RR5FR so overpriced it's riddicules?

[bibz]

Schecters are great, but have SHOCKING fretboards and fretwork (cept one loomis i've played). All the black ebony on these type of guitars is died, the 'mahogany' alot of those guitars are made out of is not mahogany. BCRich have some great looking and playing guitars out at the moment, and you cannot beat guitars like dk2m for value.

Ditch the imports?! You can pry my slsmg out of my cold dead hands

[_koppen]

gentlemens, this is not about scrapping the imports, or comparing them to other brands, this is how the fuck they can charge you 1500$ or more for the RR5FR!! :ROTF:

[ulijdavid]

gentlemens, this is not about scrapping the imports, or comparing them to other brands, this is how the fuck they can charge you 1500$ or more for the RR5FR!! :ROTF:

Agreed...$1500.00 for an import??? I can get an Eric Johnson or Yngwie Malmsteen US made signature for $200.00 more. But, I don't play strats so I guess my anology doesn't apply to me.

[Inazone]

Comparison? How about Caparison? There is a brand with past ties to Jackson, that produces some aesthetically pleasing guitars spec'd relatively close to MIJ Jacksons and ESPs, that are priced in the same ballpark as USA Jacksons. They have a love-it-or-hate-it headstock, their most unique model IMO (the Hamer Californian-styled Horus) has an unbound rosewood board, and most models have Caparison-branded pickups rather than Duncans or EMGs. I've heard that they build very small quantities, so there is more attention to detail, but do the specs support $2000+ prices? I think certain brands get a cult following because they're not building huge numbers of instruments per year, or because of who plays them, not because of features or (in some cases) build quality.

That's not to imply that Caparisons aren't good guitars, but is the Japanese construction so good that it warrants those prices? Not really.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

That's not to imply that Caparisons aren't good guitars, but is the Japanese construction so good that it warrants those prices? Not really.

But this isn't the same as Jackson's Japanese line. The RR5FR is not worth what they're charging, because being mid range it is essentially a production line guitar. For it to be worth the money it needs far more features.

The Caparisons on the other hand are high end instruments produced with the same attention to detail as the top of the line guitars from other companies, and in my opinion are therefore worth the money.

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your post, but that last point you made seems to imply that Japanese construction is inherently worth less than (presumably) American construction, which I disagree with completely. Japanese Jacksons sell for less than USAs because they are made on a production line with less time spent on each guitar than on USA guitars, and are more basic instruments. It is not because the Japanese somehow aren't as good at building guitars as Americans. The building process and build quality on Caparisons is probably the same as on USA instruments, they just happen to not have some of the fancy trimmings.

[LouSiffer]

For that kind of price, walk down to your local GC, add about $200.00 more and get the Robot Les Paul. Unique, US made, its an LP, and it tunes for you.-Lou

[toejam]

The building process and build quality on Caparisons is probably the same as on USA instruments, they just happen to not have some of the fancy trimmings.

Caparisons are also made by former Jackson/Charvel employees from their Japanese factory.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

Caparisons are also made by former Jackson/Charvel employees from their Japanese factory.

Yep. The people who built the old Professionals, which nearly crippled USA Jackson sales because they were so good. I doubt their standards have fallen in the intervening years!

[777]

Okay, my .02, For people compairing prices for what they payed for a guitar in 2002 to now, you can say the same thing for a jar of Hellmann's mayonnaise '02=$2.49 today=$4.99 same fuckin ingredients, so is it worth another $2.50? NO. I paid $1,150 for my RR5-FR, So what I get out of this is, MOP/ binding and a made in USA stamp(witch does nothing for tonal qualities) are worth and extra $900 dollars for an RR1?? You guys are funny, I guess nobody read post #3.................

[RobRR]

No, better woods, quartersawn necks, ebony fingerboards, MOP inlays and logo, and binding are worth the extra money. As long as it has good features, I could care less weather its a USA or not. Thats why the PROS sold so well.

[BeëlzeM]

I fully agree. The only thing holding me back from buying another Jackson is the prices really. I've been wanting a KV for ages. The cheapest I could find online here in the Netherlands is 2100 euro's.

Converted that is almost 2700 US dollars.

