Confused about MIJ Soloist vs/or Professional Soloist

[rz350]

Confused about MIJ Soloists. I see many people talking about MIJ Jacksons from early 90s being nice guitars, but with Soloists I only see reference to Professional Line being the MIJ. I've read Professional = MIJ, so I assumed maybe all MIJ were professional, but that doesnt seem to be the case. But I also cant find any info on non professional MIJ Jacksons.. Thus the confusion. I came across this supposed MIJ on ebay yesterday, which is now sold, but still for an example..

What's the story on the one on ebay? Serial appears to show it from 1991?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JACKSON-SOLOIST-MIJ-SATIN-BLACK-WITH-EMGS-/291966613152

Are there non professional MIJ Soloists?


Thanks,

RZ

[Mudlark]

Jackson's labelling of models/series can be confusing.
The guitars with the 'Professional' logo were all Japanese. They started in 1990 and the logo's disappeared circa 1998.

The Professional series, or Pro series, continues to this day...just without the logo. Pro series models that were available without the logo (from '98-2011) included the SL3, DK2, RR3, KE3 etc. Some early RR3's and KE3's had the Professional logo, but then dropped it and changed the specs in '98.

The guitar you posted is a 2010 SL3MG. I don't think the MG series is part of the Pro series, but the quality/price were similar to the Pro series.

The Pro series were all Japanese up to the late-2011 closure of the Japanese factory. The 2012-present Pro series are divided between Mexico and Indonesia.

As for non-professional MIJ Soloist? The SLSMG and the SL3MG are the two that come to mind. There were some Indian/Indonesian X series Soloists, but I can't think of any other MIJ Pro Soloist. There may be one or two more.

The X series was made in Japan from the early 2000's-2011 along with the Pro series, but they offered no MIJ X series Soloists that I'm aware of.

[Number Of The Priest]

If this forum has a "Like Post" feature enabled, Mudlark would rack up plenty of them for his seemingly endless knowledge, especially concerning the dizzying array of Jackson imports. Seriously dude, you are a living breathing guitar catalog!

[rjohnstone]

If this forum has a "Like Post" feature enabled, Mudlark would rack up plenty of them for his seemingly endless knowledge, especially concerning the dizzying array of Jackson imports. Seriously dude, you are a living breathing guitar catalog!

This!

He's a walking encyclopedia of all things Jackson.

[Mudlark]

Thanks, guys. This forum is full of good info...I just pass it on.

[rz350]

Excellent.. Thanks for the info..

So is it correct that MIJ Professional Seriels from the 1990s will start with w J plus six numbers ie: Jxxxxxx first number indication year 1990-1999?
then MIJ from the 2000s serial number six digits xxxxxx first two numbers indicating 00-11 meaning 2000 to 2011? 2011 being the final year of MIJ Jacksons?

Thanks,

Joe

[Mudlark]

Yes, and the J prefix was only on neck thrus, and only used from '90-'95. First digit was the year on the '90s neck thrus and first two digits on the 2000's.

There may be exceptions to the '90s numbers, but that's generally the way they were.

[Model 88]

The Professionals that were the closest to the USA's all had MOP logos and inlays and Schaller floyds . All were neck thru except on the Fusion which was a bolt neck and Archtop was a set neck. The Warrior , Archtop soloist and Fusion are 24.75 scale the rest are 25.5 .

[Ben...]

The Professionals that were the closest to the USA's all had MOP logos and inlays and Schaller floyds . All were neck thru except on the Fusion which was a bolt neck and Archtop was a set neck. The Warrior , Archtop soloist and Fusion are 24.75 scale the rest are 25.5 .

Yup, and from 1992 on (if I remember right), there were 3ish (in some cases more, depending on the model) levels of Professional instruments.

The Pros (which are as Model 88 described) had MOP inlays, MOP logos, ebony fretboards, fancier Jackson pickups, and Schaller trems. These were available prior to 1992 and are highly sought after now, and are priced as such.

The next level down was the XL series, which had MOP inlays but a decal logo, bound rosewood fretboards, different Jackson pickups (visually different from the ones on the Pro models because they didn't have covers) and usually slightly cheaper wood bodies (poplar or something like that). I have an XL series Soloist and it's a fantastic instrument. They're not as pricey as Pros, but they still fetch a decent amount of money. Spec-wise they aren't as nice but they're still early 90s Japanese Jacksons so they still are amazing to play.

Next down was the Standard series, which had dot inlays, usually similar electronics to the XL series, and a cheaper bridge. They were more budget-oriented.

Mixed in (or below, depending on the model of guitar) with the Standard series was the EX series, which was in most cases the cheapest model. These are still Professional-branded Jacksons but they were much cheaper to buy, and were equipped as such. They're still quite common and pretty cheap to buy.

There were also had Reverse models, which simply meant they had reversed headstocks and sometimes a few differences cosmetically.