Quality of import Jacksons

[pro-fusion]

Would it be plausible for Jackson to bring back the 90's Professionals back?

Not really. Remember, the Pro guitars (the Pros, not the entire Professional Series) were hardly cheap guitars--they were priced only about $300 or so less than their U.S. counterparts. In adjusted dollars, the modern USA Select series is priced about where the Pros were back then, so it's simply not feasible. Also, the same marketing problem arises of having cheaper guitars that have the same specs and are 95% as good as the fancy ones.

Very informative, thanks! Is there such a big difference between batches of wood, or is it quality or maybe species of alder entirely?

When producing fewer guitars, a builder can be choosier about which pieces of lumber they bring into the factory, and about which ones of those they use to build a given guitar. An experienced builder knows which individual pieces of lumber to look for. The Chushin Gakki factory in Japan is undoubtedly staffed by people also capable of doing that, but they're not being paid to be so choosy, and they have to deal with higher production numbers.

I've owned a whole bunch of both USAs and Pros, and I think you can't go wrong with either. The fretwork on the Pros is very high quality, but not at the same level as USA Jacksons. In particular, the fret ends on the Pros tend not to be rounded off and can be sharper to the touch. You'll occasionally see a non-level fret on a Pro, but very rarely. The wood quality varies on both, but both are what I would consider as "professional caliber." You don't tend to get many lifeless planks from either one. USA Jacksons tend to be heavier in weight and 'denser' sounding, while the Pros can sometimes be more open and resonant but don't like to be spanked as hard.

I've read somewhere that the hardware on the Pros was cheaper, but that's not been my experience. As far as I've been able to tell, all of the hardware, including pots and switches, was identical to the USA production guitars from that same period.

Now, as to modern Japanese Jacksons, I don't think the quality control is necessarily worse, though it seems like less care is taken with the fretwork compared to the pre-1996 Japanese guitars. The hardware, however, is much worse, and many of the little touches that make Jacksons cool, like binding, inlay materials, and great paint jobs aren't there on the Japanese guitars anymore. Also, it seems like the wood quality has gone down on the Japanese guitars. I'm guessing they are less choosy about that now. Japanese Jacksons are still a good deal if you're willing to mod them, but I wouldn't characterize them as a professional caliber guitar right out of the box anymore.

[maluco]

i may be wrong but in my opinion i do not think binding on a neck should be an indicator of quality. Its purely preference i think. I personally like the feel of a bound fretboard.

Then again look at fender strats high end US and lower end. No binding in sight, yet on higher end strats, the weight of the guitar is noticeably heavier than the cheaper ones, indicating more dense and possibly better quality timber.

electronics is much of a muchness as they really are cheap to upgrade either way and would never warrant a difference in price worth noting. This of course does NOT apply to pups. Im referring strictly to pots and caps and switches.

I think it is easily possible to find a great piece of alder with a really good neck and great fret work on a guitar from the east, just as it is to find one in the US.

guitars should hardly be judged by model or brand but rather on an individual basis.

After all, what sounds good to me may not sound good to the next guy.

Thats not to say a squire bullet is a midlevel instrument, but some good midlevel instruments are easily on a par with pro instruments, in my opinion...

Just look at all the changes someone like clapton made to his strats before he found something he liked, like wise most artists and people who feel the need to mod their instruments.

Anywho. My opinion and nothing more.

Cheers