It's rediculous. There are so many nice guitars out there for that price. I'm about to order a white Bernie Rico Jr Custom Vixen. For 2249 US Dollars. Fully custom, I got convinced by a dude over here in Holland that sold a black one, second hand, however it doesn't really match my preferred specs. INCREDIBLE guitar though, cheaper, and it's not even a standard production guitar.

Jackson needs to step up really. It's about time.

[Inazone]

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your post, but that last point you made seems to imply that Japanese construction is inherently worth less than (presumably) American construction, which I disagree with completely. Japanese Jacksons sell for less than USAs because they are made on a production line with less time spent on each guitar than on USA guitars, and are more basic instruments. It is not because the Japanese somehow aren't as good at building guitars as Americans. The building process and build quality on Caparisons is probably the same as on USA instruments, they just happen to not have some of the fancy trimmings.

I don't think Japanese workmanship is worth less than American. But country of origin comes into almost every discussion of different guitar makes and models, and while some of the MIJ Jacksons have remained very reasonably priced over the years, others seem to climbing at an unwarranted rate. I've read up on Caparisons a lot, and they seem to be very nicely built guitars, but (in the USA) the prices seem to be very high, probably due in part to how scarce they are here. The same could be said of the top-of-the-line (but not custom) ESP and Ibanez guitars. I think that everyone on this forum appreciates the value of good workmanship, and a lot has been said over the years about the outstanding Japanese work ethic, whether on hand-built guitars or those coming off an assembly line. However, the general public is very much in love with the idea of comparing specs to price - the "value for the money" if you will - and you can't really quantify workmanship unless you put up a perfectly built guitar next to one with obvious flaws.

Almost all of my guitars were built in Japan, several of them during Jackson's "glory days" in the early-to-mid `90s. The price I paid for my DK2M, which required no mods or upgrades to be gig-worthy, was very reasonable. The KV2 that I bought new in 2001 (and traded for a USA Soloist) was $1425 at the time, with an upcharge for the finish. It was on the high end in terms of price for a USA Jackson at the time, but that meant all the standard USA specs - OFR, Duncans, MOP inlays, ebony, binding, etc. - that are lacking on the RR5FR and similar models. Japanese workmanship has proven to be very good, but Jackson can't be competitive in the market if the specs don't look good on paper. I hate to say that, because their imports are very good guitars, and stand up favorably less well-built "competitors" costing the same or more. I can compare my DK2M to a like-priced Dean or Schecter and point out numerous things that are better about the Jackson, even with similar specs. Above the $1000 mark, it becomes harder to justify the Jackson models, as their specs don't seem to scale up with the price.

[_koppen]

I don't think Japanese workmanship is worth less than American. But country of origin comes into almost every discussion of different guitar makes and models, and while some of the MIJ Jacksons have remained very reasonably priced over the years, others seem to climbing at an unwarranted rate. I've read up on Caparisons a lot, and they seem to be very nicely built guitars, but (in the USA) the prices seem to be very high, probably due in part to how scarce they are here. The same could be said of the top-of-the-line (but not custom) ESP and Ibanez guitars. I think that everyone on this forum appreciates the value of good workmanship, and a lot has been said over the years about the outstanding Japanese work ethic, whether on hand-built guitars or those coming off an assembly line. However, the general public is very much in love with the idea of comparing specs to price - the "value for the money" if you will - and you can't really quantify workmanship unless you put up a perfectly built guitar next to one with obvious flaws.

Almost all of my guitars were built in Japan, several of them during Jackson's "glory days" in the early-to-mid `90s. The price I paid for my DK2M, which required no mods or upgrades to be gig-worthy, was very reasonable. The KV2 that I bought new in 2001 (and traded for a USA Soloist) was $1425 at the time, with an upcharge for the finish. It was on the high end in terms of price for a USA Jackson at the time, but that meant all the standard USA specs - OFR, Duncans, MOP inlays, ebony, binding, etc. - that are lacking on the RR5FR and similar models. Japanese workmanship has proven to be very good, but Jackson can't be competitive in the market if the specs don't look good on paper. I hate to say that, because their imports are very good guitars, and stand up favorably less well-built "competitors" costing the same or more. I can compare my DK2M to a like-priced Dean or Schecter and point out numerous things that are better about the Jackson, even with similar specs. Above the $1000 mark, it becomes harder to justify the Jackson models, as their specs don't seem to scale up with the price.

Wow...i could not have said that better myself =)