usa vs american san dimas

[BigE13]

Well, my opinion is not actually driven because I am in Japan right now lol. I think the reason the USAs and the Japanese models are so well built and so close in quality is just a tribute to how great the factory over here was. They were serious about quality and it shows. If there is a difference it is minor. Both have exactly the same hardware to my eyes, I actually prefer the Japanese neck a little more but you just cannot go wrong with either. So sad we had to see the end of that era...

[ginsambo]

I really don't know what to say about this. You'd figure a bigger price tag equals higher quality especially on hardware, wood grade and craftsmanship. I can tell a difference between my USA and import stuff. My Ibanez Steve Vai and Satch models are both Japanese made and are super high quality/ extremely good players but the quality of my USA Jackson's are light years better in my opinion. Maybe I just like the Jackson better subconsciously. Who knows, But better is a relative term.

I think as production models, they went for a similar ticket at the time, which is roughly about the same as the Mex ones go for now, albeit they may be touch cheaper, as the much of the hardware is certainly inferior. As said hardware is identical on Jap vs USA. I don't think you can really compare them like a USA Jackson vs Japanese Jackson comparison, where the difference in price is obviously evident. I have never seen a streaky maple neck Jap Pro mod, especially at least the earlier batch, where as the USA's although perhaps better finished, often had some sort of small flaw in the maple wood of the neck.

I guess another thing apart from harder boards being less rolled. The Japanese ebony dreamsicle being the least rolled (Have two of these necks), is that the later Jap models were a bit rushed out the factory. So sometimes the skunk stripe stick outs a bit or is recessed a bit or the neck needs a bit of wire wool treatment. There is a faint mask line in the base coat near the neck in my Japanese wildcard dreamsicle.

Certainly the thicker flake paint is getting more like the 2005 era reissue quality overall though. In all the paint is the same on both, much thinner and primer much less flat sanded than the reissues.

Another thing I guess is that my USA's had paint/body shrinkage issues like neck cracks and tiny laquer cracks from really tight neck joints which seemed to get tighter, the longer I owned them. I guess this is more of a wood moisture content issue. Perhaps you could compare them like Japanese vs USA Fender Strats back in the day, certainly the Jap bodies I have are well stable and do not have this issue, maybe the bodies were better seasoned? But it's all pie in the sky really. They are all two piece in general, sometimes three and sometimes the necks were slapped on the later jap ones in a hurry, even if the fit is better.

Whatever you get USA or Japanese, all the necks were mated with their respective bodies, so there is abit of tolerence when mismatching. Maybe the USA necks were less sealed so they expanded more, but I think more likely is that they had a far tighter neck pocket, too tight in fact IMO as the paint shrinks with the USA's suggest.

I look at the mex pro mods and I reckon, apart from inferior hardware, they will be up to par of the USA's/Jap ones, especially considering they are basically made by the same people. However what I do notice is alot more flaws in the quartersawn maple occurring more often on the necks, does this matter? Probably not in the least. The specs are the same. All in all they are all from the same bag and all great guitars IMO.

Knowing how they age, the only thing I would do in future with a brand new MIM Pro Mod or low end USA Strat is file out the neck pocket a little if it looks too tight.

[84sups]

I have 2 Japanese pro-mods and love them. I played a couple USA pro-mods and while I liked them I like the necks on my MIJ pro-mods better.