RR5FR so overpriced it's riddicules?

[VitaminG]

yeah WELL TAKE THIS BITCH!


$2,500! AUD!!!! fucking $2,500 in Australia! fuck that when i've got my Charvel MOdel 6 for $550

you can't compare the secondhand price of a 20 year old guitar (and a good deal you got on that too) to the sticker price of a brand new one.

It doesn't help that the Aussie dollar has tanked. It's only worth 63 US cents at the moment. Makes it very expensive to import anything.

Another thing to remember, a few years back, any of the Pro series bolt-ons would cost you at least AU$1600 over here. With Duncan Designed p/us. One of the local shops here still can't move any of their old Jacksons because they're still trying to sell them for the old prices.

Now you can pick up a brand new Crimson Swirl KE3 (with REAL Duncans!!) for $1099. Solid colour DK2s & DK2Ms go for similar prices. A solid colour DK1 used to cost $4500. Now US Dinkies start at $3700. That's a pretty significant price drop for Aussie Jackson fans. Still a lot of money, but a lot better than they were.

If you look beyond the sticker price, there are better deals to be had. Billy Hyde in the Valley have a Morton (signed on the back of the headstock when Mark was in town) for under $2k. If you bought it from their online store, they'd slug you $3k for it. They have a Demmelition (with a repaired tip after some assclown dropped it) for around $1700 if you don't want to pay $2500 for an import V.

[shadowcat]

The first USA Select guitar I saw in a shop here in Germany was a RR1T in Pile O'Skulls finish, tagged at 3500 Euro.
My buddy said he saw a Performer series Kelly tagged at 1200 Euro in that time.

That was before the Fender buyout... puts things into perspective.

But I agree on the RR5FR being overpriced compared to the rest of the line.

[CharvelRocker]

Difference you guys are forgetting is these are made in Japan, not some Korean sweatshop, and that is what people pay for. That said, $1500 IS absurd for what that guitar has on it.

And why do stores raise prices when times are bad? Lower them, and you'll move more items, keeping your cash flow going... at times like these, it is less about high profits and more just keeping the money moving to sustain yourself.

[Bob From Accounting]

Yeah, 4 years ago you could get a new usa jackson for 1299, now you're lucky if you find a used one for that price

[_koppen]

Difference you guys are forgetting is these are made in Japan, not some Korean sweatshop, and that is what people pay for. That said, $1500 IS absurd for what that guitar has on it.

Yeah, im with you on this one.
But a funny thing is, take the new ESP michael padget sig.
It goes for 999$ and is made in Korea.
It has a real dark ebony board, white binding ana a REALLY big MOP inlay all over the fretboard, it's made of mahagony and fetures EMG's.

So why can't a japan made guitar have those feateures when it's 500$ more?
But that's another discussion.

What's confusing me is that the Demmelition V goes for 1250$ abd that one has way better feature's and it's a sig wich is in most cases more expensive. Just a little bit wierd...

[markD]

"Difference you guys are forgetting is these are made in Japan, not some Korean sweatshop, and that is what people pay for. That said, $1500 IS absurd for what that guitar has on it."


i agree. japan or not, that guitar is NOT worth 1500, especially when you have guitars coming out of korea that have better "features" than this RR5. as much as i HATE them, schecter and ESP have that market OWNED - jackson is almost wasting its efforts in the "midrange" market....drop the prices on the RR5 and the other equivalent models by $700, add binding,etc, - THEN those guitars would be a "value".

if i want a japanese guitar the cost 1500, i'd look at one of the newer neck-through ESP horizons BEFORE an RR5.....or even the ESP M-II, which is priced around 1300-1400, depending on the shop....

[Inazone]

I guess the big question would be whether not anyone is actually buying the $1000+ imports. I don't really keep myself informed since I'm not interested in any of them, but aren't the Morton, Kevin Bonds, Demmelition and various Rhoads models (except bolt-ons) all over $1000? If nobody buys them, either the prices will come down or those models will go away, with the remaining dealer stock probably dropping to clearance prices. A few years ago, I bought an NOS RR-2 USA for $400 at Guitar Center, because nobody would give them the $900 they wanted at the time for a bolt-on Rhoads with no import hardware and no-name (Armstrong) pickups . . . even though it was a USA model. Country of origin is certainly a factor, but not when the price and features aren't balanced.

