Understanding Jackson Indonesian Import Factories

[wrldeatr7]

As a Jackson fan it would be blasphemy for me to buy some Jackson rip-off ESP or Ibanez, no matter how Japanese or cheap. You should give the Indonesian Pros a chance and inspect them as well.

[xenophobe]

ESP Custom Shop > Jackson Custom Shop. In materials, workmanship and fretwork. And that ESP is a Technical House build... that's like a Masterbuilt Masterbuild x2.

FWIW, ESP and Jackson both have a strong history of ripping off other companies designs. Look at the Monarck's control layout.

And sorry, I'd rather own an MIJ ESP than any Chinese or Indonesian crap Jackson. Sorry, I'm a CS whore and a cork sniffer. Quality / quantity = always.

And really, while Jackson is my favorite brand, Jackson CS has nothing on ESP CS fretwork. By several orders of magnitude even. And also, FWIW, Jackson USA fretwork isn't as good as it used to be. They cut their fret ends short of the fretboard instead of flush and filing to the fretboard. That's a major minus in my book. Luckily my last custom had binding over fret ends which eliminates medicore Jackson fretwork.

[wrldeatr7]

Who's layout did they ripoff with the Monarkh?

Instead of comparing a Chinese Jackson with a Japanese ESP, I think it would be more useful to compare Chinese Jackson with a Chinese ESP.

Personally I'm more of a chauvinist so I'll take a Jackson over any foreign brand any day.

[xenophobe]

Monarck's control layout is ESP's Eclipse post lawsuit layout. It's safe, which is why Jackson did it. And look at all the Firebirds, Monarcks, and Y2KV and roundhorns... the Stratheads, lol. Jackson has some original designs, but many of the most popular aren't.

I'm a chauvinist as well. I'll take a MIJ or Made in USA guitar. I won't buy a Chinese, Indian, Indonesian or Malaysian guitar... it doesn't matter whose logo is on it. And you'd take a Chinese Jackson over a Chinese LTD made in the same factory for what valid reason? lol I will buy World Guitar / WMI only because I know the quality they produce.

[lepard]

Yep, I'm more of a snob for the actual factory building the guitar, not the name on the headstock. That's why I play a lot of different brand WMI guitars(DBZ, BC Rich, Dean, etc.) and pre-Fender USA Jacksons. I really don't have much interest in post-Fender USA production Jacksons. They just feel lifeless, soulless even. They are decent guitars but you can tell the love and craftsmanship isn't in them like there used to be pre-Fender. The paint on all the post-Fender production model USA Jacksons is a horrendous joke. You hold one of those guitars up to the light and they always have these weird straight finish lines in them all over the guitar. All the USA pro-mod Charvels have those same lines too............ drives me freaking crazy on a USA guitar ! WMI Korea paint is much better.

[xenophobe]

WMI satisfies the custom shop snob in me.

Jackson can still give you that lovingly handcrafted guitar experience, but it'll cost you $4k+ and 3+ years of wait time. My last Mike Shannon Strathead is one of the most amazing Jacksons I've ever played, but 41 months and $5k are just too much time and money to part with ever again.

[lepard]

Yeah, that is exactly my gripe. If you want a USA Jackson that feels like an original USA Jackson, you have to go Custom Shop, wait forever, and rob a bank.

I hate to say this but if you want to buy a guitar that feels and plays like an original USA Jackson and not have to wait on the Jackson Custom Shop.......... buy a WMI neck-thru BC Rich.

[pianoguyy]

IWJ: Indonesia World(Musical Instruments) Jackson
ISJ: Indonesia (Samick ???) Jackson
ICJ: Indonesia Cort Jackson

This info should be added to the "import serial number" post.

Interesting. Do you have a feel for which are better built guitars ?

The age old conundrum. Who makes it better -
1. Most of what you find is built based on the way the client wants it made. So, some companies make some decent stuff, but they get contracted to make junk. Cheap glue. Cheap parts. Etc.
2. Better today does not always mean better tomorrow. I don't know who makes them better until I see how they have held up over time. What good is the best guitar you've ever owned if it only lasts a year before it shuts down.

What I find odd is that for some reason it's as if Jackson had recalled certain Wildwood-made guitars. You can find a lot of Pro King Vs and Rhoads sold as "no repairs made - refurbished". There's no way to know why all these new guitars were send to the refurbishing facility only to be stamped as used guitars.

You find a lot of 'refurbished' items these days. It has to do with the internet shoppers and returns. If it gets returned, even if nothing is wrong with it, it is most likely going to be sold as refurbished.

Samick is the largest guitar manufacturer in the world and from what I've seen

Samick sells the most Grand Pianos in the world every year. They are responsible for over half of all sales. They own many brands. Not just "make for other people".

Samick is a Korean company with plants in S. Korea, China and Indonesia.
They've been making Epiphone, Squire, Ibanez, and a host of guitars for other companies for decades.
I remember their early 90's Samick branded LP's were fantastic. So good that Gibson threatened to cancel the Epiphone contract if they didn't "reduce the quality".
Point is, Samick has the skill set to make great guitars. On par, if not better than World.

Yet, my experience with guitars with the Samick logo are --- they don't last long. Made cheaply. They've gotten better, particularly since they started with the Greg Bennett models. But still cheap guitars that don't last.

This was in the 90's. Not sure if Samick still has the Epiphone contract today.
Based on what I've seen of current Epiphone guitars, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using someone else.

Many of the Epiphones today are made in China.

[rjohnstone]

Yet, my experience with guitars with the Samick logo are --- they don't last long. Made cheaply. They've gotten better, particularly since they started with the Greg Bennett models. But still cheap guitars that don't last.

I was talking specifically of Samick branded guitars made in the 90's. They were very well made.

Many of the Epiphones today are made in China.

Hence why I said I wasn't sure they still had the contract.

[LaoWai]

My SL2 Pro is IWJ, I also have a MIK BC Rich. lol
I like both

[Nightbat]

What model Warlock is that?

Warlock deluxe

[Rich#6]

I played an import sl2 today for about 30 seconds. nice neck shape, cheapest ship "quilt top" I've ever seen, worse then the 110 jay turser I have years ago. 1k haha! I also played one of the new smurf singlecuts, again nice neck shape(I've hated how thin most jackson necks are these days) but sharp fret ends. Should happen on a $800 guitar. Both made in Indonesia. I walked out with a samick made epiphone and a early jackson DKMGT for half the cost of one.

[xenophobe]

Fender really needs to sell off the Jackson brand. Give it to someone willing to do good by the name instead of pure focus to maximize profits.

[LaoWai]

I played an import sl2 today for about 30 seconds. nice neck shape, cheapest ship "quilt top" I've ever seen, worse then the 110 jay turser I have years ago. 1k haha!

yeah 1k is too much, I paid just a tad over half that for mine NIB, made accepting minor flaws easier

[Armann]

I just tried a few Pro series SL2's and Dinky's.
I have to say I liked the SL2 a lot better, the fret finish, neck finish and overall feel was much better.
The fretwire on all the Dinkys I tried was sticking out from the fingerboard and some frets buzzing, the height was off on 1 or 2 frets.
Even though the SL2's are made in Indonesia I kind of liked them, but they are pricey for a Indo guitar.