Why is ESP more popular than Jackson?

[chrisolson]

I would say Dean puts out mediocre shit at BEST. For what you pay for a Razorback or Razorback V you only get a shitty licensed trem, a dean neck pup, no neck binding??? All while chraging an arm and a leg and justifying it by putting Dimes name on it. I am sure Dean has long since paid out any monies that they owe to the Abbott family and is making money shamelessly hand over fist on Dimes name by selling a $600 guitar at best for $1049. GOD I wish people would let him be dead already. There is no denying that he was a true revolutionary in the realms of metal guitar players, but christ - let's make some more money off him. If they didn't have the Razorback series and Dime didn't make the ML's popular again nobody would buy a dean. Hell you have to buy a $3,000 + to get a real Floyd for fucks sake! Or spend $1,049 for the guitar, $65 for a decent neck pickup and $160 for a Floyd, plus pay to have everything put on ... OR just buy a USA Select!

Chill out, man...

I'm not talking about Dimes ONLY. I don't own one. The rest of them are pretty damn reasonable. I just got two Deans - an ML and a Caddy, and plan on getting two more - a Z and a V. Yes, they're nice guitars, and none of them are Dime models.

I'm NOT a Dime fan, and Pantera fan, or really been influenced by Dime & his playing. It's cool, but nothing I get REALLY excited about. I bought the guitars because I LIKE THEM, and the prices were pretty damn good - less than $550, and the lack of a Floyd doesn't matter - I like t-o-m's better anyway.

Mine have FULL BINDING, block inlays, better-than-Epi pickups , Grover tuners, and all mahoany. Works for me...

[emperor_black]

I personally like hard-tails. I find more hard-tail models in the LTD line available in my price range. there are a very few of 'em available under Jackson! But I am a BIG sucker for the Jackson Pointy and sharkies!

[Carbophos]

. Kids pick up these $300 Jacksons and think,,,"well, this is a Jackson." .

Well, Ibanez does not have a different brand for low-end stuff and nowadays Ibanez is #1 guitar brand in the world overall. It may change from country from country, in USA Fender is #1, but anyway Ibanez is way more popular than ESP.

[robfromthedeep]

Jackson made a good move in the UK by endorsing Matt Tuck from Bullet For My Valentine. Bullet For My Valentine are MASSIVE in the UK, most rock magazines here feature a page advertisement for jackson with matt tuck on the cover. Every kid in the uk has heard of bullet for my valentine and Matt Tuck and his rhoads is a defining image of the new british metal scene. Since bullet for my valentine have got big i bet the amount of rr5's sold has boosted greatly.

[markD]

that is good to hear. while i am not sure how often ESP/LTD outsells jackson, there is NO denying that more bands are seen with ESP than jackson.

i came to jackson later. prior to that i played ibanez, then ESP. i always ignored jackson for the reason most people love them: the pointy head and the sharkfins. to me, those appointments were too 80's. my first jackson was a PC-1. it looked more traditional and classy. if jackson did more guitars that were "timeless" and put them in the hands of guitarists that actually get media coverage, we could see the brand grow back to where it was in the 80's.

there is NO denying that USA jackson's are awesome guitars, but they are seen as "period pieces" - throwbacks to an excessive decade and attached to a musical genre that was viewed by many as "clownish".

while these days jackson guitars are in the hands of many extreme metal players, i recall jackson as being the instrument of choice for make-up wering cheese rockers....while ibanez was for the "serious" shredder, and ESP was was for the "serious" metal player.

jackson imports were what REALLY killed me on the brand for years. they were cheap looking, cheap feeling and needed too much to make them as cool as my other guitars. i can't tell you which models they were, but they sucked. i have SINCE learned about the old pro guitars and how awesome they are, but that has only been since i joined this forum....

there have been a lot of valid points made in this thread. it would be nice if JCMI would pay attention.

[sakeido]

Jackson could solve this problem by offering more guitars with the SLSMG headstock Sexiest Headstock Ever. Everyone who has ever seen my SLS and is familiar with Jackson prefers it over the Jackson pointy headstock.

Also, though, ESP offers much better import offerings, has preserved the prestige of their brand name by coming up with LTD, and another reason you see a lot of LTDs and ESPs, is that ESP will give away LTDs free to the more popular endorsers..

[Rich#6]

Jackson could solve this problem by offering more guitars with the SLSMG headstock Sexiest Headstock Ever

they did they , they didn't sell very well. It is called the smurf hat by the way. Not too sexy of a name, huh.

