its hard to get a shark fin jackson these days.

[phill_up]

Vass I am still "pro-confused" the "pro" series that is thought to have been on par with the american series will have the "professional" on the head stock? the guitars after that which are good guitars but not believed to be equal are the ones that have "XL" "Stealth" or what ever on the headstock?

i may have already passed one of these guitars by was there a "dinky professional?

[john.w.lawson]

I have read the audiozone page, but I find a hands-on approach more eduacational. I had an early 90's Jackson custom shop guitar. I paid $1600 for it, used. It costs almost $3500 to build. While I would love to have an XL, EX, or Fusion, I still doubt they would come close to the neighbourhood you are driving in when you are playing an early 90's custom shop Jackson. I am not saying this to try to provoke an argument. I love the professional line. Some are better than others. No doubt! But, I would still take any one of them, given a good shot.phill_up there are a few dinky professionals.



-

[Vass]

John et al-

Henrik does a better job explaining it than I- But the "Pro" models are of the "Professional" line. EX & XL are definitely not "Pros". They are "Professionals". A fusion CAN be a "Pro", as there was a Fusion Pro manufactured (I have 2). There were also Fusion EX, XL, Standards, and HH's, all of which are Professionals, but NOT Pro's.

The Pro's have ebony boards, MOP inlays & logo, JT-590 trems, which are Schaller floyds. The others don't.

The "Pros" of the Professional line were cookie cutter versions of the up-to-that-point "custom shop" only USA Jacksons. You got a few solid colors & bursts to pick from, and that's it. No custom graphics, no custom layout, no custom hardware. Intended for the "working musician". The often-repeated rumor is that the "Pro"'s specifically were so good that they cut into the Jackson USA sales because the quality was so close & the price differential so wide that people just bought them instead of USA's without sacrificing much in quality.

Now- I believe that USA's go for more because they are, side by side, better, but it's not a huge difference. I have an SL1 USA in addition to my Fusions. I can't point to my Fusion Pro's and say, "OK, this right here is way worse than my USA".

Anyway- Don't want to turn this into "PRO vs. USA"- just wanted to point out that you can get a very, very, very nice guitar, a Pro of the Professional line, for not a ton more than you are looking to spend already.

Vass

[john.w.lawson]

Yea, it's hard to argue over opinion. I am not trying to, either. I think that you can see the decline in instrument quality across the board. Not just in the Jackson forum. It has been declining since the 90's. When you start manufacturing guitars in countries that are more known for their sitars and stuffing seat cushions, what do you expect? Sorry, Vass, please don't take this in the wrong way. I know that sometimes I tend to come off quite abrasive. My people skills are lacking. Maybe I should practice my lagato (sp?) to make up for it.

[jdr94]

hey i was made in one of those countries and i'm of the highest quality nature can provide!LOL. of course i'm not a guitar so...

[john.w.lawson]

ROTFL!! Laughing so hard I'm crying! That was good, man. I didn't mean anything against the PEOPLE of those countries. I was soley speaking of guitar quality. JDR, you should change your occupation to Comedian! That was funny as hell!

[Ben...]

hey i was made in one of those countries and i'm of the highest quality nature can provide!LOL. of course i'm not a guitar so...

I have defects...

[Rich#6]

The Pro's have ebony boards, MOP inlays & logo, JT-590 trems, which are Schaller floyds. The others don't

Not exactly right.
The PROs also had qtrsawn necks(at least the neckthru ones did). My XL (non PRO professional) had MOP inlays and a JT590.
The neckthrus and the fusions(highend one) are the ones that are PROS. The early ones did have it but on the trusrod cover it will say PRO for the good ones. The Ebony board is the easiest identifier.
I personally consider ebony an option not an upgrade.

[straycat]

Several years back I had a Kelly pro(green metalflake) it had the ebony board MOP sharks and MOP logo JT590 it was a high quality guitar. IIRC I got close to a grand for it on Ebay.
The professional line are fine guitars too just not as nice as the Pro line.
The new pro line is no where near the guitars the old pro line were.
I have a 93 fusion H-H and 92 Dinky XL which hands down way better than the new ones.

[Robert Burns]

I must disagree, the early 90's King V Professional Standard bolt ons, have a super thin neck compared to the KVX and the JS series KV's.
I've owned quite a few of each and every post Fender Jackson had a thicker neck profile, I also noticed this on the Dinky guitars as well.
Other than that minute detail, to me there really is no difference.
I prefer the old bolt on's slimmer profile, but that's just me.
Some of the older ones have better wood, but some of the newer ones have better pickups.

Best thing I can say is do your homework, know what you want and shop around. I'd take a pre or post Fender J/C over anything else so it doesn't matter much to me. They are all quality insruments in my book.

******* Here is a bolt on 91' Jackson Dinky..and yes, the neck is
Ibanez Wizard thin.. 3/16" thinner than a modern Soloist.

[jdr94]

Not exactly right.
The PROs also had qtrsawn necks(at least the neckthru ones did). My XL (non PRO professional) had MOP inlays and a JT590.
The neckthrus and the fusions(highend one) are the ones that are PROS. The early ones did have it but on the trusrod cover it will say PRO for the good ones. The Ebony board is the easiest identifier.
I personally consider ebony an option not an upgrade.

your xl had mop inlays but not logo tho, right?

[straycat]

My XL has the MOP sharkies reg s/s logo.

[Rich#6]

your xl had mop inlays but not logo tho, right?

yes, but that doesn't ad much to the quality on the instrument.

[jdr94]

yes, but that doesn't ad much to the quality on the instrument.

true, but that would mean the the line you quoted as not exactly right actually is exactly right, cause the true pro's had all of those qualities and the others only has some.

[Rich#6]

true, but that would mean the the line you quoted as not exactly right actually is exactly right, cause the true pro's had all of those qualities and the others only has some.

Back then would you have spent the extra grand just to get that MOP logo? If you think that ads to the quality I can find lots of chinese guitars for ya