JS32 King V - Cheap Chinese Junk or A Lot of Bang for the Buck ?

[lepard]

Couldn't sleep last night so hopped on eBay and found this ridiculous auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132054559935?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I immediately thought hmmmm, zero feedback seller, priced way too cheap, most likely a scam. After looking at all the pics of the stuff the guy had for sale, they all had the same wooden floor background so I figured they weren't stolen random pics. I figured what the hell, it's probably a scam but eBay has my back and went ahead and hit the buy it now. To my surprise, the seller has already shipped this afternoon, provided a Fed Ex tracking number, Fed Ex has the package in hand and the weight is 13 1/2 lbs. Holy shit, this might be legit !

So............ what should I expect with this thing ?

[Mudlark]

Kinda' hard to go wrong there. Those 2012-today JS series have gotten by far mostly good reviews.
Even if it's almost trashed you should be able to salvage enough parts to get your money back.

Hope for the best prepare for the worst.

[Number Of The Priest]

I briefly had a 2013 JS32T Rhoads.

My thoughts from my photo and mini-review thread: http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/151...ez-Gio-GRG7221

JS32T comments:
What surprised me most about this guitar was the instant familiarity of the neck. For a Chinese Jackson, the frets were well done. The binding was a bit sloppy in one or two places but you needed to look hard for imperfections. The stock Jackson pickups, made by Belcat, were surprisingly hot and articulate. Other than a couple minor scuffs on the back of the body, it was in great shape. I just don't get along with the Rhoads shape.

For USD$50, if you don't like it, it's an easy flip. Hell, I want any of the JS32 Dinky variants for USD$50.

[jacksonaxes]

I picked up a js32 Warrior at the pawnshop for 100.00, and liked it so much I spent another 129.00 for a case.

[Mudlark]

That looks fantastic...and I'm all about the string thrus.
The boards are really dark on this newer JS generation. Stained maybe?

[Force]

Same as my Warrior but I bought new, fucking incredible for the price.

[Catharpin]

For $50 you got a steal even if you just used it as wall art.

[Number Of The Priest]

lepard, I know you have an eye for detail and like to dissect/discuss import guitar quality, so I look forward to your write-up about your guitar after it arrives.

That Warrior looks awesome. I suppose Jackson has listened to its fans over the years. I remember previous JS Series (and even other import series) being criticized on the JCF for looking cheap with chrome hardware, dot inlays, and no binding. The black hardware, sharkfin inlays, and binding really help to give the higher-end JS models a classier look.

[Cosmiceddie]

This is my JS32T Warrior:



It's amazing what you can get for so little money these days, in good quality, to boot.

[BenoA]

50$!!! Woah!!! Lucky you and congratz!!! I got a JS30 KV (made in India) in very good condition in a pedal trade, was expecting 80$ for my pedal and was quite happy with the trade. I put a Zakk Wylde EMG kit in in it and it rocks! But the stock PUs were not as bad as I was expecting. Perfect beater. Gigged a few times with it and it did the job.

[guitardudeluke]

i had a ivory js king v sold it just felt too light for my liking the neck was nice the tuners are first thing i changed poor quality.
For entry level Jackson their great but need a few tweeks

[lepard]

Got it in and I have to say I'm shocked in more ways than one. 1st, shocked that this auction was actually legit and I got the guitar ! Zero feedback seller did an excellent job in packaging and shipped within hours. Guitar arrived in great shape, looks basically brand new.

Now, I wasn't expecting USA or even anywhere near World Musical Instruments South Korea kind of quality on this guitar. They sell for $330 brand new at Guitar Center. But........ given the ability to do your own setup and adjustment, this thing is pretty impressive. I won't fault the setup out of the box on the guitar and it was actually not too terribly far off. I did unpack it, wipe it off and starting thinking "damn, this thing is nice" and went to plug it in. Cord into input jack................ oops, what input jack ? The input jack was pushed up into the guitar and the outside washer and nut were missing. I got a laugh out of that one. Took the 2 screws out of the jackplate and was kind of shocked to see how tiny/thin the 2 wires were that were going to the jack. After spending a few minutes going through all the packaging, I actually got lucky and found the missing washer and nut in the bubble wrap. Easy fix, no big deal.

This guitar needs new strings and a full setup but I went ahead and tuned it up a 1/2 step down which seemed to get the Floyd fairly level as is. The original owner/seller was obviously clueless as 3 of the strings were wrapped backwards on the headstock. Trussrod adjustment was almost perfect out of the box. Locking nut height(which I'm picky about) was actually done fairly well from the factory, don't feel the need to mess with it. The trussrod cover is a little thin but that's nitpicking a cheap guitar. Chinese tuners feel cheap but it doesn't really matter with a Floyd Rose locking nut. If this was a string-thru, I'd change the tuners to some Japanese Gotoh Jacksons. Floyd Rose Special works well but the fine tuners feel like crap. Functionally though, it's all good.

Initial quality out of the box is pretty impressive. Paint is well done and OH MY GOD ! They got the neck right ! Nailed it ! I have picked up several Chinese/India Jacksons at Guitar Center over the years and always hated them. The headstocks were shaped wrong, the Jackson logo was wrong, the neck shape all wrong and too fat, the inlays wrong, 12th fret dots spaced too far apart, sharp fret ends, bad setups, etc. etc. etc. Somebody at Jackson needs a raise because they fixed all this. The speed neck is shaped perfectly. I fully expected sharp fret ends but nope !, nice frets and the real shocker was just how good the fretwork is. This thing plays very clean with super low, flat action. Very impressed with the fretwork. I knew Jackson had come up with some new Ceramic pickups for these guitars and they are really good, very hot and don't feedback too much. I would never change these out, they are that good.

Tomorrow I'll spend some more time with it and do a string change and full setup. Right now, I'm pretty impressed. I had every intention of flipping this thing but I may just keep it. I'll make the decision after a full setup tomorrow.

[lepard]

More observations: The neck feels like a DK-2 neck. It's not original Ibanez Wizard thin or anything, pretty darn close to a DK-2. The neck and headstock binding are well done, no issues there. The fretboard is very smooth and most likely dyed. It looks like ebony..........nice. One monster improvement is the frets. No more tiny frets from China like on the Charvel Desolation guitars. It has nice full size frets.

[Number Of The Priest]

Awesome review! Your thoughts nail how I felt about the JS32T Rhoads I rescued and resold.

How can you tell they're Chinese tuners? I always thought every Jackson-branded tuner was a Gotoh SGxx, made in Japan. I cannot tell apart the ones that are on my JS32T Rhoads (China), Charvel Model 1C (Japan), and Jackson Soloist (USA), pics below.

[lepard]

How can you tell they're Chinese tuners? I always thought every Jackson-branded tuner was a Gotoh SGxx, made in Japan.

They just feel cheap. They aren't horrible, just not as smooth as a real Japanese Gotoh. The actual tuning buttons are a bit different too, a tiny bit thinner, more cheap feeling.