source from wherever they can get the best quality for the lowest price.

I'm pretty sure Fender would eventually like to move all the Pros to Mexico, but to my understanding that shop is currently set up for only bolt-ons. I think the Indo deal comes up again next year, though I can't remember for sure. (This is all from someone that no longer works for FMIC.)

I doubt any of them will climb to the level of the Chushin guitars, though, and they were making excellent instruments right up to the end.

[pro-fusion]

Making guitars in Japan is just as expensive as making them in the USA now, so there's no real reason for a USA-based company to do so. My experiences with the more recent Indian/Indonesian/Chinese production have been mixed. It's important to remember, however, that the newer non-Japanese import neckthrus are way cheaper than the old Japanese Pro guitars were, in terms of inflation-adjusted dollars. Those guitars were only a few hundred dollars less than USA Jacksons, so they *should* have been really good (and they were).