How come?

[Brooke]

How come Jackson import guitars made in Japan are so cheap, compared to the made in Us ones.?

I mean, Japan is a very high quality industrial land, with big wellfare.
How come it can be so cheap to build guitars over there? Anyone now?

Jackson gets their lower end stuff (which sells much higher quantities) made in a larger factory's elsewhere.

All of the US stuff is top of the line (so to speak, bound neck ebony, pear inlays etc).


What I am unclear about is whether or not the custom shop jackson are of better build quality then usa select series jacksons?

[Confuse-a-Cat]

Am I on a guitar forum or an economics forum?

It's a Jackson forum, and therefore all the intelligent guitar players congregate here

[SR71]

Well, I tell you one thing, may be years ago USA made Jacksons were made better then Japanese. This days top of the line Japanese Jacksons, r just good as USA made. You ppl r talking abour that robots making guitars in Japan. Yes they r. I have a couple of real Jacksons made in USA 90 and 93. Back in the days i felt the defference. But look at a all Japanece cars, that made in USA now, nothing but problems and recalls. But the one that still made in Japan r still better then any American cars. In our store we have couple of top of the line Japanese Jacksons soloist, they are 2007 Sam Aah music exclucive models, one has EMG's and another SEYMOUR DUNCAN and I hate 2 tell u that they r just good as any USA one.MG series r ok, even ex is ok after you do some mods, but JS on all them lower series ar p. of sh.... .

[stevoc]

I didn't thoroughly read all comments because of time restraints, so I don;t know if this was mentioned, but I had a DK2M for some time and I didn't think the quality was bad. I thought it was a very well made guitar. Is it the same quality as my US made DK1? Well, no, but that comparing apples and oranges because I don't think they're both made with the same target users in mind. But again, my DK2M was very well built and played very well.

[Glave]

Wasn't this the reason for the death of the Professional series? Import models that were too close in quality to USA models.

[_koppen]

Wasn't this the reason for the death of the Professional series? Import models that were too close in quality to USA models.

I guess so, that also has to be the reason why were not getting any binding, ebony or MOP on the high end imports.

Also keep in mind that it is very much of the US line guitars that are mad by machines to, just not all of it =P

[Nazgul]

I stand corrected. I did fail to mention EASTERN Europe, like where the BC Rich Calibre Series are made, etc. {Romania? Slovania? Don't quite remember.}

Also concerning USA built axes; Aside from using premium woods and components, more care and labour go into the finishing aspects as well. Hand sanding, fret dressing, organized wiring with solid soldering, etc, all add to the cost of USA shop guitars.

I bet the SD Charvels would be less expensive by $200 - $300 if done in Korea!
G.

Slovania? Where is that? It can either be Slovenia or Slovakia .

For example, all my 80s Custom Shop Jackson RRs are better than my Custom Shop Jackson Stars RR made in Japan was. It is still very high quality though!!

[Cuthbert]

Wasn't this the reason for the death of the Professional series? Import models that were too close in quality to USA models.

They weren't close, they had the SAME quality level of the USA models. They just used cheaper or outdated hardware (actually the JT-6 and the active electronics was available with the Jacksons of the 80s, then, reused for the pros).

The quality of the wood is the same, the finish excellent, but they costed (like today Jackson stars) half the price of the USA models. For the machinery, let's face it, today most of the brands, including Jackson, uses CNC, which is good, because the quality and consistency is higher that "totally handmade". Even my luthier bought a CNC 3D machine, because, like he told me, "if I want a dimension to be 0.1 mm more or less, i just digit it".

There are some manufacturers that don't use CNC, for instance Heritage just has a machine for the frets, but in any case, the price of their product isn't lower than their competitors, quite the opposite, Gibson are more "automized" and they cost more than Heritage!

In the end, I would say that the reasons are just two:

1)Prestige.

2)Lower volumes.

[Brooke]

I guess so, that also has to be the reason why were not getting any binding, ebony or MOP on the high end imports.

Also keep in mind that it is very much of the US line guitars that are mad by machines to, just not all of it =P

There are no high end imports anymore... They are made, but you have to got to Japan to get them..

The J1 or TN01 series, or custom shop Jackson stars

[Super_shredder]

Jackson gets their lower end stuff (which sells much higher quantities) made in a larger factory's elsewhere.

All of the US stuff is top of the line (so to speak, bound neck ebony, pear inlays etc).


What I am unclear about is whether or not the custom shop jackson are of better build quality then usa select series jacksons?

wouldnt they go rotten and mouldy after a while?

[Newc]

They weren't close, they had the SAME quality level of the USA models. They just used cheaper or outdated hardware (actually the JT-6 and the active electronics was available with the Jacksons of the 80s, then, reused for the pros).

The quality of the wood is the same, the finish excellent, but they costed (like today Jackson stars) half the price of the USA models. For the machinery, let's face it, today most of the brands, including Jackson, uses CNC, which is good, because the quality and consistency is higher that "totally handmade". Even my luthier bought a CNC 3D machine, because, like he told me, "if I want a dimension to be 0.1 mm more or less, i just digit it".

There are some manufacturers that don't use CNC, for instance Heritage just has a machine for the frets, but in any case, the price of their product isn't lower than their competitors, quite the opposite, Gibson are more "automized" and they cost more than Heritage!

In the end, I would say that the reasons are just two:

1)Prestige.

2)Lower volumes.

Actually the 1990-94 Professionals used the JT-590, which on some were made by Schaller and some by Takeuchi. I've owned both. I could not tell the difference without reading the spring block.

As for JacksonStars costing half the price of USA Selects, I paid $1350 for one of my NASLs. I could have bought a new USA Select SL-1 for that at more than one dealer.

[Newc]

There are no high end imports anymore... They are made, but you have to got to Japan to get them..

The J1 or TN01 series, or custom shop Jackson stars

Then you haven't played a Morton.

[Cuthbert]

Actually the 1990-94 Professionals used the JT-590, which on some were made by Schaller and some by Takeuchi. I've owned both. I could not tell the difference without reading the spring block.

As for JacksonStars costing half the price of USA Selects, I paid $1350 for one of my NASLs. I could have bought a new USA Select SL-1 for that at more than one dealer.

1)I know that, the hardware wasn't the top but still the same thing they used on the USA models for a while, I recall a american soloist with a JT-6

2)A SL-1 for less than 1350$$? :O

Well, in this country a SL-1 is priced 2200 €, in '99, when I bought my RR-1, I spent the equivalent price,personally, I've never seen a SL-1 at that price on ebay. For the japanese imports, when a friend of mine purchased his Charvel model 6 in 1987, he spent one third of what a Soloist was priced then.

[Brooke]

Then you haven't played a Morton.

I'm nost saying that they are not nice, or very close to top end. But are not on par with the bells and whistles that the USA ones offer.

IN order to get ebony, pearl inlays, nice binding, MOP headstock logo, you either have to get a J1, TN01, or a USA

[Jacksonite]

the morton has ebony, real abalone

and is a fantastic guitar..

and is absolutely on par with my Jackson Stars CUSTOM SHOP NASL....