Newb needs Jackson 101..

[Schneeky]

.. Hey guys.. Thanks for a great site.. Looks like a lot of helpful folks with good information from my little bit of rambling around here the last few days..
..Here's the short story.. Been playin off-n-on for over 30 years, can't say I'm "dedicated" and I still suck at it but I have fun and like nice gear.. While neither are what I'd call "nice gear", I've been gettin by and havin myself a happy little time torturing my poor little 'ol Squire Strat thru my G-DEC over in the man-cave section of the living room..
..ANYWAYS, seems I've been once again bitten by the "bug" and now I'm gonna be gearing up a bit, again.. I've had about every kindof guitar up and down the pay scale except for a PRS and a Jackson.. If I can stave off that extra schweet little PRS Santana I tripped over yesterday, this time out I'm thinkin it's gonna be a Jackson.. I was referred to you guys from somewhere, can't quite remember where..
..What I need to know is how to decipher the seemingly endless versions of the Jackson guitars.. I've been reading around here and poking about guitar shops.. Looks like they have something in about every price range.. I'd prefer to buy used if it's available but Wilmington NC ain't exactly a musical mecca.. What's a good "workhorse" that has a hope of holding some of it's value.? I usually prefer a Hum/Sngl/Sngl type pickup arrangement cause I do a lot of blues groovin as well, but I ain't married to it.. I keep hearing that Jackson's are "just Heavy Metal guitars".. Are they trying to tell me that a Jackson is incapable of cleanliness.? Surely they jest.. But I definitely need flexibility. It's not unusual to go from Steely Dan to Megadeth in the same session..
..So to break it down short & schweet(too late).. I'm lookin for all the guit-fiddle I can get in for around the $1Kish range or under. Don't want a "V" anything, prefer "strat style" body, the sharky inlays, right side up head, a tapped front humbucker might get me by but I'm thinkin, much as I like the aforementioned P/U setup, if resale is an issue at all I might better schtick with the double HB setup on this one.. Although that new Soloist in NY (classifieds) caught my eye..
..That's enough of my gassin for now.. Lemme know what you guys think and Thanks in advance for any useful input.!! Links to similar previous threads would be much appreciated.. I'll fret over a real amp later but my last was a Marshall Artist 30.. Damn near perfect.. Anything like that available still.? d:^) Schneeky..

[Grandturk]

Wow - partial ellipsis overload. Good lord, man.

Check out a dinky or a soloist. If you're looking for clean sounds, you might want something in with a single coil at the neck.

In the $1K area, check out the new Charvel USA production series. Killer guitars. Very strat like, so they shouldn't scare you too much.

[Ben...]

Wow... You use more ellipsis than I do (And I have one in my screen name!) . You should write your next post as a haiku.

Anywho, the aformentioned Charvel Production Models should tickle your "fancy" so to speak.

Anyway, welcome. I'm sure someone else will be.

Haikus are funny.
Sometimes they do not make sense.
Refrigerator.

[Schneeky]

Wow - partial ellipsis overload. Good lord, man.

..Sorry,GT.It's a habit.Most don't notice it.I like some separation in my text but if it helps somehow I'll refrain from my extraneous dotting in my response.
Looks "crowded" to me.Will do x2 on the Charvel.

Ben- Thanks, but I'll pass on the haiku. d:^) Schneeky..

[Cygnus X1]

Welcome to the forum...


I had played a wide variety before I started into Jacksons also.
I have had a Charvel Model 88 for 15 years, as my sole true "shredder".

For versatility, as well as good cleans...I like the soloist style. Dk1 is good.
I have a DKMGT as my daily beater, and a PS4 for trem work.
You might consider the MIJ Performer or Concept series, made in Japan, but overall a great bang for the buck. There are a lot of USA's if you look around. Most are still 1200 and up for good ones.

Coil taps have never been really good enough to get a good single coil sound out of any humbucker in my opinion. Just half-power weak. Go for brighter humbuckers, and drop them to get a good clean sound.

[Schneeky]

..Thankya sir.!! Any suggestions what kindof P/U's to check into for that verstility.? I Wiki'd yer DKMGT and came up with a neat page describing the Jackson hierarchy.. Helpful.. I'll check into the others mentioned as well..
..I'd drop that kindof coin on the right rig.. I'm still eyeballin that PRS and it's a good bit more than that.. Still haven't researched it to see what they're true value is.. d:^) Schneeky..

