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Picked up a new SLATXMG3-7-but I reckon it's going back.
Total out the door price was £600. I put the fact that it wasn't Japanese-made out of my mind totally, but now it's right back in. I figured that as it was Jackson's top-of-the-range import and they'd taken the trouble to fit it up with EMG 7 string pickups, they must have done some good with this one. Plus, I've had plenty Japanese Jacksons and seen them for what they were - cheap but reliable and well-made workhorses. I'm still rocking my Jackson Stealth XL since 1993!
Now onto this one. The good: The EMGs sound awesome. IMO, EMG pickups and downtuned guitars or 7s go hand in hand. It also plays pretty nice; it's a lot flatter than my old Ibanez RG7321 which I sold on ages ago. The only reason for upgrading was my new band is using 7 strings so I needed something decent; a downtuned 6-string wasn't cutting it.
The bad: The hardware is just a total let-down. As a matter of course, the first thing I do on all new instruments is replace the strap buttons with Schaller straplocks. Well, I managed to strip the heads of BOTH of the strap button screws that came on it, despite taking great care the second time to select a proper screwdriver head assuming I'd dumbass'd up the first time. In fact, the screws I took out, I could physically bend with just my fingers. Ulgh. Not to mention I thought the hole they came out of was actually too tight for the screw in the first place!
OK, straplocks finally on, time for a fresh set of strings. I noticed that the black paint on the lock nut was just the easiest thing to rub away; I managed to catch it with the end of a string and bam, scratch in the hardware already! OK I can live with that... I wasn't expecting German-made quality for this money, but still, I thought this was a bit low-grade.
However, the tremolo has finally nipped any confidence I have in the guitar right in the bud. I couldn't keep the G or B strings in tune... Assuming I hadn't stretched the strings enough, I started investigating. And I've discovered the problem is that the locking nut isn't... well... any good at locking! The locknuts are all tight, but I can still alter the pitch of the string with the machine head. Putting a steel ruler over the locknut, I can actually see there's a small curve in the base of the locknut, right where the G and B strings sit. So all the tightness in the world won't lock home those strings.
Such a shame; the guitar feels nice in itself; the EMGs sound good; but the hardware is just a total let-down! The store has a 7-day returns policy and I reckon I'll be using it, despite it only being in the house 12 hours! ABORT ABORT! Kinda really knocks my confidence in anything not Japanese or USA made.
It still leaves me shopping for a 7-string.
Total out the door price was £600. I put the fact that it wasn't Japanese-made out of my mind totally, but now it's right back in. I figured that as it was Jackson's top-of-the-range import and they'd taken the trouble to fit it up with EMG 7 string pickups, they must have done some good with this one. Plus, I've had plenty Japanese Jacksons and seen them for what they were - cheap but reliable and well-made workhorses. I'm still rocking my Jackson Stealth XL since 1993!
Now onto this one. The good: The EMGs sound awesome. IMO, EMG pickups and downtuned guitars or 7s go hand in hand. It also plays pretty nice; it's a lot flatter than my old Ibanez RG7321 which I sold on ages ago. The only reason for upgrading was my new band is using 7 strings so I needed something decent; a downtuned 6-string wasn't cutting it.
The bad: The hardware is just a total let-down. As a matter of course, the first thing I do on all new instruments is replace the strap buttons with Schaller straplocks. Well, I managed to strip the heads of BOTH of the strap button screws that came on it, despite taking great care the second time to select a proper screwdriver head assuming I'd dumbass'd up the first time. In fact, the screws I took out, I could physically bend with just my fingers. Ulgh. Not to mention I thought the hole they came out of was actually too tight for the screw in the first place!
OK, straplocks finally on, time for a fresh set of strings. I noticed that the black paint on the lock nut was just the easiest thing to rub away; I managed to catch it with the end of a string and bam, scratch in the hardware already! OK I can live with that... I wasn't expecting German-made quality for this money, but still, I thought this was a bit low-grade.
However, the tremolo has finally nipped any confidence I have in the guitar right in the bud. I couldn't keep the G or B strings in tune... Assuming I hadn't stretched the strings enough, I started investigating. And I've discovered the problem is that the locking nut isn't... well... any good at locking! The locknuts are all tight, but I can still alter the pitch of the string with the machine head. Putting a steel ruler over the locknut, I can actually see there's a small curve in the base of the locknut, right where the G and B strings sit. So all the tightness in the world won't lock home those strings.
Such a shame; the guitar feels nice in itself; the EMGs sound good; but the hardware is just a total let-down! The store has a 7-day returns policy and I reckon I'll be using it, despite it only being in the house 12 hours! ABORT ABORT! Kinda really knocks my confidence in anything not Japanese or USA made.
It still leaves me shopping for a 7-string.
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