All they'd really have to do to push more guitars would be to add binding and MOP inlays, or maybe *just* the inlays. Plastic looks cheap, plain and simple. If they're going to keep using rosewood, it needs to be dark, high quality stuff.

[Newc]

ESPee and Ibenhad do have more cosmetic features that have no effect on playability or tone, true, but Jackson uses better quality wood (read: it may not look like Brazilian rosewood, but it will last longer than some of these other brand's will). Yes, it's Indian rosewood, so what? They don't have shitwood forests. They have good and bad just like Brazil.

Plastic has no effect on tone, neither does binding (which is plastic, btw). Mother Of Pearl has absolutely zero tonal properties. Yes, it's pretty to look at, and I'm surprised the chemical wonders that can be done with plastic haven't been explored here, but the simple fact is that looks are secondary to performance.

Look at Cubic Zirconias. Man-made diamonds. They look and smell like real diamonds at next-to-nothing. If they put out the effort into making MOTO look more like real MOP, they'd have a better material. However, that costs money, and it's possible the price may be equal to real MOP in the end.

Don't get a hard-on over "real dark ebony boards". All manufacturers use ebony dye to make them look that black, as the best ebony is way too expensive to waste on guitars under $3000.


All that said, I do think that a dealer asking $1500 for an RR5-FR is smoking crack.

[triplehold]

Ditch the whole import line- the other guys have the market cornered. Stick to USA models and keep the classic mystique, aura and pride about owning a Jackson alive.

[toejam]

Ditch the whole import line- the other guys have the market cornered. Stick to USA models and keep the classic mystique, aura and pride about owning a Jackson alive.

Yeah, okay. Jackson imports are better quality than most other imports.

[CharvelRocker]

Ditch the whole import line- the other guys have the market cornered. Stick to USA models and keep the classic mystique, aura and pride about owning a Jackson alive.

You should have pride in what you own no matter the brand... and there is a lot more mystique to import Jackson than other imports, as they aren't something you just pluck off a tree. Not to mention I have noticed on other boards a lot more people at least considering Jacksons lately, and more people picking them other products. Not to mention it would cause them to disappear entirely as a brand...

[VitaminG]

You should have pride in what you own no matter the brand... and there is a lot more mystique to import Jackson than other imports, as they aren't something you just pluck off a tree. Not to mention I have noticed on other boards a lot more people at least considering Jacksons lately, and more people picking them other products. Not to mention it would cause them to disappear entirely as a brand...

but it would make owners of US Jacksons feel more exclusive. Like Suhr owners...

For all the piling on we occasionally see here over the imports, it is interesting to see the number of JCFers who own US models as well as imports. Those imports that are ruining the good name of Jackson can't be too bad

[triplehold]

Gentlemen- Maybe I was a little blunt. I've had a couple of great imports- an early RR neck thru pro that was my warhorse for years and recently a red JRR-94 that I scored at a pawnshop for $60. It needed a knob and some tweaking but that's all. I bought a used Kelly case for $40 and with a couple of cuts with an X-acto knife I turned it into a Kelly/RR case, changed the position of the strap button, shaved a hair off the inside of the back pickup ring and stuck an 81 in there and that baby sounded killer! However, those little "Made in USA" letters underneath the Jackson logo is what really makes it for me. I was looking at the new AMS catalog at lunch today and saw the RR5-FR- a pink one for way too much-it turned me off. I think it would kind of turn anybody off.

[Ben...]

Ditch the whole import line- the other guys have the market cornered. Stick to USA models and keep the classic mystique, aura and pride about owning a Jackson alive.

I'm quite content with my import Jackson thank you very much and I am considering buying another. The local music stores that sell them can't keep them on the shelves so I can't see how removing them could possibly be a good thing.

Edit: They may have the market partly cornered but I'd rather be cornered and have a good guitar than that junk Dean (crap), Schecter(Thick poly coats are gross) and ESPee (EVIL!) are putting out.

[metalchurch79]

Ben, I totally agree with ya bro!
I'll never own a Dean or a Schecter. I hate the necks, and I dont like how they play or feel.
Dean imports are Korean crap, they look nice, but that's it.
Dean, Schecter, and ESP/LTD have so many damn models out it's insane!!

What's that famous quote? Oh yeah...
Give me Jackson or Give me a Charvel....

Old Kramer's and BC Rich's are titties too!! Love 'em!