[Foulacy]

...ha...

[Cygnus X1]

..Thankya sir.!! Any suggestions what kindof P/U's to check into for that verstility.? I Wiki'd yer DKMGT and came up with a neat page describing the Jackson hierarchy.. Helpful.. I'll check into the others mentioned as well..
..I'd drop that kindof coin on the right rig.. I'm still eyeballin that PRS and it's a good bit more than that.. Still haven't researched it to see what they're true value is.. d:^) Schneeky..

Another thing to consider is neck profile.
I like a thin neck! Both my Japanese Jacksons and the 88 are thin.

Every PRS I have tried was far too beefy, like a thick Les Paul.

The new Charvel SoCal's are a bit more "vintage Strat" thickness.
Try them before you buy them.

Pups...I don't have any problem with the stock Jacksons...I like J90C for the bridge. Avoid HZ's...and EMG 85/89 are fine for shredding, not so great for cleans.

[SEEGERMANY]

You and ... Cygnus ... should ... get along just ... fine! Welcome to the forums.

[VoiceX3]

Hi, Jim the lurker here....lol

An option that everyone seemed to leave out is the PC1 (Phil Collen Sig). These f'ers are pretty versitile. Beautiful/brilliant cleans and can be as brutal as the pointy Jacksons. Not to mention that the Jackson Sustainer option is a really cool feature that adds a degree of flavor that other guitars seriously lack. It's the only Jackson model (that I know of) that comes with DiMarzio pickups.

The quilted maple tops are stunning and many of the fretboards (I've seen these vary from guitar to guitar) have an equally beautiful Flame Maple fretboard.

I'd keep an eye on Ebay or Craigslist for a used one.......

[stevoc]

My DK1 does just fine playing along with some BB King....nice blues sounds on the neck EMG pickup.

Just FYI, a few here have swapped the EMG pickups around on their DK1's, moving hte bridge to the neck and vise-versa. That's how mine are set up now and I get good blues tone from it.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

It's the only Jackson model (that I know of) that comes with DiMarzio pickups.

I think the new Adrian Smith sig also comes with DiMarzios, but I guess that isn't out quite yet.

Schneeky, since you say you'd prefer an HSS, there are a few Jackson models to look at. In the USA series there's the SL1 Soloist and the PC1 Phil Collen. I don't know about the used prices in the US but you ought to be able to find one of those for not that much more than $1K, and they are top notch Jacksons.

In the Pro series there's the SL3 Soloist, made in Japan, which costs around $1k new, I think. It has Hot rails in the single slots, but you could change them out if you wanted.

There's also the DK2 Dinky(which is another pro), which is around $600, and most people who own them say that they're fantastic for the price. If you don't know, the only difference between Soloists and Dinkys is that soloists are neck-through and Dinkys are bolt on.

Personally, I have the DK2M which is a kind of sister model to the DK2, but with a maple fretboard and HH pickups. I find the Duncan Jazz in the neck to be a really nice pickup that can play just about anything and still sound good.

[Newc]

Good luck finding a PC-1 for $1000 worth having

Anyway, if it simply HAS to say Jackson on the head, then you're looking at one of the Soloists or Dinkys. If you're ok with "guilt by association", then one of the new USA Charvels should fit nicely. While they're all H-H, the SoCal (pickguarded) can be turned into a H-S-S or H-S-H or H-S or S-S-S with a new pickguard.

[VoiceX3]

Good luck finding a PC-1 for $1000 worth having

While I agree that finding a PC1 for $1000 doesn't happen often, right now, you'd be surprised what people are selling and for how much. I really don't find it to be ridiculous that there may be a couple out there in the $1300 range, and depending on how good a talker you are, and how badly the person needs the cash.......it's not that ridiculous to think it could be done.

Especially when you're looking at PRS guitars too....anything worth having from them is over a grand.

I just think the PC1 fits best into what he's looking for out of it.....he did say he wanted a Jackson, not Charvel.

[MartinBarre]

I have an SL3 and I love it - like someone said, it comes with two Hot Rails, but you could swap one or both of them for true single coils. Everything about the guitar is class.