[GodOfRhythm]

jackson imports were what REALLY killed me on the brand for years. they were cheap looking, cheap feeling and needed too much to make them as cool as my other guitars. i can't tell you which models they were, but they sucked. i have SINCE learned about the old pro guitars and how awesome they are, but that has only been since i joined this forum....

Performer series probably. If I had let my first encounter with one determine my future relationship with all things Jackson I'd have been on the ESP boards now...

[markD]

Performer series probably. If I had let my first encounter with one determine my future relationship with all things Jackson I'd have been on the ESP boards now...

yeah, maybe. i am thrilled with my USA jacksons, but still refuse to buy an import. the only one i have is a PS-7 that has had WAY too much done to it....new frets, neck reshaped, custom pickguard, new pickups, etc....

[Chromatic]

I don't see anything wrong with the Jackson headstock

[slash-ed]

I would say Dean puts out mediocre shit at BEST. For what you pay for a Razorback or Razorback V you only get a shitty licensed trem, a dean neck pup, no neck binding??? All while chraging an arm and a leg and justifying it by putting Dimes name on it. I am sure Dean has long since paid out any monies that they owe to the Abbott family and is making money shamelessly hand over fist on Dimes name by selling a $600 guitar at best for $1049. GOD I wish people would let him be dead already. There is no denying that he was a true revolutionary in the realms of metal guitar players, but christ - let's make some more money off him. If they didn't have the Razorback series and Dime didn't make the ML's popular again nobody would buy a dean. Hell you have to buy a $3,000 + to get a real Floyd for fucks sake! Or spend $1,049 for the guitar, $65 for a decent neck pickup and $160 for a Floyd, plus pay to have everything put on ... OR just buy a USA Select!

I've had a couple of Dime and non-Dime import Deans... they have all been fairly impressive in quality, be it from the Korean or Chinese factories. Yes, $1100 for a Razorback is a bit much, but it doesn't make them bad guitars...

[sakeido]

they did they , they didn't sell very well. It is called the smurf hat by the way. Not too sexy of a name, huh.

I don't give a flying fuck what its called. It is ten times nicer then the Jackson pointy headstock. I don't care what cork sniffing purists such as yourself think - the old style headstock is Out of Date. From the looks of it, too, it is called the SLS headstock by Jackson so that is the name I'll go with. This "smurf hat" business is an invention of people like yourself, and everywhere but on this forum, you people are in the minority. pssst... the modern ESP pointed headstock is nicer then the Jackson headstock.
And if I remember right, the only other guitar they offered it on was something like the NA-T one, that had a flame maple top and wilkinson trem, and coincidently is one of the nicest Jacksons I have ever seen.

[roodyrocker]

I don't see anything wrong with the Jackson headstock

Me neither, the Jackson pointy headstock is the best looking headstock ever! The sharkies are awesome too!

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[chrisolson]

I don't give a flying fuck what its called. It is ten times nicer then the Jackson pointy headstock. I don't care what cork sniffing purists such as yourself think - the old style headstock is Out of Date. From the looks of it, too, it is called the SLS headstock by Jackson so that is the name I'll go with. This "smurf hat" business is an invention of people like yourself, and everywhere but on this forum, you people are in the minority. pssst... the modern ESP pointed headstock is nicer then the Jackson headstock.
And if I remember right, the only other guitar they offered it on was something like the NA-T one, that had a flame maple top and wilkinson trem, and coincidently is one of the nicest Jacksons I have ever seen.

To each their own. Now go take your medication for your anger disorder and go visit the "Hello Kitty" site. Calm down a bit, spaz...

[toejam]

I don't give a flying fuck what its called. It is ten times nicer then the Jackson pointy headstock. I don't care what cork sniffing purists such as yourself think - the old style headstock is Out of Date. From the looks of it, too, it is called the SLS headstock by Jackson so that is the name I'll go with. This "smurf hat" business is an invention of people like yourself, and everywhere but on this forum, you people are in the minority. pssst... the modern ESP pointed headstock is nicer then the Jackson headstock.
And if I remember right, the only other guitar they offered it on was something like the NA-T one, that had a flame maple top and wilkinson trem, and coincidently is one of the nicest Jacksons I have ever seen.

The regular ESP pointed headstock is nasty! It does look better reversed, though. FYI, they ripped off Jackson's headstock in the '80s (wow, what a shock, just like every body style they've made, too! ), Jackson threatened a lawsuit, so they had to change it. The Jackson headstock looks much nicer. Though, I also like the "smurf hat" headstock, even more on 7-string guitars, but it's still not quite as cool as the regular Jackson pointy. Then again, I've got a Mark Morton model and dig that headstock, too.